Evening star., 1925-07-26
WHY THE FRENCH THINK
DEBT TO Z. S. INVALID
Deluded by Politicians, People Have
Argued Themselves Out of Obliga-
ton to Pay War Loans.
BY SHELDON S. CLINE.

was one country where it was
u not necessary to inquire into
the question of American debt
payments, inasmuch as the British
government already has funded and is
making payments on its debt to the
American Government.
In Paris, the American inquirer
hnds the question of debt payments
demanding primary attention. All
other questions in the relationship
between the United States and France
are subordinate to the question of
what Is to be done about the approx
Tnately 81 900 900 900 debt which the
French government owes the Gov
ernment of the United States. This Is
just as true from the French point
of view as. II is from the American
point Of view. The Frenchman is just
as anxious to know that the Gov
ernment at Washington intends to do
about the debt as the American is to
know what the government at Paris
antends to do about it.
, Phases OF Debt Question.
To an American, the question of
the debt owed the United States by
France divides itself naturally into
three parts:
First-Are the French Willing to
pay?
Second-Do the French intend to
pay?
Third-Are the French able to pay?
The answer to the first question
must be a negative one, at the pres
ent writing. The time may come-I
think 1t will-when the French will
pay willingly, both because they will
see it is to their advantage to pay and
because they will come to a better
understanding Of the principles in
volved; but that time is not now in
sight.
The second question calls for an
affirmative answer, with qualifications.
There are many shades of public
opinion in France, supported by vary
ing degrees of intelligence. 1t is the
intention of well-informed Frenchmen,
OF the big financial and business lead
ers, that the American debt shall be
adjusted on basis satisfactory to the
American Government; not because
they are willing to pay. but because
they know they must to save the
credit Of France. 1t is this well
informed section of French public
opinion which eventually will cause
France to undertake payment
Payments In the Future.
Qualifications are necessary also in
answering the third question. France
IL present prospects hold. she can be-
gin payments a few years hence and,
stretched over a period of So years or
more, payment of the debt to Afnertca
will not be an insuperable burden.
In discussing these three phases of
the debt question want to be as fair
the French people and to French opin-
ion as I know how. I know that any
evidence of unfairness would be con-
demned at home. For, say what you
will, however aggravating and seem
ingly contradictory some of the things
France has done since the armistice,
the American people still admire and
still have a warm affection for the
people of France. They have not for
fotten Lafayette and they have not
forgotten Verdun. They know the ter
rife and the heroic sacrifices made by
France, and they are sympathetic.
But they are perplexed. They cannot
understand how a people can at one
time be so sublimely great and at an
other so seemingly lacking in the at
tributes of greatness.
Unbiased View Not Easy.
have tried hard to get an unbiased
look at a fair cross section of French
public opinion. But 1t has not been
easy. Whatever other faults the Eng
1ishman may have, a lack of frankness
is not a fault with him. He says what
he thinks, and If you don't like it you
can lump 1t. The Frenchman is not
frank, at least not upon short ac-
Quaintance.
He adheres to the ancient diplomatic
maxim that words were invented to
conceal thoughts. He is instinctively
polite. Unless he has a purpose to
make you think something he particu-
larly wants you to think, his impulse
Is to tell you what he thinks you want
to be told. Naturally, it is not easy
to get at the back of the mind Of a
man whose mind works like that.
But, fortunately for the travelling
inquirer, there are Americans in
France who have been here long
time, and whose business it is to get
beneath the surface and know what
is going on. Some of them are in
banking and other businesses. Some
are representatives of the American
Government 1t is largely upon con-
Versations with these men that I have
based what L am going to write-con-
Versations in which they talked freely
because they felt assured that they
would not be quoted to their business
or Official embarrassment.
Must Get French Viewpoint.
II there is to be in America an un-
derstanding of this debt question, and
OF the Frenchman's unwillingness to
nav the debt, there first must be an
understanding of the Frenchman's S
point Of view. Let it be admitted in
advance that no people in the world
have a higher standard Of commercial
integrity. than the people of France.
This Is attested to by the representa-
tives here of large American financial
and commercial interests. They say
their losses in France due to a lack
of commercial integrity are negligible;
lower actually and proportionately In
fact, than they are at home.
The Frenchman's unwillingness to
nav the American debt is not due to
any lack of honesty. 1t is due to the
fact that he has been made to believe
that the debt, in its entirety, is not a
proper one. He has no very clear idea
as to just how much of it should be
regarded as improper, but he thinks
IT ought to be cut in half, at least.
FOR this reason 1 think it is a seri-
GUS mistake for Americans to discuss
the debt question as If the French
were a dishonest people, trying to
souirm out of a just obligation. 1t Is
no more true that the French are dis
honest as a people than 1t is true that
Americans are grasping Shylocks.
Both think they are right. Under
such circumstances the only sensible
thing to do is for each to hear the
others story and to try and get the
others point of view.
How the Frenchman Sees 1t.
I had lunch the other day with an
American who has lived in Paris
nearly 90 years and whose business
brings him into contact with French
men in all walks of life, from the high.
est government officials and financial