Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-08-14
PAYING UNCLE SAM

lllC
money of Uncle Sam during the
war who is making even a motion
toward paying its debt and that
is Great Britaian. She is making
arrangements to pay US six months
interest soon. This will come to
about $125,G GOO, 600. No doubt she
has enough gold to pay that much,
but the Manchester Guardian
seems doubtful of the ability OF
Great Britain to keep on paying
principal and interest on the Brit
ish debt to the United States un-
less she can sell us more goods.
And just now congress is doing its
best to keep British and all other
foreign goods out of the American
market by a tariff wall higher than
n we ever had before. W. don't
blame the British newspaper for
feeling a little blue over the pros
pect. The Manchester Guardian
says:
Arrangements are shortly to be
made for the funding Of the British
debt to the United States. The
debt at the present rate of ex-
change amounts 70 about $780,
600, 900 and the interest on it to
about ESQ, 600, 900 a year, or nearly
a shilling on the income tax. The
first half-year's installment is to
be paid this year, and provisions
for it has already been made in the
budget. The funding of the debt
means that we shall convert it from
a general liability at call to a def
mite obligation in the form of
bonds with a specified rate of in
terest and redemption. Under the
terms upon which we borrowed
from America it was agreed that
we should so fund our debt if
called upon. The legal obligation
is perfectly watertight; there is
little doubt that we can honor it,
and none whatever that if we al
we shall. But there are difficult
ties which most Americans do not
seem to realize. If, as their re-
funding bill enacts, redemption is
to be affected within Is years, u
annual payment will be raised to
some ETC. 1000, 900 a year. If we are
to pay even the ESQ, ooo,o 600 our last
years exports to America will have
to be, directly or indirectly, more
than doubled.
rs America prepared to receive
goods to this extent? She could
hardly show more emphatically
than she is now doing. through the
Fordney tariff bill and the ship
ping bill, that she is not. These
bills are designed to close every
door by which payment could pos
sibly be made. They may not be-
come law, but they show the kind
of turmoil which an influx Of
cheap British goods" would make
if they were allowed to enter.
THAT. it may be said, is Amer
ica's affair. If she asks for the
goods let her have them. But we
have a painful recollection of a
precisely similar mistake made by
our own government, which first
insisted on payment from Germany
and then passed a safeguarding Of
industries act to stop her. We are
in the unique position of having
felt the stick at both ends. and
know that both are equally pain
full. Perhaps it is no oncer of
ours to save America from a SINH
lar humiliating lesson in the
school of experience, but we are
entitled to point out that if the
American tariff and shipping
policy prevent the debt from be-.
ing paid it will be no fault of ours.
One can go farther and say that
the existing American tariff. so
far from being raised, will have to
be greatly reduced before any ap-
preciable portion of Europe's debt
can be redeemed"
In round numbers, Great Britain
owes our government some five
dollars and at five per cent
the interest. without considering
fund, would be a quarter
a billion dollars a year. This,
We are informed, is about twice her
present exports to the United
If these remained sta
Great Britain would have
o fund $lz5,00o,o 900 in gold in
edition to her goods every year
o ship to US in order 40 pay her
interest. When it is considered