Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-12-04
THE WAR DEBTS.
PRESIDENT John Grier Hibbei

VI 44lAlSSkSh
livered an address the other day in
which he asserted that now is the
time for the United States to can
eel at least a part Of the war debt
which America has coming from
the allies. He thinks that this will
give new courage and hope to Eu-
rope and he thinks that a delay IN
being magnanimous on our part
will lead to further discourage
ment among the nations of Europe.
We do think that this highly al
turistic plea on the part Of the
president of Princeton will find Ia
vor With the people of the United
States. To our mind, it would not
do much good if America should
say to the allies and to all of those
who are indebted to us that they
need not pay this money. What
the people of Europe need IS not a
cancellation of debts, but an oppor-
tuntiy to carr the money that will
put the war nations upon their feet
and a chance to proceed along the
paths of peace. 1t would not take
these countries such an awful long
time to pay their debts or some OF
them if they could and would go to
work. It is idleness and strife and
discord and threatening war that is
holding them down and making life
miserable for the whole continent.
The very fact that they owe money
to a certain extent keeps them
from fighting.
Under the present situation, if
ali of the debts of the world were
wiped out, it might not do much
good if the attitude Of the people
of the different countries was still
for war and hate and destruction.
There are also a few facts in re-
lation to these war debts due the
United States that are not often
mentioned by the nations of Eu-
rope when they talk of debt cancel
lations. Of the ten billion owing
us. about four billions was loaned
AFTER the war, and of the other
six billion loaned them some por-
ton was used to keep their foreign
trade and industries going during
the war. Probably not over half
of the borrowed money was used
in fighting the wal in which we
were allies. When speaking of this
debt it is customary for our for
eign critics to assume that it was
all spent in fighting for the COM
mon cause. About half of it was
devoted to that purpose and was
paid by US in war credits. But the
United States spent about six bill
lion dollars in buying war supplies
in France and Great Britain. They
bought about as much as these
countries bought of us. The diff
ference was that we paid cash for
what we bought and Great Britain
and France said charge it." When
the bill comes in they don't want to
pay. We did not say much at the
time and we have not mentioned II
much since, but inasrnuch as the
French and English papers are call
ing us Shylocks and money hogs.
it is we'll enough to recall at this
time that the British charged us
passage money for the soldiers we
sent to France in British ships to
# relieve them from their desperate
position when the Germans were
driving them back to the sea, and
the French charged us port dues
on the vessels that landed our sol,
diers and supplies to feed them
We even had to pay the French
rent for the ground on which we
built docks and warehouses anc
barracks for our troops and dam
ages" for building railroads to car
ny these men and supplies to thu
front. Nor was it the French gov
eminent alone that exploited thu
Americans who crossed the seas t
preserve their homes from destruc
ton at the hands of the invading
Germans. Our veterans tell u
that the thrifty French peasant
charged them two and three time
the price they asked French sol
diers for eggs Or any thing tn
American soldier wanted to blu,
them. The fact that our boys wer
risk;ng their lives for the protec
ton of their life and property di
not prevent them from o%vercharg
ing their protectors to the limit
The American soldier had cash an
the Frenchmen wanted al he coul