OCR Text |
Show ENGLAND ONLY ' TO PAY DEBT ! British Banker Urges Post ponement of Payment Pending Investigation GERMANY IS TOPIC i Nation Can Produce, But Must Be Able to Export Ex-port Goods NEW Y 0 IK. 1 ""t 4 Definite post 1 ! ponement of any payment of the debts ; owed to the 1'nlted States by European nations, with the exception or Eng-jland. Eng-jland. until the actual amount which such nations could ultimately pay lias b n determined by conferences be- j tween the creditor and the debtors was suggested by the lit lion Reginald Mcltenna, Former chancellor of the Br.tish oxchecQuer In an address before be-fore the Aanorican Bankers 'association 'associa-tion convention here today Mr. McKenna also gave as his opln-1 opln-1 ion that Germany might be abic to .u a: reparations in the Immediate tut ure about on- billion dollars de-j de-j rived Iroin her foreign balances and the sale of loreign securities, sucn a payment only being possible if all other oth-er ucumnds are postponed for a defi-Qite defi-Qite w fiod to stabilize the mark. Futon Fu-ton ib niands at tin expiration of thol period he said, must ue limited to the annual amount of Germany's exportable export-able surplus at that time. ill l OF BIG BANDS The speaker who Is chairman ol the Loiiuon Joint tty and Midland Bank, Ltd., said to be the-largest bank in, Great Britain, gave ins views on the economic aspects ol reparations and I international debts, now they arc pay- j lablc, the Ri-neral capacity of a uobl- lor to pay and the effect of payment i While he stated that he was not in I politics and did not appear in uny representative rep-resentative character as a British banker, he aigued thai England has the capacity to pay her debt to the j United States and ho continued "1 i an unhesitatingly assert her determination de-termination to honor bond in full " 'I he question to be Investigated in comic i ion with tin- German rcpara-Itlons, rcpara-Itlons, he said, is not Germany's capa- ity to produce wealth, but her capacity capa-city to pay foreign debts "Nobody has ever doubted Gor-i Gor-i onus's no intuit. power to produce," he continued, "but production by itself Is not QOUgn. She mui-t tlnd a mar-kei mar-kei for her exports We must remember that an Increase in her exports ex-ports wul only find funds for reparations repara-tions If there, is no corresponding increase in-crease In imports." Germany ha.s no present capacity to obtain a surplus from the i sport I of goods, lie argm d Mr. McKenna also said he failed to see how additional addition-al taxation can increase Germany's j foreign trade and provide a large ex-j ex-j portable surplus. GERMAN FOREIGN ASSETS Many Germans possess foreign as-' as-' sets, he said. They have innumerable naiances in loreiKn nanus, in1; proceeds pro-ceeds from the sales of marks v. uich have been flung on foreign markets when the mark depreciated in value under pressure of repurationa payments pay-ments 'Relieve this pressure," he said. ' and the mark would Immediately improve. im-prove. The mark has a far greater value In Germany than it has outside and the German holders of foreign assets as-sets would have a clear advantage in selling them to their government. "I believe It would be safe to put the total of tln-se a.ss-t not less than a billion dollars More than that. I do not think she has th- ability abil-ity to find at any rate, for ... a Ions time to come." he said FRENCH DEBT DISCUSSED Touching upon the French debt to the I nlted States In which Great brlt-aln brlt-aln Is also Interested as a French creditor cred-itor Mi McKenna stated that France! ext. rnal debt Is far too great In relation rela-tion to international trade possibilities He asserted that France has no trade surplus or reserves of accumulated and exportable wealth to enable her to meet her present external liabilities. Tho mere endeavor of Frence to ei tend her rorelgn sales to the required degree would disorganize the trade of the world, he maintained. 'Inevitable conclusion Is." he continued, con-tinued, "that these annual debts arV (Continued on Page Two.) 'HI P lll'Blli II I III I ENGLAND ONLY NATION ABLE TO PAY DEBT (Coutlnur .1 fr,,in I'ncr- Onc far too great for tho canaclty of any rf the dfl.tur ( cnifitrle.s except Kiik-land. Kiik-land. Tho wholo subject rQ.ulrS a rational ra-tional rocnnsldcratlon bv credltora. who must kssp stsaSHly In vjew tho tinincdlat effect of the payment of these debts on the general trade of the world." Mr. McKonna stated as his conclusion conclu-sion that Elnglaad has the capacity to pay tho I'nlted States interest and Sinking fund on her debt, but that none of the other debtors Is In a position posi-tion to meet ii. ..re i ban a small part of Its external liablllUML In th existing situation In Kurope a definite postponement post-ponement of any payment by them Is desirable In the Interests of all tho parties, he ald. The uctual amount which the other debtors could ultimately ulti-mately pay should as In the case of Germany, be ascertained by Inquiry Into their surplus at a full and frank eOQfSrSQCS between creditors nnd debtors. |