Evening star., 1927-05-05
i. S. DECLINES DEBT
PAGANDA PART
Correspondence With Britain
Regarded as Effort to
Bring Reconsideration.
BY DAVID LAWRENCE.

Both ID6 governments OF Great
Britain and the United States may bt
proved right in the correspondence
just exchanged over war debts--it al
depends on how you look at the fig
ures and how YOU segregate them fol
discussion. Everything else is simply
sn- effort to bring about reconsidera
ton of the settlements. To such 4
propaganda the United States govern
ment declines to be n party,
This in a nutshell is the concensus
here in government quarters. Secre
tary Mellon in his statement does not
take back the principal statements
he made to the effect that all the hue
and cry about tax burdens for Euro
pean peoples was pretty muchc hue
and cry and nothing else. for all the
debtors would soon be receiving from
Germany more than enough to pay
their interallied debts.
Tax Burden Increase Denied.
MIR. Mellon comedies that Britain
has not yet received enough to pay
her debts to America, but points out
that as for the tax burden this viii
! not necessarily be increased in the
/ next two generations" as the Prince
= ton and Columbia presidents We're in
Clined to argue. He makes it clear
that the offer of Britain to cancel the
sums owed her by continental allies
provided equal sums owed by Britain
TO the United States were Cancelled by
the latter would leave American clu-
Zens holding the bag, as the United
States doesn't owe any other country.
In fact. the American people alone
would suffer by such transaction,
and until they are ready to burn the
Liberty bonds they hold such a propo-
sition is, in the view of the Wash
ington Government. entirely out OF the
question.
Much more important, however,
than the dispute over the statements
made and the figures, is the fact that
the British government took hand
in the private dispute between the
college professors and the American
Government on this side of the At
lantic. The view of the Treasury is
that the British government has been
anxious for an opportunity to get its
views before the public. 1t could not
interfere when the United States was
settling its debts with France and
Italy because it might have en-
barassed the British, who, in relation
to the continent, were creditors, too.
Regarded as Campaign.
There was a disposition in Ameri-
can circles TO regard Inc BRUSH note
eS part of campaign of education on
Che part of the British, believing that
not necessarily cancellation, but re-
vision, might be fastened if the cue
given by the Princeton and Columbia
faculties We're taken up at this time.
The British governments message is
not regarded here, however, as Of
fensive. The relations between Lon
don and Washington are too cordial
for such an Interpretation.
But the British note is, nevertheless,
considered rather sharp in its tone,
and there is a good deal of surprise
here at it's phraseology, though the
view is expressed that the British
cabinet is constantly under the neces-
sity of conforming to the current opin-
ion of the empire to the effect that
Americas viewpoint on the debt ques-
ton is unduly harsh.
The key to the British attitude in
engaging in a correspondence OF its
own initiative is TO be found in that
part of its note which says the Lon
don government views with great
misgiving the divergence of opinion
and the estrangement of sentiment
which is growing up in regard to
these war obligations" and which adds
that it appears to the British govern
ment ito be the task of British and
American statesmen to do what can
be done to alleviate this difference of
view by setting out frankly and fairly
the facts of the case and the policy
adopted by either side
In the view of the American Gov
ernment, the only differences of opin-
ion which are growing up are those