Red Lodge daily news combined with Carbon County news., 1931-11-12
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER II, 1881
INJURING MILLIONS TO PROFIT THOUSANDS
By GEORGE B. LOCKWOOD

correspondent of the Chicago Tribune has been III
tervewng some Of the bic bankers in New York of the
type commonly called international bankers that Is bank
ers who have been floating in this country large loans to
foreign and industries, and III dong SO have
done unreasonable damage to the industrial and financial
interests of the United States This correspondent says
that at this time they about popular as the proyerb
ia polecat at a Sunday picnic They are however, bent
on continuing the policy of making foreign financial sta
bity and prosperity the first concern OF the American
government.
Thomas W. Lamont Of J. P Morgan and Company,
Americas biggest private banking firm says that in view
of the position of the United States overwhelmingly the
worlds greatest creditor nation it is up to us to put Eu
rope in position pay her debts to goods by scaling
down our tariff This would of course permit fore gn
cheap labor production to displace to greater
tent than under the present inadequate protective law the
output Of better paid American labor.
America is not much OF creditor nation as our IN
ternationa bankers seem We hold the oblga
tons Of European governments for money loaned them
during the World war; but the value OF these Obligations
even after scaling them down one-ha questionable
It is probable that American bankers who have taken
second mortgage Europe in private loans at high
rates of interest will be able to get the first mortgage can
ceed at the expense of the taxpayers OF America III order
that these fooshy taken second mortgages may be made
good, or at least better than they now.
In our dealings with foreign nations the international
account is practically even. During the fiscal year 1929
80 the debit and credit accounts Of America with the rest
of the world approximately even-about ten billion
dollars each way America makes nothing out of these
transactions it is only swap. 1t is mporan
that this country should be kept in position to pay
this ten billion dollars as that other countries should b.
put in position to pay their ten billion dollars Thi
situation does not seem to indicate that after all
t.overwhemingly'' creditor nation.
AS for sacrificing American wages standards of LIVING
and employment in order to enable international bank
to collect what they loaned Europe in the face of tn
precarious political and economic conditions prevailin
there preference to nvsng at lower rates Of inter
st in the United States, there many who feel that
there preference to investing it at lower rates of inter
ests is uncaed for It is true that these vast
not be lost without doing harm in the United States bu
it is better that few Americans should lose money
wisely nvestd abroad than that hundreds Of thousand
Of Americans should lose their jobs in order that foreign
may the money to pay off their debts to thes
investors.
Most unemployment existing in the United State
is due to the displacement of American production by
egn production based cheapness which is at the sam
time paralyzng consuming power in Europe and there
fore presenting nsuperabe obstacles to recovery on thu
continent America will not help the rest Of the world
destroying the consuming power of it's workers throug
exposing them to unfair competition with lower foreg
wages and living standards