Evening star., 1927-05-05

Great Britain's surprise" note TO
this Government, assailing Secretary
Melons letter to President Hibben
of Princeton University last March
on the British and other war debts, is
not necessarily to be regarded as an
effort to open up the British debt
settlement. it was said in official
circles today. Indeed, it was pointed
out that there has been no move by
the British government toward such
an end.
The feeling is growing@here that the
British note was intended not so much
for American consumption as Tor
foreign. Secretary Melons letter to
DR.. Hibben has been widely comment
ed upon both in England and the
continental countries which are
debtors of Great Britain.
Kellogg Sends Note.
Secretary Kellogg of the State De-
partment, in d curt note, has replled
TO the British that the American GOV
ernment regards the correspondence
between Mr.. Mellon and DIR. Hibben
as a purely domestic discussion. lie
added that the United States Govern
ment does not desire to engage IN any
formal diplomatic exchanges upon the
subject.
Specifically. the British note com.
plained against what it termed the
misleading impression given by Mr.
Mellon that Great Britain debt pay
ments to the United States will not
constitute a drain on Englands eco
nomic resources and that she is re-
ceiving in reparationS from other ma
tions more than her payments to the
American Treasury.
A chief point of disagreement which
appears to have been a leading factor
in the new airing of war debts was
statement by Mr.. Mellon in his Hibben
letter that "all our principal debtors
are already receiving from Germany
more than enough to pay their debts
to The United States" This the Brit
ish government denied as to its own
circumstance and Mr.. Mellon, in his
public statement, admits that through
a typographical error the words Tex
cept Great Britain were inadvertent
ly omitted. He contended, however
that the error was IAN obvious one
and was corrected Immediately by the
text following.
Discussion Was Foreshadowed.,
In fact, this phase of the Hibben
letter foreshadowed renewal of the
debt discussion long before any init
nations developed that a formal note
was to be delivered. The sentence re-
garding adequate reparations by ALI
other countries to take care of the
American obligations was subjected to
wide discussion in the foreign press,
and was the cause for which frequent
questions were directed at British
cabinet members in the House of Com
mons.
The British note declared that "an
important error is contained in Sec
rotary MELONS figures of the receipts
of Great Britain from France.
"These appear TO include" the
note said, "the sums which were due
by the Bank of France to the Bank
of England in repayment of an ad'
vance made during the war; This
loan was q private transaction and is
not an ntergovernmental debit
To this, Mr.. Mellon replied:
while not admitting it, the Brit
ish governments note does not deny
that the sums specified in my letter
We're actually paid by the people o.
France, Germany and Italy, but say;
in substance that some of the sums
paid accrued TO the benefit of th'
Bank of England, others 10 the do
n1inions, and apparently from oul
reading of their figures such items
as payment for war stocks are no
considered by them as accruing u
the benefit of the eXcheQuer on &C
count of war debts.
Britain Denies COntentiOusness.
"There is bound TO be disagreement
when the American Treasury Depart
naent, in discussing payments receives
from Germany, Includes all payments
while the British government in an
swer confines itself 10 payments strict
Iy on account Of reparations and Bel
gian war debt"
At the ouset Of it's note, the Britisl
government emphasized that while
regretted Mr.. Melons inaccuracies,
the communication was presented I'll
no contentious spirit"
"On the contrary" the note said
their OBritish governments desire j
to maintain and TO promote a fIiendl
understanding between the two grea
Inglish.spealing nations.
They view with great misgiving'
tha divergence Of opinions and tn
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