Evening star., 1922-08-02
The British Debt Note.

by the British government on the
subject Of the interallied Indebtedness
is no concern of the United States.
1t may be accepted as comparable to
a merchant sending out notice to his
customers to the effect that, as he
! has heavy obligations to meet. he
must insist upon prompt settlement Of
their bills. 1t is no concern Of the
creditors Of the merchant. what method
he takes to collect his accounts.
But, unofficially, the British note Is
bound to create a most unfortunate
impression in this country. The word.
ing Of it is not happy and it certainly
will not tend either to the strength
ening Of cordial relations between
Great Britain and the United States
or to inspiring in American minds a
greater degree Of generosity in respect
to the huge sums Of money owed by
the government of Europe to this
government.
The British note argues that it
would be unjust to the British tax.
owed her by other nations so long
as she had to pay the sums she owes
the United States. but that the British
government would favor all-around
cancellation Of interallied indebted
ness. And why should not the British
government favor all-around cancel
lation? AS the sums owed Great Brit
ain by other governments almost ex-
actly equal the sums she owes this
government the British taxpayers
would have nothing to lose. and at
little or no cost Britain would get the
credit Of large generosity. But the
governments Of Europe owe this gov
ernment in the neighborhood of eleven
billion dollars. with no money owed
to other governments as an Offset. so
thatsall-around cancellation would rep
resent a total loss to the United
States, and the American taxpayer
would be left to hold the bag. To
the British government it evidently
makes considerable difference whose
taxpayer is to be gored.
The absence of logic in the British
argument is less important than the
presence of innuendo. The note says
it cannot be agreeable to generous
minds" to insist upon these financial
settlements, but by implication 1t Is
declared that so long as ungenerous
minds-the minds Of Americans, Of
OF
erous- minded British government has
no alternative, however much 1t may
regret that the world situation must
be looked upon from this narrow
financial standpoint
But the feature Of the note which
will leave the most disagreeable taste
in American mouths is the avowal
of the British government that 1t has
no desire to make profit out Of the
loans it made to the allies. I'm NO
circumstances" says the note, do
we propose to ask from our debtors
more than is necessary to pay our
creditors. And, while we do not ask
more, all will admit that we can
hardly be content with less" 20.
Laying aside the suggestion that
the American government seeks profits
from its war loans, this paragraph
of the British note reaches the su--
preme height of inconsistency. In one
breath it declares the British govern
ment can wipe of credits. only to the
extent its debts are forgiven, and in
the next it finds fault with the United
States for not forsiving money owed
when it owes no money which might
be forgiven as an Offset.
The British government. has many
achievements in diplomacy which re-
dound to it's everlasting glory, but
this latest note on the subject Of the
interallied debts certainly is not one
OF them.