The midland journal. (Rising Sun, Md.) 1885-1947, 1933-10-20

The presence in washington Of Sir
Frederick Leith-Ross as the represent
alive of the British
Debts government to talk
IT. A~o:n about revision Of the
governments S4,6O0,-
100000 debt to the United States has
brought the debt question to front once
again. Sir Frederick has come with
commission to see how much can be
Topped off and how refunding can
be arranged so that his government
will find payments easier during these
times of stress. Actually, what the
British want to do is gain an eventual
cancellation of the debt and in this
move they are receiving no small
amount of encouragement from the
ether debtor nations whose combined
obligations to the United States are ap-
proximately S6,500,O0O,000. 1t is obvi-
Gus, of course, that if the United
States grants concessions to the Brit
ish, it will have to do something for
the others. Hence, they are all root
ing for the British team to win.
The negotiations for the United
States are in the hands of Dean
Acheson. youthful undersecretary Of
the treasury, but he has been in con-
slant touch with President Roosevelt
so that after all, the Chief Executive
is guiding the foreign debt policy. Con-
versations with representatives of for
eign governments in the nature of
things have to be carried on more or
less confdentially. and the current
meetings are no exception. Besides,
the subject in detail is one Of highly
technical character. The public as
whole, however, should be vitality in
mers down to a question of taxation
on the American people. If. the for
eign nations pay back the money the
United States loaned them to help out
in the World war. just that amount
of money will not have to be raised by
taxation of American citizens. If they
do not pay, the American people will
have to make it up. There is no al
tentative.
4 D
Then, there is the trade angle of the
debt question. Our nation must ex-
port goods. There
The Trade must be cotton and
A,cl. wheat and corn and
flour, and hundreds
upon hundreds of different kinds of
manufactured goods shipped out of the
country. Unless these exports are
maintained. our own producing ca
pacity must be curtailed, and when It
is curtailed. we have unemployment.
1t has been argued by the limited num-
Der of outright NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
who would wipe the debts off Of the
books and forget about them-that so
long as those debtor nations have to
tax their own people to pay back their
wartime borrowings, those people are
in no position to buy our surplus. 1t
is simply that they do not have enough
money to do both. They argue further
that If we can export in normal guam
titles, our industries will be prosper
GUS, and if they are prosperous, they
do not object to paying the necessary
amount of taxes to pay off the bonds
our government sold in borrowing
money to loan to Europe.
From these two views of the debt
problem, 1t seems to me it is plain how
painfully close to all of us it is, though
apparently a thing of remote conse-
quence to the rank and file. To show
how really close it is, however, it is
necessary only to mention that Presi-
dent Roosevelt is going to accept no
proposal for revision of the British, or
any other, debt that will cause a
knock-down and drag-out fight in con-
gress. He will not risk such course,
politically. He knows that congress
is unalterably opposed to cancellation
and that there is large and powerful
group who will resist any reduction.
The fact that such sentiment exists in
congress is proof enough that it is be-
ing talked about in a great many
places and around many firesides.
1t happens that was the only Wash
ington correspondent who reported all
of the original sessions in which the
foreign debts were funded into long
term obligations, most of which cover
a period of 60 years. thought I saw
at that time signs Indicating those
debts would never be paid. I am con-
vinced now that they will not be paid
in full. There will be amounts Clipped
off from time to time, just as the Brit
ish are trying to do now. until there
will be what amounts to cancellation.
It will not happen overnight, but the
normal span of life of those now In
middle age will carry them through
TO witness the fiscal success for the
debtors and acceptance OF it by the
United States.