ITALIAN WAR DEBT.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 24, 29 January 1926, Page 7

ITALIAN WAR DEBT.

CORDIAL RELATIONS. THE AGREEMENT SIGNED. I CHURCHILL'S CONCLUSIONS, j j ir.y i'able.—Press Ass<viatio:!.— Cop.rrli'nt.i i ! LONDON, January 28. j An atmosphere of. great tordiality! marked the conclusion ot the Italian debt negotiations. The total di'bt to Britain was £til I.OOO,IMMJ. ayain-t which , Count Yolpi claimed ;i refund of £2:2.0(10.000, gold deposited in London i during the war. j Mr. Winston Churchill, at the ceremony ; of signing the agreement, declared that the Cabinet allowed him a wide latitude in order to give consideration to Anglo-; Italian friendship. It was noteworthy': that the agreement was in nowise mixed up with the reparations. j A clause in the agreement protects the ; Italian currency in the event of abjior- j mal depreciation due to payment of I debts abroad, while in the event of Bri-1 tain receiving more from reparations ! and Allied debts than she lias paid to i America, Italy's share of such surplus I will be credited against future payments, j Mr. ( hurchill. in the course of an ■ interview, however, said thru Britain up] to the present had paid £100,000,000 and received £23.000,000 from reparations, while so far nothing had come from the war debts.— (Renter.) THE BRITON PAYS. AID TO THE ITALIAN. I JOHN BULL'S BIG BURDEN. i j <T.ocpiv<?<l in.3o a.m.) L-ONDOX, January 28. The '"Daily Express"' explains that under the settlement Italy in 02 annui-j ties pays to Britain £.>1'2,250.000 in capital and interest in respect to a debt of! £590,000,000. This is equivalent to j Britain foregoing together! with all interest on the remainder. | The British Treasury has estimated | that Italy is capable of paying fru.n i £8,000,000 to £9.000.000 yearly. ! Italy's gross debt at 5 per cent repre- j sents 7d in the £ of Britain's income tax. Under the settlement Italy will reduce this burden by id in the £ in 1026 and Id in the £ at the period of highest payment. "'ln other words, the Britisli taxpayer will continue to pay (id in consequence of the debt and the Italian taxpayer Id. Meantime Italy has undertaken to pay the United States £481.000,000 in respect of a debt of £420,000,000. Britain is paying America £3.5.000,000 yearly. If "w e receive £4.500.000 from Italy. £12.500.000 from France, and £10.000.000 under the Dawes scheme, we are still £8,000,000 annually to the bad."The debt funding agreement between Italy and Britain has been signed. It is officially stated that Italy will pay £2.000.000 immediately. £4.000.000 "a year for the next two years, £4.500,000 in each of the following vcars until 1987, and £2,250.000 in 1988. The payments are to be made halfyearly. The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Mr. Winston Churchill) has. published a Note explaining that the Italian payments will be separate from reparations. The agreement includes a clause to the effect that if Britain receives more from reparations and Allied debts than Britain has already paid the United States, Italy's proportionate share of thosp payments would be credited to future debt payments. Mr. Churchill asserts that the settlement is more favourable than the TtaloAmerican one. He describes the agreement as another milestone on the road to European appeasement and consolidation (A. and X.Z. Cable.) !