The Washington herald., 1922-07-30
By SIR PHILIP GIBBS.

LONDON, July LS.-OuueT pFcSSurc
Of alarming facts which smashed
false illusions with knockout blow,
European statesmen. including those
of France have at last decided to
get down to arithmetic and reality
and try to work out some practical
way way of saving themselves and
each other from colossal disaster. 1t
is equally important for all business
men and those who form the great
body Of public opinion to clear their
minds Of passionate nonsense and
look at the actual facts or the world
situation in a scientific spirit. 1t Is. Of
course. difficult for ordinary citizens
to get at vital facts because they are
obscured from day to day by small
he devils of news and masses Of
conflicting opinion, so newspaper
readers are bewildered and cannot see
the woods for the trees.
At the risk of being very dull !
propose to set out in straightfor-
ward way the facts and figures most
significant in the European problem
at the present moment. 1t will then
be possible to understand more
clearly the difficulties involved and
the possibility Of settlement.
England Chief Creditor.
First. under the heading of inter-
national debts: Great Britain Is the
chief creditor of Europe. apart from
the United States. Foreign countries
and British dominions owe England
little more than two Thousand mill
lion pounds. OF this debt France owes
England five hundred eighty-four mill
IL.
nine hundred thirty-five millions. Now
what Is the financial position OF Eng
land at the present time? Her
credit stands good and Is steadily i'm
proving for a. variety of reasons. The
chief OF these is the British tradition
for business honesty, quality OF goods
and sound banking methods.
By tremendous taxation. which has
reached its maximum limit. the BRIT
ish government has succeeded in bal
ancing its budgets. preventing infia-
tion of paper money. But that taxa
tion is not Likely to produce the same
amount of revenue in the future ow-
ing to its gripping effect on capital
and industry. British export trade.
slightly improving, has decreased
nearly 80 per cent in many. important
articles and over 100000 men are
unemployed in consequence.
Below Safety Margin.
As proof of pacific intentions, the
British army has been reduced to
limits below the safety margin for
policing the Asiatic peoples. For
economy's sake as well as because of
an anti-militarist policy, Britain is
impotent in air craft compared with
France, which has over 2, 900 fighting
aeroplanes; there are only 200 in Eng
land.
The time is at hand when Britain
will be unable to maintain her
present population unless there is
speedy Improvement in world trade,
and with that thought in view the
| British government has just agreed
to expend 100000 annually in
bearing half the cost of migrat tion
charges to the dominions.
All classes in England excep,
working men are being bled white
to support these burdens. The old
aristocracy is abandoning ancient
houses and parks, the middle
classes find difficulty in paying
their income tax of shillings in
the pound, and industrialists find
enterprise restricted for the same
reason. Nevertheless. Britain is de-
termined to pay her debt to the
United States, and at the same time
signified her willingness under GER
tain conditions to wipe out the
French debt to her, thereby neces-
stating new taxation and new sac
rifces on the bulk of the people.
There is virtue in that. for il
must be admitted. and has been ad-
mitted, that it needs some nobility
of soul to adopt this view of the
world policy. But it is also the
policy of common sense and self
interest. More important to Britain
than collection of paper debts is
the revival of world trade and the
security of European peace.
British public opinion, with few
though powerful exceptions, favors
any policy which will revive export
trade and enable former markets
to buy her goods. Most important
among those markets are Germany.
Russia and Austria. There is no
chance whatever of revival of
world trade until German repara-
tions are revised and settled on a
basis within reasonable time. Aus
tria is a dreadful warning of what
happens when a nation is forced to
the printing press by impossible
debts and internal bankruptcy. In
July the price of bread in Vienna
advanced from 1,7S0 kronen to
2'2OO for two-pound loaf, an in
crease of 100 per cent in three
weeks. Immense mobs of men and
women threatened with starvation
massed round government offices
with a menace OF anarchy.
Fooled With Problem.
For years the allied powers
fooled with this Austrian problem,
refused to remit their debts or ad-
vance loans, with the result that
now in a panic they have done both
too late. Supposing Germany goes
the way of Austria. If the German
mark comes much lower that is
bound to happen. for food markets
VIII reach heights which no
amount of paper money available
IN the workers hands will reach.
and as sure as fate anarchy will
prevail. There will then be no
reparations for France, no German
markets for England.
England has been injured by Ger