, 1923-01-08
BUSINESS SETTLEMENT OF DEBT
ASKED BY BRITISH Commission


Continued from Page one.)
the r~eparations commission would de-
clare the Germans in default at eth
er tho meeting today or tomorrow.
there remain a number OF delicate
points for the French to clear up be-
fore the plan to operate the Ruhr la
sin can be put in operation. One OF
these difficulties is whether the Ger
man engineers and mine managers
shall be retained. in view of the fact
thca II would take French officials at
least a month to master the details
American products. There would be
a diminished export demand for
American cereals, cotton. meats Inc
other products of the soil, the mine
and the factory. DESTROYS as we are
to maintain the social scale of u
own worker, the effect of additional
taxation would be inevitably to de-
press It. From the consequences OF
that I do not SEQ how America can
escape.
"Our modern civilization does not
permit of economic isolation. Speak
ing broadly, If I may use the phrase,
spotted prosperity is impossible. II
on the economic map of the world
LllCIo IL a 6BON VI ptooRSAAN Qua
rounded by distress, hat spot will
not spread to bring health but It win
be wiped out by poverty and misery
tina surround It.
This debt. is not a debt for dollars
sent TO Europe. The money was all
expended here, most OF 1t for cotton,
wheat, poe products and munitions
of war. American labor received the
wages; American capitalists tho pro-
fits; the United States treasury the
taxation imposed on those profits.
1--WE have now seen that immediate
repayment by gold is impossible and
that an equivalent transaction in re-
payment by goods is full of difficult
ties SO we shall have to explore what
remaining method of international
payments are presented by the mar.
kets Of the world.
sHere attention will have to be
paid to several considerations. We
lent large sums to and established
large credits for our European allies
30 that while we are dealing with gu
liabilities we find a large proportion
Of our assets temporarily frozen To
balance our annual accounts, in times
OF unexampled difficulty we have
made great sacrifices. we are affected
by an economic situation in Europe
and are passing through tho worst
period of unemployment in our his
tory.
"I have already referred to the
weight of our taxation which with
the prolonged unemployment is AL
ready bearing cruelty on our women
and children. So far from the wal
having left us richer by h acquisi-
ton of new territory, the acceptance
Of mandates in some of the most dis,
turbed parts of the world has in.
volved us in vast ~unproductive ex-
penditures in policing and patrolling
the territories in which we have no
economic rights which are not open
equally TO other pations.
Having regard to all these circum.
stances the British government has
to consider very carefully the terms
of the liquidation of the debt lest an
annual obligation be assumed which
It might be impossible to meet in
years of bad trade n falling reve-
nue..
IN commo with the rest OF tho
world. we have watched with admira,
ton the open handed charity of
America to the stricken countries of
Europe. to the peoples of Belgium
of France, and OF Russia. The gen
erosity of America Is proverbial. but
we are not here to ask for favors or
to impose on generosity. We want
only such terms as Will produce the
least possible disturbances in the trade
relations of the two countries. a fair
business settlement square deal. a
settlement that will secure for Amer.
lea the repayment to the last cent Of
those crdelts which the United States
government established for us. their
associates in the war"