Evening star., 1922-06-11
WHAT AMERICA is WILLING TO DO
TO AID in EUROPE'S RESTORATION

Internal loans estimated at s155. ooo.o 900. to
say nothing Of the uncountable billions of fiat
money which are direct obligations of the
governments issuing it. To pour the proceeds
Of loans into such financial maelstrom With
out there being basic reformat1ons would oe
sheerest folly and would serve only to ag-
gravate the situation.
Europe appears to believe, and is trying 10
make US believe that cancellation of the inter-
allied war debt, and particularly the debt to
America Is the thing necessary 10 orlns
about balancing of budgets, a stablllzatlon OF
exchange and the resumption OF productivity
Where that argument Is not founded on oe-
1usion it Is attempt at deception. fro-
visions for payment the debt owed tne
United States have not helped unbalance Eu-
ropean budgets for the simple reason that
no provisions for such payments, except IN
rare Instances and for minor amounts nave
yet entered into European pudset caie'
tons The same thing applies 10 eAchahse'
Exchange is not unbalanced because OF dept-
having operations. because no such operations
have been undertaken OF are In early prospect
The exchange market Is influenced by oaE-to-
dav transactions not by transactions II may
possibly be called upon to care LOT ~ s'"'7
time in the remote future.
We hear every day that present condit'ohs
in Europe are due to the war anu are d
natural result of It's destruction. That also is
a delusion There was no such obstruction III
IN. war either Of manpower or materials ap-
Mailing and unprecedented as such wastase
was as would account for the headlons prog
ress Europe has made since tne ar'histiee ~
ward a financial and economic debacie'
nation involved in war Overwhelmingly
as were the nations of continental Europe
must necessarily live its fat during the
wears OF conflict. But since the armistice Eu-
rome as whole has kept right on living on
its fat-depleting Its stocks, increasing lts
debts and initiating It's currencies until the
time has come when there Is little more lat
to be eaten, when there can be no 1urther
substantial borrowings and currencies have
been inflated almost to the point of worth
lessness.
That Europe since the armistice has con-
tinued her headlong pace toward ruin is not
due to the war, but to the unwisdom OF the
peace. That fact is great deal more
widely recognized than it Is admitted A few
men In Europe have been both sane enough to
see and brave enough to speak the truth. but
most of her statesmen are either unable 10
discern the facts deferred by political
considerations from proclaiming them Amer
leans. with the better vision which distance
gives not only ought to be able to see the
facts, but there Is reason why they should
be awed to silence in their presence.
The two major mistakes Of the peace from
which Europe Is suffering today the fan
tasy Of reparations and the utter disregard
of economic boundaries when political boup
dares established.
* X X
So long the finance ministers of Europe
predicate their programs upon the Impossible
supposition that thirty-three billions of dol
lars are going to be collected from Germany.
just long will it be impossible to start the
finances Of those countries toward sound
bases
So long self determination gives peo-
pies political liberty but deprives them Of
means of earning livelhoods Just so long will
those peoples be without economic value to
their neghbors, either producers n