| Show S Merry R y Merl-y Round Merry R Go und By ny DREW PEARSON FEARSON and ROBERT S. S ALLES ALLEN ALLE 1 S Editors Editor's note Drew Pearson is now now- in Europe Europe Eu Eu- rope rope- doing a Round Merry 1 rry-G rry Round of the foreign capitals Robert S S. Allen is covering Washington Washing Washing- ton for the column ROME ROME- ROME ROME-Por For or a lon long time time- Cordell Hull Rull had had a had d time arousing the slightest sn sniff f of in interest interest interest in in- terest in hi his trade treaties among the major S countries es of Eur Europe p But ut now suddenly they are being taken seriously though serIously though not not- for re rea reasons rca rca- sons Mr Hull might entirely appreciate What the ex allied ex-allied countries now see in the the- Hull treaties put simply very simply is a chance to pay their war debts And there is is' only one reason for this sudden sudden sud sud- den surge of sentiment to pay what they once berated Uncle Shylock for even suggesting that they pay pay namely to get ar around und the Johnson Johnson John John- son ac act and borrow more money from the United States To this end some some ot of the ex allied ex allied countries have bave po pounced upon Mr Hulls Hull's economic philosophy philosophy phy and put forward an excellent ca case e for fot themselves Take the Take the case of Italy Discussions regarding regarding- an economic treaty between Italy and the United States have been going on for some time In these the th Italians have put up the very plausible idea that while they are anxious to pay their d debts they cannot annot pay payin in cash because of th their r. r r serves but they will pay in k kind nd They will pay in shipments of It Italian lian products prod prod- to the United States and giving even by giving free services to to American an tourists which the United States government could sell in turn to the tourists and credit to the Italian debt Mr Hull has been an ardent advocate of the free flow of trade th the Italians Italians' point out and here is an opportunity not only to put the Hull theory into practice but to pay the Italian debt by so doing It can Itcan can be made to sound very plausible France and Britain France and Great Britain are known to entertain entertain en the same general ideas though there there- S have been no io official co conversations France al already already already al al- ready has has' hasa a trade treaty with the United States covering a few minor commodities but it could be expanded The he British have none One factor which increased talk of debt payment pay pay- ment was President Roosevelt's warning that the stock market was being inflated ted by foreign g governments The franker British newspapers anxious anxious' for closer Anglo Angio relations in view of European w war r clouds suggest that if foreigners o can afford to invest in the United States they can now afford to pay their debts Another important factor is Roosevelt's overwhelming overwhelming over over- whelming reelection The chancelleries of Europe Europe Europe Eu Eu- rope figure that Roosevelt is now in a position to scale debts to a point never before permitted by congress congress and arid this time get away with it This should be noted carefully Nowhere is ther there any thought at any anytime time by anyone that the debts should be paid in full Even if the debts are to b be paid in kind Europe takes it it 1 for r granted that there w will U be very drastic re re re- Bare Bar Treasuries Mussolini's interest in war debts right now is need of ca cash cah h The Ethiopian war left him with witha a alow low tre treasury sury He had to scrape close to the bottom Now his armament bills are running up Also he herte rte eeds cash to develop Abyssinia A Aloan A Aloan loan i in the United United- once States States once the Johnson act was obviated obviated- obviated w would do the trick The idea ide is to pay a little then borrow a alot alot lot more more- French interest in in war debts is duo due in part to io Blums Blum's sincere desire for closer Franco Franco- American friendship also to heavy French armament bills S Great Britain is in the same category Both see themselves as Europe's sole outstanding democracies c es and they are feeling lonesome They would like some companionship from the United States States also also monetary aid And most important of a all they see the day when another war will break in Europe and they find the last wars war's debts standing in the way of another appeal to the United States to to make the world safe for democracy Italian Naval Prowess S British officers in Gibraltar usually communicative make no secret of the fact that Italian naval bases in the eastern Mediterranean and the R Red Bed d sea jugular vein of the British empire have them stopped While the British were worrying about the dole the League of Nations and whom the king should marry Mussolini was very quietly fortifying forti forti- lying two or three almost forgotten islands S. S along the British trade route until they are now miniature These Thee plus airplanes and submarines which em can send out overnight from her own shores make the line line life of the empire to Australia Aus Aus- 5 and India untenable in case of war The Balearic isles in the hands of Italy would cras erase all doubts in the matter That is why the lords of the British admiralty admiralty ad ad- have dusted off their charts of the much longer route via Cape Town and are preparing preparing pre pre- paring bases on the tip end of Africa in fn case of emergency S 1936 by bT United Feature Syndicate Inc |
