Evening star., 1932-07-15


mitted this Government to anything as
a result of the Lausanne meeting; then
the President sent his letter to the
Senator.
U. S. Not Consulted.
The Lausanne agreement provides
that reductions in German reparatiOnS
are not to be made unless the United
States reviSes its debt contracts with
European nations On this point, PreSl-
dent Hoover wrote to the Idaho Sen
ator:
Il wish to make it absolutely clear
that the United States has not been
consulted regarding any of the agree
mentS reported by the press to have
been concluded recently at Lausanne,
and that, of course, it is not a party
to nor in any way committed to any
such agreements"
The Presidents letter. it was under
stood. was directed more at the Lausanne
agreement than the Anglo-French
accord
Regardless of European action, Con-
greSs is in an almost immovable position
toward cancellation reduction of war
debts Members fs Of Cepgress point out
tions already have been revised twice.
MUIdtOIIum SUotS SH tU,UbU,UUUs
They recall, too that the Senate re-
jected Mr. HooverS suggestion last De-
cember for establishment of the old
War Debt Commission as a machine
for temporary adjustmentS"; that the
one-year moratorium took Gearly S270,-
100000 out of the Treasury last year;
that although moneys purchasing pow
er over the world is greater now than
in, r1earlJy 000 mn =
900 war debt owed the United States is
still an $4,000 100000 debt and if can
celed would have to be paid by taxa
ton upon American citizens
They agree that all governments are
hard-presSed financially. But they re-
call that the simple one-year mora
torium was not received warmly by
Congress as a whole. Some argue that
this moratorium wold not have been
approved by Congress so readily had
not many members been pledged during
the Summer to support 1t.
They sum up the congressional atti-
tude toward cancellation or reduction
Of the S1l,000,000,000 debt about this
Way-the lawmakers on Capitol Hill,
remembering the $1,l18,000,000 tax bill
that Just became law and the almost
$4,000, 900, 900 deficit, would not ap-
prove a changc.
The Presidents letter follows IN 1ull:
My Dear Mr. Senator:
Il have your inquiry this morning,
through Secretary Stimson, as to the
effect on the United States Of recent
agreements in Europe.
Our people are, of course, gratified
at the settlement of the strictly Euro
pean problem of reparationS or any Of
the other political or economic ques-
tionS that have impeded European re-
covery. Such action. together with the
real progress in disarmament, will con-
tribute greatly to world stability.
Il wish to make it absolutely clear,
however, that the United States has not
been consulted regarding any Of the
agreements reported by the press to have
been concluded recently at Lausanne
and that, of course, it is not party to
nor in any way committed to any such
agreements.
While I do not assume 1t to be the
purpose of any of these agreements to
effect combined action of our debtors,
if it shall be so interpreted, then do
not propose that the American people
shall be pressed into any line OF action
or that our policies shall be in any way
Influenced by such combination, either
open or implied"