Evening star., 1932-12-09
CONGRESS TO GET
MESSAGE ON DEBTS
President Will Await Official
Promise to Pay Be-
fore Acting.
BY CONSTANTINE BROWN.

President Hoover's special message to
Congress, forwarding the notes re-
Gently received by this Government
from the debtor nations and recon-
mending congressional action in ac-
cordance with the requests for a debt
reduction, will be sent to the Capltol
as soon as official information is re-
ceived in Washington that the Decem-
Der installment will be paid on time,
it was stated in well informed offlcial
quarters today.
It is doubtful, it was stated, whether
this Congress will be able to take any
action in regard to the scaling down
of the war debts. The foreign notes
requesting such step and the presi-
Dental message will undoubtedly be
discussed at length, but it Is felt at the
Capitol that the question of debt re-
duction is too complicated and dependent
on certain advantages which the in
terested powers must be willing to grant
to the people of the United States for
this Congress to have time to take any
final action.
Economic Conference Awaited.
The economic conference will meet in
uary. It is there that the principal
tariff problems will have to be tackled,
and any eventual scaling down of the
tariffs will largely influence the Ameri-
can Congress in its attitude toward the
reduction of debts.
The State Department fully expects
that the payment of the December in
stallment will be accompanied by a
note from the foreign governments
stating plainly that this will be the last
payment made under the old debt
agreements AS matter of fact, Sec
retary Stimson in his note to Great
Britain has practically said SO himself
In his note of yesterday.
These difficulties are, in the opinion
of the debtor governments, the prin--
cipal causes of the present unsettled
situation in the world and are due, they
say. to the difficulties the European
countries are experiencing in paying
their debts to the United States, after
having released Germany from her OBJ
legations to pay reparations.
Common Sense Policy" Victory.
The decision of the debtor nations to
pay the December installment Is con-
sidered by the State Department as
victory of the common sense policy
and is believed to have salutary ef-
feet upon Congress. Both the House
and the Senate, it is believed, in re
sponsible administration quarters, will
show much more friendly attitude to-
ward the request of the foreign govern
ments to have their debts reduced after
these nations have fulfilled their con-
tracted obligations toward the United
States. -
The State Department and many re-
sponsible members of Congress realize
that the effort of the debtor nations to
avoid payment of the December install
ment was not "a piece of bluff which
has been called by the American Cav
ernment," but was Que to a real dill
Guilty. The debtor nations, and espe-
cially Great Britain, are making ser1-
ous and costly effort to meet their
obligations, an effort which is duly
appreciated by the Government OF this
country.
Even France, it is stated in official
quarters, with her large gold reserves
win have to make an effort to pay the
relatively unimportant sum of S19,-
000, 900 because of her huge budgetary
deficit. ct - 49, r
Cash Important Issue.
Although Secretary Stimson in his
note has again mentioned that "the
question of the foreign debts has In
the American mind very definite re-
lationship with the problem OF dis
armament and the continued burden
which competitive armament imposes
upon the entire world" it is doubtful
whether Congress will press this issue
as a condition, "sine qua non" for the
revision of the debts. The point OF view
OF the Congress. as far as it can be
ascertained at present, is what can the
debtor offer in actual cash and COM
mercial advantages to offset the losses
the American taxpayer is bound to
suffer in case reduction of the debts
were granted"