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Show t ( ) K LOANS TO KLItOI'K (National Republic) Tlic roots or our present trou-l!o trou-l!o in this country are in the financial and economic involvements involve-ments of the United States with Europe, for sumo of which the World S'ar was- an excuse and not a reason. We have been as a nation trading assets for liabilities lia-bilities lo tho profit of a very few Americans until ws have been compelled to awaken from the great delusion that the resources re-sources of this country are inexhaustible, in-exhaustible, and its ability to sacrifice its own to foregin interests in-terests is illimitable. We have been chloroformed by sentimental sentimen-tal and financial internationalists international-ists into beliving that we could go on forever being the world's good tiling, without finally, reaching the cold gray dawn of payday. With an army ot 6,-j 000,000 unemployed, and with a deficit in national revenues of two billion dollars because American income has so dropped drop-ped that it cannot begin under our present tax rates to pay the cost of government, we ought to begin to get out of this or- ' deal at least the benefit of a disillusioning experience. Some facts of interest cam out in the debate on the moratorium mora-torium in the Senate not long ago. We loaned France $4,025,-000, $4,025,-000, 000 during and after the World War. Of this amount $1,-G55,000,000 $1,-G55,000,000 was loaned after the war, and $400,000,000 of it was for materials we had in France at the end of the war, to the value of two billion dollars, dol-lars, which France sold at large profit over the amount she a-greed a-greed to pay, after forbidding this country to sell the materials on the open market. Because of this transaction we might say that France paid no part of her debt to us. But the value of the Fanco-American settlement at the time it was made was $1,-6S1,000,000, $1,-6S1,000,000, approximately principal prin-cipal and interest of our loans after the war, with France given giv-en 60 years to pay. We loaned Belgium $417,-7SO,000. $417,-7SO,000. We collected only the post-Armistice debt of $246,-000,000. $246,-000,000. We loaned Italy $2,042,000,-000. $2,042,000,-000. Her post-Armistice debt with interest was $S00,000,000. We got an agreement to pay a value of $426,000,000. Creat Britan was the only nation that came anywhere near settling her debt to the United States. We loaned England $4,-600,000,000. $4,-600,000,000. Of this $581,000,-000 $581,000,-000 was loaned after the Armistice. Arm-istice. But $1,6S2,000,000 of England's debt represented "exchange "ex-change and cotton purchases"; not for supplies we furnished England, but to stabilize sterling exchange, and enable England to make purchases in other countries at a maintained exchange ex-change rate. With interest our rost-war advances to England amounted to $600,000,000. The value of our entire debt settlement settle-ment was $3,297,000,000. England Eng-land did not do so badly, and she got 60 years to pay. We took nothing by way of territory or indemnitees at the reace conference. Our associates divided up land areas equal In extent to that of the entire Uuited States. We got 'absolutely 'absolute-ly nothing out of the war. We made great sacrifices evidently with the purpose of putting Europe on her feet after the cataclysm of war. We have had our reward in continuous denunciation de-nunciation as a Shylock because we were willing to take back any of this money our people had paid. We have faced the demand that what is owing us be made dependent on what Germany is expected to pay the allies, although the two matters have no connection except that which has been established by our participation in conferences on reparations settlements. Borrowing has followed borrowing bor-rowing until we have become deeply involved in the European Europ-ean "mess." Now we are told that unless we wipe out the debts, tear down our economic defenses and take upon ourselves our-selves further financial burdens, Europe is going to go right on crisising, sink and take us down with her. Tus pretense of European nihility ni-hility to pay is frawd. Payments due the United States from Europe under the settlement are only two and a half per cent of the amount Europe pays this country on all accounts, these payments, aggregating ten billion bil-lion dollars, being offset by payments pay-ments we make Europe on all accounts. The continuance of debt payments agreed upon by France would cost each Frenchman French-man $1.25 a year. The annual burden is little greater in any case, much less in some, than this per capita burden of France. Within the last six months the United States, governmentally and through private bankers, has advanced new loans and postponed old obligations in Germany and England to the a-mount a-mount of a billion and a quarter, quar-ter, or five times as much as the annual payments due on debt account, and that payment of a quarter billion has been postponed through the moratorium. mora-torium. Still goes up the cry: "Give or we perish." We have been doing this for a dozen years, with what result to ourselves our-selves or to Europe. It is entirely clear at this time that European banking interests in-terests have determined to make the United States pay the German Ger-man indemnities, and that this movement is powerfully supported support-ed in the United States. |