Evening star., 1933-01-11
ROOSEVELT IS HELD
FAVOR|NG FRANCE
Paris Paper Says President
Elect Opposes any Dis
elimination in Debts.
By Gable to The Star.

BY Gable to The Star.
PARIS. France, January lie
Petit Parisien, well-knowp newspaper Of
the French capital, in New York dis
patch published today, claims to re-
veal the present views of President-elect
Roosevelt regarding the war debts con-
troversy, as follows:
l. There should be no discrimination
among the debtors of the United States,
and Washington should hear all alike
when they present pleas for readjust-
ment. even those who defaulted their
December IS payment. In particular,
President-elect Roosevelt is described
as well disposed" toward France
2. No final reconsideration Of the
war debts until after the forthcoming
World Economic Conference and pos
sibly not until means have been found
to raise wholesale prices and to per-
suade Great Britain and the other
powers to stabilize their carrencies.
3. Temporary reductions, meanwhile
OF the current war debt payments in
proportion to such factors as fall in for
eign trade, decline in commodity prices
and depreciation Of currencies.
Agreement Seen Hopeless.
Both the Paris and London press an
nounce briefly that no agreement be-
tween President Hoover and President
elect Roosevelt on war debts Is now to
be hoped for.
Former Premier LaYals statement re-
garding the real sense of his conversa-
tons, as premier, with President Hoover,
has aroused much interest here. He
says, in brief, that reduction either of
war debts or of reparations was never
considered, but that President Hoover
agreed that, II the depressiGz. continued,
It would be necessary TO prolong the
one-year moratorium for both and that
France should take the lead in urging
this extension.
Laval claims that inclusion of q
three-year complete moratorium for
Germany in the Lausanne agreements
binds President Hoover to grant France
a similar moratorium.
French Learn u. s. Views.
What d news to the French people
is that the United States not only
never urged cancellation of German
reparations. but actually advised against
1t. An editorial in lie Journal, an
other Paris newspaper, bears this out
plainly in these words:
The Americans not only never asked
the cancellation OF German reparations,
but they advised against this in the
Washington talks and even at Lausanne
they formally warned the British and
French that cancellation of reparations
would not entail war debt cancellation. :"
LIE Journal admits that the United
States accordingly is not bound to r.
duce war debts, but insists, on lie
other hand, that President Hoover IS
clearly bound to extend the war debt
moratorium over the period of the
depression and that France, therefore,
was justified in its suspension of the
December Is payment.
Meanwhile it Is learned that both
France and Spain have suspended their
far-advanced negotiations for new COM
mercial treaties with the United States.
They have done this apparently on the
strength OF views obtained from Jesse
I. Straus of New York. who Is believed
to be privately representing President
elect Roosevelt and who, after a month
OF quiet study of Franco American
commercial relations here, Is now re-
ported to be making a similar study in
Madrid
Wait for Roosevelt" seems to have
become the watchword throughout
(Copyright, 1933)