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Show NO CANCELLATION. We are hearing a great deal nowadays nowa-days about the cancellation of the debt owed us by the allies in the World War. A great many well meaning persons are telling us that if we cancel these debts the prosper-ty prosper-ty of the world will be disturbed. We learn that officials at Washing-Ion Washing-Ion are a bit dubious as to this and do not clearly see just how the cancellation can-cellation of these debts would restore universal prosperity. Indeed, those who favor cancellation seem to have only hazy ideas as to how it would help. Certainly it would be of no great assistance to the United States. We already have a big deficit and the foregoing of the payments on the European debt would increase the deficit. de-ficit. And eventually of course the American taxpayers would have to make it all up. 1L is gejieiciuy tiuiniLtcu men. t"""h the things causing depression in Europe Eu-rope are the Russian dumping menace, men-ace, the high trade barriers between the various countries and the secret diplomacy which is going the rounds and in which various groups of nations na-tions are seeking to get an advantage over other groups..It is a little hard to see how debt cancellation would affect any of these issues. Jn summing up the argument against debt cancellation the Fort Wayne News-Sentinel recently well said: "Surely cancellation would have no effect whatever on the conflict between be-tween capital and labor in England, such as is now paralyzing the coal and textile industries; it would not help a particle in the rationalizing of either industry or government in that country. It would not in the least reduce the tension between Italy and France, or the hatred and fear of France for Germany. If it gave Germany Ger-many any relief whatever, it could not alter the impairments which the vicious Versailles Treaty imposed upon her. "All that cancellation could do would be to force about 5,000,000 American taxpayers to stand good for the $11,000,000,000 which Europe owes to Americans. It would mean a debt of long standing, some part of which would have to be paid by a generation which had nothing whatever what-ever to do with the war or its expense. ex-pense. Europe started the war. We. didn't. If Europe did not count the cost, that's too bad for Europe. But we can't see how we Americans have any reason to expect our children to be burdened on account of Europeans' 'lust for power.' " |