Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1928-07-08
BY FRANK ii. SIMONDS.

nifty Tor making rougn Dut ap-
i proximately exact estimate of
the debt burdens which the prin-
cipal countries of the war have to carry
as consequence of the great struggle.
We are now able to fix the price which
the next two generations In Europe will
have to pay for the policies and per-
formances of the last.
At the outset it is necessary to note
the different manner In which the sew
eral countries have been compelled to
face the problem. Great Britain. like
the United States, has shouldered the
whole burden 1t has, in fact, expanded
it, because much of the money actually
borrowed was borrowed when the pound
sterling was below par. Thus many
Britons who lent money to their govern
ment when the immediate postwar
years saw the pound sterling down
nearly to 81, will be repaid on the basis
of S4.87.
France and Italy. on the other hand,
have been compelled to reduce their
debt by the simple but drastic method
of lowering the value of their monetary
unit. Thus the French franc has been
brought down from something less than
20 cents to approximately 4, and the
Italian Ira from the same pre-war value
to about cents The French govern
ment, having borrowed upward of
$50 1000 000, 900 from its own people. will
pay them only $4,000. 100000. while
Great Britain, having borrowed $25 ,000,-
100000, will pay $4,000, 100000.
Germany's Plan Different.
| Germany. on the other hand. has met
| the problem by straight reputation.
iy,E id he
mark took on astronomical proportions
the debt became practically valueleSs.
| When the retenmark was adopted all
| the billions borrowed during the war
lost their total value. Despite a certain
amount of so-called revalorization of the
debts, for all practical purposes the re-
pudiation was complete.
AS it stands today, the total debts of
| the great European countries, foreign
and domestic, are as follows: Great
Britain, $4,000, 900, 900: France, S19,-
| 900 900, 900; Italy. S21, 000, 600, 900. and
| Germany, $3.50, 900 900. For purpose of
comparison it may be noted that the
gross American debt is about $1,000
| 900. 900 and the net-that is. after the
real value of the debt adjustments is
subtracted-around $4,000. 000. 900. This
represents a reduction of upward of
| 81. 00O, O00. 900 from the immediate post
war maximum.
When 1t comes to the question of the
annual charge, the sum which the tax
payers have to furnish to meet the in
terest on the huge national debts, the
| figures are as follows: Great Britain.
81, $50 900 900; France. 5000 900 900, and
Italy, well above $500, 900 900. The Ger
man debt charge, by contrast, is but
| sac. 900 900. Here, however. there en-
tiers new factor-while Germany will
pay only this relatively insignificant
sum to her own debtors. she must also
pay next year $625 ,000, 900 on account
of reparations. Thus her total pay
ments will aggregate s665 900 900. a sum
still much inferior to the debt charges
OF Great Britain and France
Big Annual Payments.
In the matter of foreign debts Great
Britain owes to the United States up
| ward of $4,000, 900 900. on which she
| pays annually $3.50. 900 900 on the aver
age. France owes to Britain and the
United States around $4,000. 900 900,
and her annual payments under exist
| ing agreements. still unratified, will av-
erage close to 5000 1000 900. The Italian
debt. nominally $4,000. 600, 900, owed to
Britain and the United States, will
impose an average annual burden of
we'll above 500. 0000 900.
Over against this payment to foreign
creditors Great Britain. France and
| Italy all draw shares of the German
reparations payments. which. were the
maximum sums to be maintained. would
be divided thus: Britain. $3.50, 600, 900 !;
France, $325 900 900. and Italy, S62.-
100000. Thus were Germany 10 nay
| for 81 years Great Britain would get
enough from Germany directly and
| from France and Italy more than
enough to meet the American oblisa-
ton. France would get enough to meet
both American and British debt charges
and still have comfortable balance,
but Italy would still have to find at
least S50,000.000 annually for her debt
payments.
The figures have very real importance
at the moment because 1t is on them
that must be based any final adjustment
OF the Dawes plan. And here we en-
counter two doctrines-the British and
the French, The British, on the basis
Of the famous Balfour policy, insist that
their debtors. who were their allies,
chiefly France and Italy. shall furnish
enough money annually to meet the
British debt charge to America when
added to the annual Dawes plan pay
ment. Thus. If the sum of the annual
payments by Germany is reduced. the
size OF the French and Italian pay
ments viii be increased or. more ex-
actly. there viii be no chance of any
reduction of the sums now paid by these
countries. as might presently occur if
the Dawes plan maximum continued
over few years, long enough to make
UP past deficits.