Evening star., 1931-12-20
SENATE APPROVAL
OF DEBT PLAN DUE
Flllbuster, Lone Possibility
for Delay, Believed
Unlikely.
Continued From First Page.)

Gore Of Oklahoma, Senator Connally of
Iexas, Senator Nye of North Dakota
and others,
Various estimates of the strength in
the Senate against the resolution run
from one-quarter of the Senators to
one-thlrd. It Is not generally believed
however, that the number of opposing
votes will run as high as a third, and
it may be considerably less. The pas
sage of the resolution, once it comes to
a vote, IS admitted even by its op-
ponents
The Senate committee made no
change in the resolution passed by the
House by vote of BIT to 100 on Fri
day night. If there is no amendment
on the floor, the resolution will, as
soon as it has been passed by the Sem
ate and signed by the Vice President
and the Speaker Of the House, be sent
to President Hoover for his approval
The President will sign the resolution
Immediately, it is declared, and the
legislation necessary to make the mora
torium effective so far as this country
Ragon Section Accepted.
No effort was made in committee and
none is likely on the floor of the Sen
ate to strike out the fifth section,
known as the Ragon section, which de-
ClareS it to be against the policy Of
Congress to cancel or reduce the debts
owed this country by foreign nations
growing out of the World War
The hearings growing out Of the
Johnson resolution into the fiotation Of
foreign bonds and other securities in
this country by American international
bankers" will be continued tomorrow
with representatives Of a number OF
banking and bond houses before the
Senate Finance Committee, including
Kuhn, Loeb & Co.; Chase Securities
Co. and Dillon, Read q Co. Senator
johnson said yesterday that there is
much more to be investigated before the
hearings are completed
Members of the Finance Committee
yesterday manifested great interest in
the statement made by Charles E.
Mitchell of the National City Bank and
of the National City Corporation, in
which he said that he could not con-
ceive" of the German peoples con-
tinuing to pay reparations for the next
so years, and that it would bring re-
bellion' in Germany If it were per-
sisted in.
Young men are going into German
universities today who were not born
when the war started" said Mr.. Mitch
ell. They are told that they and their
progeny must pay for war for which
they were not responsible. There is q
rebellion growing up against the pay
lnent of these debts
He said that the problem was politi-
cal and psychological and went far be-
yond simple question Of debt con-
| tracted which must be paid for.
IF this moratorium jc 10 10
a foundation for reputation Of the
payment of war debts" interrupted
Senator King of Utah, then some of
us will hesitate to vote for this mora
torlum resolution"
Mr.. Mitchell hastened to say that he
was mot preaching a doctrine of deft
cancellation; that he was opposed to
debt cancellation
Senator Watson suggested that if the
Germans refused to pay their repara-
tons, then France and other allied ma
tions would refuse to pay their debts
to this country.
Mr.. Mitchell admitted that he be-
lleved France and the other debtor ma
lions would not pay the United States
II German reparations were discon-
tinued
1t was pointed out to Mr.. Mitchell bv
| members of the committee that there
was legal and moral difference between
the war reparationS eXacted of Ger
many and the debts owed this coutry
by the allied nations. The latter were
the result of loans of money made to
France. Great Britain and the others
by America. Senator Gore of Okla
homa suggested that 1t was a dream
that these nations would be paying
/ these debts for the next so wears"
At this point Senator Reed of Penn
sylvan1a, strong opponent of debt
cancellation, asked:
Question Is "Unanswerable"
Why should the progeny of America
bear all the burden Of this war which
was started by others?"
Mr.. Mitchell replied that Mr. Reeds
question was "unansVerable." He Sug-
gested that an impasse was impending
in the future.
Mr. Mitchell gave to the committee
detailed statements of the profits made
by his company in the f1otation of for
eign securities in this country over a
long period Of years. He showed that
the net gains had been about S24.7 1885,
600 on securities totaling about S2,332,-
100000 f1oated in this country. He
said that so far as he knew his COM
pany had not made loss on any Of
these transactions.
But the public has lost money in
them" a committeeman remarked.
Yes, as in all other securities" an
swered Mr. Mitchell. But the public
also has made profits out of these for
eign securities" He said that in %
issues of foreign bonds, since retired
and tota1ing s425, 900 900, the public has
made a net profit Of S44. .563, 900.
You must not get the idea" he con-
tinued, that investors in foreign bonds
have only made losses. believe that
they have lost less in foreign bonds,
generally speaking, than in domestic
issues in recent years"
He told the committee that many
member banks of the Federal Reserve
System held these foreign bonds today.