Evening star., 1936-11-22
CLAUDEL SUGGESTS WAYS
FOR FRANCE TOPAY DEBT
Thinks "Use of Obligation" to Invite
Trade Could Lift Stigma and Cement
Mutual Relations.

Only 1t isn't paper-it Is airplanes,
cannons and submarines.
Now what Is most remarkable about
this Hitlerite Valhalla is that it rests
not only on an absence but on a hol-
lowl Not on credit or on a balance,
but on debit Germany makes use
Of her position as a debtor to the
whole world. She takes advantage Of
the economic tenet elucidated by Mr..
Keynes-that is, that one can only
pay for goods with goods. in order to
attract buyers by the allurement Of
money advantageously put at their
disposition, and in order to conclude
agreements called clearing" which
oblige creditors to pay each other not
in money but in manufactured
articles.
Olympic Games Cited.
The recent success, which may be
termed astounding, of the Olympic
games, when 100000 visitors an
swered the call of publicity wisely
organized, shows that this policy is
capable of bringing results. 1t is so
indisputable that Italy has now begun
to practice it, and with the same
success.
Since 1t is SO advantageous to have
creditors abroad, and since nothing
| attracts interest as much as a re-
coverable debt. shouldn't France also
make use Of the one she has con-
tracted with America? OF course g
wouldn't be question of throwing the
vyI1 ~
fusion by according the United States
preferential place on the French
market. But why couldn't France put
a certain sum at the disposal of trans
Atlantic visitors each year, to be de.
Quoted from the amount of our COM
merclal debt, and represented by
coupons for railroads, hotels, theaters
and tourist supplies of all kinds?
Why couldn't France pay for the
expenses of American students and
create scholarships for them in each
one Of her universities? Why couldn't
the French themselves pay the PEN
sions of American veterans who find
themselves within French borders?
The new theories which We are put
ting into practice today, in line with
President .Roosevelts ideas, show that
expenditures create expenditures, and
that we are concerned above all with
Setting the bait" Why shouldn't
France also make an attempt on that
side where her interest is in agreement
with an evident moral obligation?
This combination would have the
advantage of making France better
known to a host of Americans who
are unacquainted with her, and who
would furthermore be quite ready to
become visitors and steady customers
| again.
Legionnaires Welcomed.
Next year, 1887, will see the twen-
tieth anniversary Of the entry of the
United States into the war, and of the
landing Of the Expeditionary Forces at
| Brest. 1t will also be the year OF the
Universal Exposition at Paris. Now,
in 1927, the great annual convention
Of the American Legionnaires was
held in France. 1t is absolutely neces.
sary that the same thing should take
place in 1887. Let France not hesi.
tate to take care of all the expenses.
AAIO why COulOIl HTSSlQ6IlG fIOOS6s
welt be asked to come and visit France
during that same year? What a bene.
flcial effect it would have on the
world If he were seen landing in
Brest, escorted as in the days of De-
Grasse, Of Yorktown, and of the World
War, by feet where the tricolor
would fly beside the stars and stripes.
There is an English proverb which
says that blood is thicker than water.
1t is true. Blood, as DR.. Alexis Carrel
| has shown in his fine book, is a build
ing-up fluid. And this scientific and
moral fact was never more true than
Of the heroic liquids our soldiers shed
together on the battlefelds of Verdun
and of the Argonne. Let us allow it
to do its work of reparation and to
prove once again, as another French
proverb puts it, "a money wound Is
not fatal"
(copyrisht. 1886 by Opera Mundi)