Evening star., 1932-04-10
Urges u. 8. to Reduce War
Debts to Forty Per Cent
Continued From Third Page.)

Continued From Third Page)
Cncluding bankers and investors loans, |
, governmental. municipal and industrial |
loans and also the Dawes and Young |
plan bonds from their pre-moratorium !
general average of about per cent per
annum to IA per cent, the latter being |
the rate on the comparatively recent
Young plan loan of $500, 900, 900. The
Dawes bonds bear per cent interest.
AS Germany at per cent has been
paying total Of $3.50, 100000 interest |
annually on the foregoing external
debts, reduction to y per cent would
mean saving to her in gold payments /
or about $145,000000 a year. Thus
transfer payments by Germany on fu-
ture reparations of $150,000,0O0 an
nually as provided herein would sub :
stantially be made available, and the
nightmare OF German defaults and |
consequent political and economic chaos
would be removed. British. French,
American, Dutch and Swiss banks and |
bankers handled these external Ger
man loans, and they and their respec-
tive nationals are now the holders of !
these bonds and notes.
g. Defer and omit sinking fund or
amortization payments on all the above
external German loans, including the
Dawes and Young bonds, for a period
OF three years. same to be resumed !
thereafter. This will furnish a much
needed breathing spell and should make
unnecessary any further moratorium for
that purpose
8. A general plan Of equitable, pro-
greSsive but drastic disarmament to
be evolved and accepted by the nations
at the present Geneva Disarmament
Conference, both to promote world
peace and to effect enormous financial
savings by all nations now SO vitally
needed. The world has been spending
year. the past few years for peace
time armaments. If, by the ingenuity
OF common sense, the nations now
meeting at Geneva would agree to a
progressive pro rata cut of so per cent
or their armamentS with safeguards
against unfair results the world would
save from economic waste 1000 OOO,-
600 year or $4,000 600 a day. The
United States would thereby save $780,
100000 year indefinitely. and Europe
the sum of $1,200,0o0,000 a year in
definitely. Here economic necessity
and world peace make a joint and ir-
resistible appeal and here, too, we can
find abundant compensation in money
for our further reduction of allied
debts
Revise Versailles Treaty.
10. The treaty of Versailles to be
reasonably revised to conform to the
spirit and purpose of the proposed re-
adjustment. in order to bring about
political appeasement and amity among
European peoples. Without these con-
comitants. the results may be barren
and the sacrifices vain. This work is
strictly European and mainly Franco
German.
II. In view of the great relief from
present conditions afforded Germany
under this plan, and doubly to insure
her permanent acceptance thereof, a
legal plebiscite to be held in Germany
rattfying the entire program of read
Justment, thereby binding the present
and future German governments to its
validity and permanence regardless of
political changes hereafter in the
Reich. As all political groups In Ger
many have emphasized their willing
ness to pay the external commercial
debts as they now stand, the affirma-
tive vote In such referendums should
be well nigh unanimous.
III.
The foregoing plan largely explains
itself. If it did not furnish adequate
relief to Germany, it should adorn the
waste basket. The theory in this re-
spect has been to make Germany pay
not "the most she can" but the least
she must" to accomplish an equitable
liquidation of the war mess. The plan
attempts to disentangle and simplify
the snarl CT international war debts
and to reduce them all to a point of
moderation and assured payment. 1t
oV1I fAro Sf1, Hof,
and their clients to contribute $145,-
100000 year by a reduction of the
interest rate on German bonds and
notes to 5l2 per cent. The original
average rate of 8 per cent doubtless
took its cue from the high rates Of in
tereSt that have prevailed inside Ger
many for many years. But 1t is safe
to forecast that a sound 519 per cent
German bond will command material
ly higher price in the financial markets
Of the world than precarious 8 per
cent German bond now does. That is
an example of what is meant in reor-
ganizations when it is said that all in
terestS should make concessions for the
common benefit of all. I
The United States apparently is
making the greatest sacrifice in the
proposed program, but in reality the
sacrifice was largely made years ago
ana with our eyes open. We volun-
tarily entered the war with great en-
thusiaSm shared by the writer and his
two soldier sons. Our Government
spent 38,000,000,000 in the 10 months
we we're In the war. We asked nothing
and took nothing from the peace table
in 1919, while we watched all the others
revel in the spoils of war. We made
highly doubtful investments in the form
of war loans and credits to the allies
aggregating $4,000 900 900. Here is a
staggering total governmental war in
vestment Of $4,000, 100000.
Lost When 1t Was Loaned.
I ask in all sincerity: When did we
really lose this money? Was 1t when
We expended and loaned it, was it when
VIC refused to share in the spoils of war
or would it be now, when we are try
ing to set the broken world on its feet
BY accepting 40 cents on the dollar of
the original loans from nations whose
capacity to pay" In common with our
own, has enormously declined? 1t is
clear that we are making no attempt
to get back any of our other S38,000,-
100000, which is 30 per cent of it all,
for otherwise We would have insisted
on sharing in the spoils of war, repa-
rations and all. Thus it is now only
question of how much We can save
out of the remaining 20 per cent of our
war investment. The proposed plan
would yield us a total of 40 per cent
thereof or $4,O0O,OOO 900. Do not the
manifold advantages of such a settle
ment entirely outweigh the possibilities
of ultimately getting mere out of this
remnant of our war investment?
The United States alone among the
nations long ago renounced the spoils |
of war. 1t was President Mckinley /
who, more than 80 years ago, first an
nounced that hereafter the United
States would not partake Of the fruits
of conquest or war victory. President
Wilson made similar pronouncement |