The New York herald., 1922-01-19
Believed Interest Payments
Will Be Deferred at Least
Eighteen Months.
DRASTIC PLANS OPPOSED
Administration and Congress
Regard Service Honorarium
as White Elephant.
ny LOUIS sEIBOLD.


Special Dispatch to THE Nrw York HERALD.
New York Herald Bureau,
Washington, ID. c., Jan. IS.
The Republican majority in the
senate to-day decided to take up
without delay the Administration bill
TO fund the foreign war debt and to
Follow it up with bill to provide
bonuses for ex-service men.
This decision was reached at a con-
Terence attended by two-thirds of the
Republican Senators. AS a result the
measure to empower the Government
TO arrange with debtor nations for the
return Of the s9,696.739.634 and inter-
est lent to them during the war with
Germany probably will be called up
next week and pressed to passage.
The bonus bill, concerning which
there are rather indefinite ideas as to
ways and means, will be discussed in
the hope Of producing satisfactory
plan that will not bankrupt the Gov
ernment or greatly increase the stag
gering burdens of taxation.
Favorable to Funding Bill.
OF the dozen or more projects fa :
vored by individual Senators and Eep-
resentatives for raising money to pay
the bonus none appears to stand the
test OF practicability. The funding bill
is In much better shape in this re-
spect. There will be some opposition
to 1t, of course. but the survey of the
Republican majority made to-day in
dicates it will be put through in fairly
workable shape and satisfactory to the
President and Secretary Mellon.
The commission headed by the
Treasury Secretary which is to ar
range the terms of settlement with
foreign Governments will be retained
in the bill. The present prospects are
that this will not be hampered by
drastic and arbitrary instructions
proposed by Democratic Senators and
a small group Of Republicans who
believe political capital can be made
by imposing the most irksome condi-
tions on the countries who borrowed
ment during the war.
Most Senators. while manifestly in
favor of reaching a speedy agreement
with debtor nations as to tketerms of
settlement are beginning to appreciate
the fact that you can't get blood out
of n turnip," as one of them to-day
described 1t. Senators in this frame of
mind realize that most OF the Euro
pean countries are bankrupt or al
most so. and that any move by this
Government to. foreclose it's claims
would precipitate even more demoral-
izing economic conditions than now
exist.
Weight OF Opinion.
For this reason the weight of Sena-
torial opinion seems to be that the
plans suggested by a few Senators on
both sides of the chamber which call
for immediate settlement on terms
that are regarded as either absurd or
impossible will have to give way to
more reasonable arrangements ac-
ceptable to the foreign debtors of this
country.
Senators who have studied the situa-
tion seriously are convinced that any
attempt to force high rate of in
terest with semi-annual payments to
begin Immediately would prove OBJ
jectionable to TIE foreign Govern
ments on the ground that necessity
might compel them to default.
1t Is considered probable that after
the impracticabnity of some of the
more drastic plans for compelling
debtor Governments to pay up has
been revealed the funding bill will be
to provide for deferred pay
ments on reasonable terms. If this
concession is agreed upon Great Brit
ain. which is the largest OF the debtor
nations and has indicated her readi-
ness to begin paying interest, will de-
sire the same privileges as granted I'd
Ter less solvent neighbors.
Discussion OF the subject in the
conference to-day indicated
a long and protracted debate over the
funding plan because Of the deter
of two or three Republican
and Democratic Senators to insist on
adoption OF arbitrary methods fof
compelling settlement.
French Attitudes Eject.
One of the reasons for this is the
influence which the at
titude of France in the Washington
has exercised over public
sentiment.
The French assertion of right to
maintain costly and excessive army
and insistence on superior submarine
privileges unqucstionabiv has re-
Continued on Page Nine.
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