Evening star., 1932-09-18
WAR DEBT OPINION
OF PUBLIC SOUGHT
Hoover Administration Await
ing Results of Nation.
Wide Survey.
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

Department, will watch with lively in
terest a Nationwide survey just
launched for the purpose of discover
ing public sentiment about the war
debts.
1t has been undertaken by an Or
ganization called the COMMITTEE for
the Consideration of Inter-govern-
mental Debts" and headed by Alfred
P. Sloan, jr, president Of General Mo-
tors Corporation. The committee seeks
to bring practical business opinions"
to bear upon the debt problem and to
look into 1t as purely business
proposition" The object Of the Or
ganization is to determine, from the
cold, Unconditional standpoint of what
is in the best interests Of the American
people whether the s11,000, 900 900
which Europe owes the United States
Treasury should be paid in full, re-
duced in amount or Cancelled.
Sponsored by Leaders.
Seventy-six leaders in industry, agri-
culture and labor form the organizing
committee which is sponsoring the
Committee for the Consideration Of
Inter-governmental Debts" This group
lldo loSUcO IIlN4JdllUllS, SlRIltu DJ NIL
Sloan. to several thousand representa-
tive business men and farm and labor
leaders throughout the country, asking
them to become members Of the ma jor
body. These vice chairmen are CO.
operating with Mr.. Sloan in fornu-
lating the national organization:
DR.. Nicholes Murray Butler, president
Of Columbia University: James M. Cox,
former Governor of Ohio; John w.
Davis. former Ambassador to Great
Britain; Henry P. Fletcher, former Am
bassador TO Italy; Frank o. Lowoen.
former Governor of Illinois; Edward A.
O'Neal president of the American Farm
Bureau Federation; D. B. Robertson,
president of the Brotherhood of Loco
motive Firemen and Enginemen; Alfred
E. Smith. former Governor of New
York; Louis J. Taber, master of the
National Grange; Henry A. Wallace,
editor of Wallace's Farmer, of Iowa; A.
F. Whitney. president of the Brother
hood of Railroad Trainmen, and George
w. Wickersham, former Attorney Gen.
eral.
Purposes Stated.
The broad purposes which Mr.. Sloan
and his co-workers are pursuing are set
forth in the following statement:
The problem of intergovernmental
debts is a problem of dollars and cents.
1t can be solved only by hard, straight
forward business calculations. The
a question so vital to their economic
interest unsettled any longer.
There is no aspect of the problem
that will not yield to ordinary processes
of business thinking. The question to
be asked by any one who will give rea-
soned judgment to the problem is briefly
this: What will it mean in dollars
and cents to American What will it
mean in jobs, increased production, en-
larged markets?'
If business reasoning decides that
i1.sistence on payment is the best course,
that, then, is the solution We want II
reduction or even outright cancellation
is the answer, that, on the other hand,
is the answer that will be welcomed"
Open Mind Sought.
The bipartisan makeup of the
Sloan organizing committee indicates
the non-political nature of the pro-
jected survey of the bitterly contro-
versial war debts question. Mr.. Sloan
stresses the necessity of approaching the
problem with an open mind fortified
by the cool detachment of business
logic" Upon the wise solution Of the
problem, he declares. will depend not
only the return of prosperity, but even
the welfare of the entire American
Nation"
Almost simultaneous with the an
nouncemert Of the war debts survey,
the September issue of International
Cancellation, published by the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace,
a inc cfvily 9CIIv1 q
the subject by Chairman Borah of the
Senate Foreign Relations Committee
and President Butler OF Columbia
University.
Senator Borah reiterates in general
the war debts views he expressed in his
now celebrated broadcast after the
Lausanne conference, when he said II
effect he would favor wiping out the
debts if it could be conclusively shown
such action lay in the definite interest
of American agriculture, industry and
labor.
1t is the announced purpose OF the
Sloan organization Of inquiry to bring
out vividly to just what extent, if any,
further revision of the war debts is ad-
visable. considered solely from the
standpoint of business advantage to the
American people.
THE great dominating forces con-
tributing TO our present economic
catastrophe" says Senator Borah's lat
est statement, "have been international.
or, if not wholly international. have
been of such a nature that their effect
was international Therefore, in con-
sidering our problems of domestic con-
Germ. we are compelled to consider
matters of international concern. NO
clear and permanent solution OF the
farm question, the unemployment prob
lem, devastating taxes, unbalanced
budgets. can be hoped for. it seems to
me, until some or all of these lnterna-
tional problems are out of the way
Borah's Question.
Senator Borah propounds the ques-
tions which lie at the root OF the i'm
pending X-ray of national sentlment
on the debts, as follows:
will reduction or cancellation bring
to the people of the United States an
equal or greater benefit than the
amount which they may collect from
the debts? Will such a course open
foreign markets fer the products OF
the farm and the factory, cause the
price level to rise, put an end to un-
employment and thaw out the frozen
credits of the bank?"
If the Sloan organization has an
authoritative symposium OF debt opln-
ion in hand by December. it should
be of the utmost value to Congress
and the administration in formulating
future American policy The Hoover
moratorium has expired The next
installments of debt payments is due
December Is. So far, only three or
four small countries have taken ad-
vantage of their rights under existing
funding settlements to ask for two
year extension Of payments.
Political leaders are refraining from
agitation of the debts question until
after the November elections. They
are convinced, Republicans and Demo
Gratis alike, that it would be unpopular
with the voters to advocate even debt
reduction during the campaign. The
Republicans omitted all reference 10
the thorny issue in their national plat
form. The Democrats oppose can