Show national affairs by FRANK P LITSCHERT EnT once more the debt revisionists are with us the depression in america has given them a new lease on life and many of the internationalists are now urging that the only was to restore prosperity to the world Is to have uncle sam cancel the european debts so that all nations can start over again they are even seeking to tell us that the hard times in america as well as elsewhere are due to the fact that the allied nations are still paying their debts to the united states and collecting the money for or the payments from germany 1 1 e I 1 all of which m may a y sound plausible to the unthinking i mg but will not bear close analysis n ysis the depression in the united stated Is of course not due to any one circumstance and most certainly not to the international debts in speaking of the world depression and the debts mr irving irvcng T bush president of the bush terminal company said recently it Is 9 even argued that all our troubles ar are due to the debts I 1 seem to remember a few other rather obvious causes for the worlds depression are tor for instance the debts responsible for the prostration 0 of f india china and russia did the debts produce a record crop of wheat did the debts cause our orgle orgie 0 of speculation the answer quite obviously Is to in the negative 40 40 it might be added ot of course that the international debts did not cause cause the drought of last summer which undoubtedly was wag a factor in prolonging the depression and which had a bad effect on the public mind generally in addition to the misery caused in the drought regions and so many factors have gone into the making of the depression that it would take more space than Is available here tor for recounting them 4 41 01 the new movement or rather the revival of the old movement for the cancellation cel lation of the war debts Is put on phase of the attack of the internationalists on the american standard of living other bits of strategy include getting uncle sam into the league of nations by a back door or through the cellar window it if necessary the destruction of our protective tariff under the plea that it has added to our depression by hurting our markets abroad an argument fully as silly as the one about the international debts and attempts to commit uncle sam to the european program by having him enter into some agreement or other which i could id be used to involve him in the maco mazes es of european diplomacy whenever the time might come when his money and his resources would be useful 45 0 6 fortunately up to this time these efforts to den denationalize a tion alize uncle sam have been unavailing u navail ing although they are well financed and have the backing of international n a atonal organizations which cloak their real purposes under guises of pacifism international brotherhood and the like but it will pay the american people to be continually on their guard the barrage of internationalism shows no sign of diminishing no sooner are the internationalists repulsed on one front than they start a drive in some new direction if uncle sam can keep his fundamental principles and his sound nationalism intact during the next ten years he will be indeed fortunate eternal vigilance Is still the price of liberty |