Evening star., 1925-11-01
i. S. FOREIGN POLICY PUTS
BURDEN ON ALL EUROPE
AS Universal Creditor, America Must Be
Pointed to as the Reason for High
Taxes in Europe.
By FRANK II. SIMONDS.

By FRANK H. SIMONDS.
y the weeks that have followed the
| initiating Of the various pacts of
| Locarno there has been in the
! L United States a fairly complete
| appraisal of the European conse-
! quences of the Locarno achievement.
Broadly speaking, 1t has been recog-
| nlZed that there has been restored an
approximation Of the old concert Of
Europe. basis for cooperation be-
| tween the great powers, a removal of
| those various obstacles, born Of war
| passions and pre-war and postwar
fears and hatreds, which made any
really collective European action i'm
| possible. Today not only are all the
| great powers on a basis Of possible
business relations, but Russia, which
| Is temporarily only not to be classed
a great power, is giving unmistakable
evidence Of a desire to end her isola-
! tion.
But this restoration of European
| solidarity has an immediate and far
| reaching importance for the United
States. Hitherto, during the war and
| even more since the war, a hopelessiy
divided Europe has, without success
| to be sure, but with unfailing assidu-
ity, sought to persuade the United
States to take sides. Financially, eco-
nomically, indeed in all ways, we
| emerged from the war the supreme
world power, and our support, could it
| have been enlisted, would have been
a decisive aid to any one of the vari-
GUS contending nations. France,
| Britain, Germany, all have sought our
favors and they have sought them
as the way to triumph over a rival or
| a former enemy.
From the arrnistice TO Locarno we
have been, in a measure, the arbiter
| of world destinies, the potential ar
| bitter; that is to say, we might at any
| time by the mere operation Of taking
sides have decided any issue. Our In
! ftuence, thrown TO France against
] Britain or to Britain against France
| or TO Germany against either or both
! would have carried with it irresistible
/ weight. Moreover, although we have
never used this power, save inciden.
tally during the Paris conference, II
has always been in existence and It
has dictated the attitude Of the Euro
pean nations toward us.
Settled Many Disputes.
At Locarno, however, Europe settled
its political and military disputes for
a long time to come. Peace between
France. Britain, Italy and Germany
is now established with the consent
of all concerned and with the recog-
milton by all Of the common benefits
to be derived from such an adjust.
ment. What Is of even greater signifi
canoe for us. too, the way has beer
cleared for those economic agreements
which must inevitably follow. Until
1t organized peace, 1t could not resume
business. This was automatic. But
having organized peace, Europe not
only can but must resume business
and 1t was the dominating necessity
to resume business which in the END
made Locarno possible.
Once Europe turns to the question
or business, however, what does i;
find? Directly or indirectly every
one of the nations signatory TO the
guarantee pactS lives under a tremen
dous mortgage to the United States
a double mortgage. one half represent
ed by national debts, one half by the
loans made by private bankers, by the
loans fioated in the United States
Today the sum Of what the nations
who have just made the Iocarno
agreements owe us can hardly be less
than $25, 100000. 900, something like
half the wealth of France or of Ger
many.
If one assume that for the long
future the annual payments by the
Germans under the Dawes plan vii
! dLlOullI u al average Oh S0UU,UUU,U
and the figure is frankly high, then
not only will all this sum be absorbed
into the payments of the several ma
tional debts to the United States Gov.
ernment but sum at least half as
great will be required. in addition, tc
meet our official claims, while another
half billion a year will Just as certain
ly be required for the present and
prospective borrowings from private
sources.
From the debauch which was the
World War Europe now at las
emerges Locarno to face the fact tha
In the long struggle, and almost eX
clustvely for destructive purposes, she
has borrowed S12 100000. 900 from us
and is In the process and under the
necessity of borrowing another $12,
000.000,OO0 to resume business life.
Universal Creditor.
We are no longer the possible ally
to be courted on all occasions because
our aid might help one nation to win
over another, since the nations have
now abandoned the struggle and
agreed to a common basis of settle
ment. We are the universal creditor
Moreover, now that Europe has made
its liquidation politically, the single
barrier to speedy and profitable re
sumption of normal life is the obliga
ton to America-and above all the
official obligation, the debts.
The point is perhaps worthy pass
| ing elucidation. If you assume Ger
many will pay $300,ooo000 annually
under the Dawes plan, France will
get annually $156,0oo, 900, Britain $66.
100000, Italy 100000, 900, Belgium S24.
; 100000. But Britain is to pay us ar
average Of $1s1 100000 for sixty years
Had we accepted the French proposal
J we should have collected $92 900, ,00t
} from the French. who had also agreed
} to pay the British $4,000, 900. Thu.
to us and to the British the French
would have transferred all Of theil
J receipts from Germany, with practi
, cally nothing remaining to cover tn.
reconstruction of their devastated
area.
The British, on their side, collecting
$66 900 900 from Germany and $52,
, 100000 from France, coming Of course
indirectly from Germany, would thu:
, get only $12S,000,000 against theil
! $1S1 900, 900 due us. They would ther
have to find $53.000,000 out of theil
own pocket less whatever they nigh
receive from Belgium and Italy. which
would again come from reparations
her debts to France and Britain ar,
covered by their acceptance of a per
centage Of her share Of reparations
and her remaining 5 per cent woult
cover her Indebtedness to us as set
tied recently in Washington.
Italy. on the other hand, owes no
loses than $500, ,000, 900 and her shar,
of reparations would be but 30.000,
900, less than one-half of per cen
on her capitalized debt. 1t woult
, not amount to more than 1 pc
cent upon her debt to us, were she t.
turn it all over to us, which of cours,
Is impossible, for Britain and France
have equally valid claims upon her
But If italy were able to liuuidat,