Evening star., 1932-12-25
Roosevelt and Hoover Unity Seen
In Ultimate Debts Situation

posite whole They constitute, IN ul-
innate effect. one negotiation. To con-
| clude that negotiation in at any rate
some Of its important aspects by June
Is is obviously even more politically
desirable for the administration which
will be in once at that date than for
the administration which will retire
from ONCE on March 4.
There is one further problem which
In some groups here is suggested for
| the deliberations Of diplomats in asso-
debts. That problem is found in the
repudiated debts OF certain States of
this Union.
These debts were owed TO private in
vestors abroad, mostly British. They
were incurred very largely for state
governmental adventures in the finan-
cial backing Of banks and of railroads.
When those adventures collapsed. re-
quotations followed. These repudia-
tions began in 1912. Yhe last of them
occurred in 1884. The defaults thus
produced have been in existence ever
since. The States involved, according
to the section Of statistics Of the Treas
ury Department, are Alabama. Arkan-
sas. Florida, Georgia. Louisiana, Mis-
sissippi. North Carolina and South
Carolina.
These repudiated obligations have
nothing at all to do with any debts in
CURED in the course of the fighting of
the War Between the States from 1861
to 1865. These debts arose out of alto
gether different circumstances and de-
velopments. They had to do solely with
economic situations The grand total
of ot 1,a vs,b
tlonS occurred, was some $4,000 600.
The grand total today. with accumulated
simple interest. is some $3.50 900 600.
This sum furnishes great continuous
agony to the British Council Of Foreign
Bondholders. which lives In order to try
to collect repudiated indebtedness re-
sulting from loans made by the ances-
tors Of its members.
1t also furnishes frequent annoyances
to present-day State officials in this
country. Gov. Conner Of Mississippi
was recently queried as to what he was
going to do to resume paying the debts
which Mississippi stopped paying some
80 years ago. He replied by calling
attention to the Mississippi Constitu-
ton. 1t forbids the resuming Of paying.
1t IS now occasionally suggested here
that in association with a revision of
the British debt it should become in
cumbent upon the British government
to pacify the British Council Of Foreign
Bondholders and to compensate it some
how for undertaking to desist from its
correspondence with the United States.
In general and in sum it can be
stated that the inevitably forthcoming
negotiations with the British regard
ing their next debt installment paw
ment are thought here to embrace
necessarily multitude of other prob
lens, some of which are of even greater
urgency than the debts themselves.
This is particularly true of the prob
lem of British resumption of the gold
standard, which would further the re-
sumption of that standard in many
other countries. It is true also of the
problem of the recently defaulted
French debt payment. The French, it
is known, are prepared to remedy their
default and to make the payment if
President Hoover and President-elect
Roosevelt can agree upon negotiations
with them regarding payments in the
future. In these circumstances 1t is
hardly believed possible that Albany
and Washington will fail to find some
common ground on which to face
London and Paris.
(Copyright 1e32)