The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1936-02-13

demeanor and perpetual frown OF
thought, he has a paying job in La
Sale street, but il is not hard TO see
that he lives. thinks and breathes the
O'Bryan plan. He can spout figures
and arguments 10 support its theories
right through the lunch hour, If need
be, never once thinking Of the iDner
man. TO convince a heather unbeliever.
And about seven times out Of ten, the
said heather unbeIiever will find him
self agreeing-whether through honest
conviction or a credible desire TO get
about the business Of acquiring lunch,
il is net within the province Of this
recorder TO judge. can only set down
a brief synopsis Of Mr.. O'Bryan's the
cries and let the reader decide for
himself.
. First Of all. he asks Us 10 consider
the nature Of the debts and the man.
ner in which they were incurred The
debtor nations were at war and. be-
cause their industries were busy man
ufacturing munitions and other goods
of war, they found it necessary TO i'm
port goods in vast amounts which, for
the large part, they normally produced
ar home. We lent them the money
with which TO buy these goods, and
then they bought the goods from us
Our government. of course, borrowed
the money from its citizens: 3 billions
of dollars in the First Liberty Loan
act, billions in the Second Liberty
Loan act. and billions more in the
Third and Fourth Liberty Loan acts
a total of 10 billions. Practically all
Of this was advanced to the Allies, in
exchange for L o. US from each deb
tor. After the war Uncle Sam sup
piled funds for relief 10 Finland, Llth-
uania, Latvia, Esthonia, Poland, Aus
tria. Hungary and Czechoslovakia. The
aggregate principal amounted to s1O,-
33S. O5S. $500. The total debt, including
interest, amounts to about 22,o00, Co.,
600. Every nation but Finland default
ed the payment due December Is, when
payments of nearly billion dollars
were due.
Difficulties of Payment
The present agreements provide for
the debts TO be paid in gold or in dol
lar currency. This means that deb
| tor must ship gold TO the United
States or sell goods here in order to
accumulate dollar currency. Present
| economic conditions make IL difficult
for debtor nations TO pay in gold; nor.
with more than one-half the worlds
| supply already within our vaults, do
we want more Of it Importing goods
| from the debtor nations would lower
price levels and living standards in
| this country. for the type Of goods
| which we would have to import are
| largely those which we produce in suf-
| ficient quantities at home; TO protect
| our own internal trade We have sc;
| I'D prohibitive tariffs which preclude
the sale Of imported goods. These
| conditions make it virtually impossible
| for our debtors TO pay in dollar cur,
rency. II we cannot buy from them
the flow of gold would end in reser'
voir in this country, and that would
! not be desirable from a viewpoint OF
| international economy.
They have the capacity TO pay (ac.
cerding to Mr.. O'Bryan) and sit is pos
| sible" they are willing TO pay. The
answer lies in discovering a means OF
| payment satisfactory TO both debtor
and creditor.
The O'Bryan plan advances the
argument that there is nothing which
| debtor nations produce that we car
consume here; but there are services
| which we can consume THERE. ani
which we do consume in a quantity
| which approaches the proportions. in
| dollars and cents. Of the annual pay.
ments which the debtor nations are
required TO pay Us through the debt
agreements. These are cultural OIL
recreational services TO tourists or stu.
dents. or any other Americans whose
business or pleasure takes then
| abroad.
Tourists spent outside the United
States. according TO the Department
| OF Commerce. 500 millions during 1923
and a peak of $50 millions during
1929" says Mr. O'Bryan.
These expenditures can be used tf
our benefit in dealing with the debts
The United States could enter into
agreements with the debtors whereas
they would furnish to our Treasury