Detroit evening times. (Detroit, Mich) 1921-1958, 1944-07-31
BEHIND
THE NEWS
BY Paul
Mallon

WASHINGTON, July 3l-The
W world money and bank
plans devised in the woods at
Breton have been so little eX-
planned because, frankly, few
understand them.
Those few experts who do.
are accustomed 10 using such
involved thoughts and words
that they cannot pass on a SIM
pie understanding 10 The aver
age man.
The announcements stand in
the press a. a wad of words
like a few billion pounds OF
steel wool. No one can take IT
apart and say what each strand
means-or even what use will
be made of the whole. But sur
veying the wad. this much Of
il is apparent to objective eX-
pertS:
THESE contrivances are only
Il the last step in an American
theory which began in the last
war. Then we had the war
loans and debts. Next in peace
we had the export-import bank
which worked into lend-lease,
and now lend-lease has worked
into this postwar proposal.
The basic theory of all is the
same, namely:
II is up TO us as nation of
great wealth to supply the 10
Satiable demands of the world
for goods. These supplies must
be given on credit, the easiest
credit. which probably will not
he repaid in the future as they
have never been generally re-
paid in the past.
CThe South American govern
ments today are literally rich
from the war, yet they have not
repaid the bonds sold to Ameri-
cans, and if you will note the
quotations on these on the New
York exchanges. our eXpecta-
tons are not high.
A S A matter of fact, a leading
"A commentators has written
that we really should not expect
repayment from these future
obligations and he actually con-
tended that the information -
Just alone the information--we
would receive from this new
financial arrangement would be
worth the few billions we are
putting into the proposition.
That is an excited exaggeration.
But the position of the admin
iStration itself is that this ar
rangement is cheap at any price
in view of what the world is
facing, although these loans are
not alone TO be for war rehabili-
tatien, you m Il 5 understand,
but for development" of all ma
tons.
The reason the idea is popular
is because people think we profit
by selling goods abroad, that
these credits will be large Y
spent in this country, furnishing
stimulation to labor and bust
ness. All export businesses are
thoroughly for it.
But actually il takes SUBJ
stance out of the country in the
ultimate end, because il is APP
parent the foreign governments
actually cannot repay US for
what they get.
WE CALL this kind of thing
w the promotion of forgotten
trade" Actually it is promoting
only one way trade, exporting,
The only way we could be re-
paid is for us TO receive an equal
amount of goods from the
foreign borrowers, things of SUBJ
stance in equal value.
But we ourselves prevent this
by another policy which also is
popular among us. Our people
do not want foreign goods COM
ing here in competition with our
own.
I am not now quarreling with
any of these theories. l am
merely presenting the funda-
mentals behind the Breton
Woods agreements, the factors
which inspired them, so that you
may better understand them. |
will present a detailed analysis
of them tomorrow.
But fundamentally they per-
petuate an incongruity, con-
fiiCting way in which We are
involved-on the one hand to
give money-credits we hardly
expect to be repaid, and on the
other hand to hinder repayment
by resisting importations OF
goods and therefore actually
have a one-way trade policy.
The foreign nations well know
this, if our inexpert citizens do
not, and they use il TO the
fullest.
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