Norwich bulletin., 1922-10-10
Opposed to War
 Debts Cancellation
Strong Declaration by Repre- sentative Burton of Allied Debt Commission.

washington. Oct s-A strong declar- ation was made today by Representa- tive Theodore E. Burton, republican, Ohio. a member of the allied debt com mission, against any cancellation of the debts of European nations to the United States
 His statement to this effect made unanimous the opinion on the question of all American delegates to the inter- parliamentary union conference at Vienna, number of senators who with Representative Burton toured Europe and conferred with leading statesmen and publicists having previously declared that the allied debts should not be re- rnitted. Representative Burton conferred with President Harding today and, after campaigning in Ohio will return here for the meeting this month of the allied debt commission with Great Britain's financial representatives.
 "There are many reasons why the allied debts should not be cancelled, {" said Representative Burton First, they are binding obligations, a national debt, and their cancellation would throw doubt on national credit which is an all important part of all commercial and in- dustrial relations
 Second, these loans are not made from an abounding revenue, but were obtained by borrowing from our h people with no small difficulty and with a great deal of sacrifice. There vas no thought at the time that they would not be repaid and indeed the law under which our people took our l bonds provided for their exchange ir kind. Third, the United States is sincere 1 ly interested in world peace If these | debts were cancelled it would lead te l qn expansion of the military and maya establishments of other countries anG ] thereby bring a threat of war and al l the waste it entails.
 | Fourth, proportionately, the in. crease in the debt of the United State; IS a result of the war is greater thai | that of the borrowers. The increasi l in taxation also is proportionatel. 1 greater.
 Further, while we recognize tn ] wonderful sacrifices made by the allie 1 during the war, their danger was nor 1 imminent and we have gained no ter | ritory and are not expecting an. 1 large indemnities. The general feelini abroad is that these debts ought t
 be paid
 MT. Burton also declared agains 1 any further national, loans abroad l 4dding that private credits for Amer | ican raw materials might and shoul
 be. arranged, but that the Unite
 States treasury should not be calle upon again to aid any foreign countr except possibly for human relief
 He did not appear to be impresse
 by the league of nations. several ( l whose meetings at Geneva. he at 1 tended
 Tt seemed like a big debatin
 society" he said, declaring that
 number of irrelevant and academi questions seemed to be receiving un due attention. There was as littl
 probability now. as ever, he adde.
 that the United States would becom
 q member of the league, but he e4 1 pressed the belief that the Unite States should have representation c
 world court with limited jurisdictio
 and one not under control of tf league. An effort is being made l
 said, to detach the present interns
 tional court from the league