Evening star., 1932-11-21
DEBT DELAY SEEN
AS NEW MENACE
RooseveIt'S Refusal to Share
Burden Might CompIicate
Situation.
BY MARK SULLIVAN.

From the point Of view of the average
man, the question involved in the meet
ing OF President Hoover and President
elect Roosevelt tomorrow can be stated
roughly thus: Would the average citi-
Zen's lot as respects employment, wages
and the state of business be most helped
by (a) an immediate taking up OF the
question of intergovernmental debts or
(b) postponement until after Mr.. Roose-
velt takes office March A?
AS to the answer there is evidence In
what happened in June of last year,
when Mr.. Hoover proposed a norato-
rum on these debts. On that occasion
the mere promise Of Temporary relief
from the incubus led to an almost SEN
sational rise in prices Of securities and
commodities. The lift in the country S
spirits was observed and recorded by a
distinguished Democrat - Newton D.
Baker-who said: Those who noted the
proposal by plain men had the expert
ence of hearing artisans and small busi-
ness men spontaneously evidenctng their
understanding and approval"
Deep Division in Party.
The statement of the alternatives as
put above Is short of the complete diff
ference between them. The choice may
fairly be sta,ed as perhaps being be-
tween an assured settlement getting
under way at once and, on the other
hand, perhaps a failure to arrive at any
progress toward settlement later II on
Tuesday President Hoover and Mr..
Roosevelt should unite upon recon-
mendation, the authority Of 1t would
command almost unanimous support
confirmation from Congress.
If, however, Mr.. Roosevelt prefers to
wait until he is President, he will have
to carry upon his own shoulders alone
the burden Of getting his action ratified
by Congress.
That will be difficult, because within
Mr.. Roosevelt's own party and support
ers Is a wide ganut Of deep divisions
on this subject ranging from Mr..
Hearts last-cent insistence on make
'em pay" to the attitude Of the Demo-
cratic Baltimore Sun. which earnestly
insists these debts are a tragic folly
and that all should be wholly wiped out
''once and for all"
As for the Republicans in Congress,
they would at the present time be al
most invicincibly compelled to unite in
ratification Of a program for settlement
Hoover united to that of Mr. Roosevelt
After March 4 the Republicans would
be under no such compulsion 10 sup
port an attempt at settlement made by
Mr.. Roosevelt after he Is President. On
the contrary. they would be subject
to partisan temptation to resist it and
to foment the division within MIR.
Roosevelt's own party about 1t.
Withholds Action.
Gov Roosevelt's inclination so far
is to withhold action until after he be-
comes President. This leaves upon Mr..
Hoover the responsibility for doing as
much as Is possible to be done by q
President having only three months to
serve. The responsibility" Mr.. Roosevelt
said in his answer to Mr.. Hoover's in
vitation to cooperate, rests upon
those now vested with executive and
legislative authority" Mr.. Roosevelt's
motive for this attitude is limited by
well-informed talk emanating from
sented, the motive is that Mr. Roosevelt
wishes, when he takes office, to treat
as one unit all matters within the field
of foreign relations, including these
debts, the tariff, the coming interna-
tional economic conference and other
measures for rehabilitating world trade.
Mr.. Roosevelt is represented as holding
that, in order to have complete free
dom to deal with all these matters as
a whole and in their relation to each
other, it would be undesirable for him
to commit himself now on so important
detail as intergovernment debts.
This position is tenablc. There is
possibility, however, that Gov. Roose-
velt, because of refraining from Coop
Grating now toward a permanent set
tlenent, may find about him when he
takes Office state of world trade even
more difficult to rehabilitate.
On December Is an installment on
these debts is due. The debtors ask,