WAR DEBTS.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19610, 4 May 1929, Page 15

WAR DEBTS.

BALFOUR SETTLEMENT EFFECT ON BRITISH CREDIT. «A MASTERLY DOCUMENT." *T». T / " (»«:thb orrn :*r. wiaeL««.> KUGRY, May 2. In tho Houso of Lords, Lord Birkcnlead (Conservative) called attention to the subject of war debts, and moved: "That this House approves the principle of the Balfour Memorandum." He »aid ho luul reached the concluiloJi that the measure* which were related to •»■* "»" til '" required very earnest consideration from tho British Parliament and from the Parliamentary assemblies of other countries. la the Balfour Memorandum, which « as acclaimed as a masterly State document by every Liberal and Conservative member of the Coalition Cabinet, and as a gesture nuide for the cancellation of war debts, it, was said that as a yestilt of war £2,(100,000,000 was owing to us from our late Allies, while our etebt to tho United States was roughly 1900,000,000. Those figure* required, jury considerable revision. When one talk«<i of £2,000,000,000 it must be remembered that one third of that sum v as owing to us from Russia, arid that Hll* nation had repudiated completely that debt. '•Defending Mr Winston Churchill's iOltdMt of financial negotiations with Pram* and Italy, Lord Birkenhead declared that Mr Churchill had made the heat terms conceivably obtainable. It was the object of all of us to make a generous debt settlement, and, at the same time, the measure of the concession! which we could make was limited by reasonable economic and financial (resources of the nations with whom VA were dealing Prance had emerged from the many difficulties which pressed upon her at the time when our negotiations with her reached the decisive atage, ami it might bo that, were such negotiations to be resumed to-day, some •lightly better terms might have been tbtained. " To take the case of Italy, she was a eojmtry which, though politically of rtt greatest possible consequences in Europe, was one which economically ««« not rich, and there were well unItKtood limits, recognised by all authorities on international finance, to contributions which Italy could make. No trie who dispassionately considered the joaition of Italy could have thought it proper to have asked more of Italy than *e did ask.

Faymenta to America. Lord Birkenhead agreed that we had faid and were paying the United States •a, a wale which tho late Mr Bonar Law had hardly exaggerated in describing aa a scale which would affect our •Uadards of living, for a generation; but we had some compensations. There was hardly anyone "who believed ii» the rear 11118 that British finance could retain for London the control of the fnauce of the world. Never could that result have been attained unless the golden and indispensable asaet of British credit had been retained. If the settlement with the United States had not taken place, our jt*ti«ft*i supremacy would have passed •/•ftrfeere. Broken as we had been by Vhe war, we were still to-day the flnan«M.«entre of the world. We should tail great and high hope from that cir•lWtanco. Let them consider how far Hit Balfour Memorandum had contributed to it. . It had, made » twofold conWbaiion -one was material, but the more important one was moral. We had said to the whole world, just as a business proposition, that if our creditera would forgive na our debts (though those who owed us money were far man numerous than those to whom we •wed money), we would wipe out the whblft account. A more generous offer bad never been made by any country in the history of the world.

Mr anowden'a Attack. r.or<i lUrk(>nhea4 referred to the attack rtrtntly made upon the Balfour lTMhornndiirii by Mr Philip Snowden, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer In the Lahour Government. He also referred to thd terms of the amendment to his motion which was to be proposed hy Lord I'armoor on behalf of the Labour Party. He noted that Lord Parmoor's amendment approved the principle of the Balfour Memorandum, while regretting that the settlement made bv the Conservative Government lad Imposed unfair burdens upon .British saipayers. He asked Lord ParMoor to sav that it was not the purpose of the tiabour Party to attempt to imS.ir the authority of the Balfour emoranduni, upon which depended •very financial arrangement which had since b**n made in Europe. To repudiate the Memorandum would inflict a grievous and irreparable wound upon the reputation of this country. He hun«elf had a deep responsibility for the Memorandum. Ho was a member ef the Cabinet whieh adopted it, and *« would regard the time when this momentous financial decision was taken »f one «.f the supreme moments of his poblie Uf«. . . Lord Parmoor, in moving his amenda»at, said that the Labour Party had consistently adopted and followed what it regarded as the leading principle of the Balfour Note. Lord Birkenhead asked ,¥> T * I X~ fcoor if i... associated himself with the epithet '•infamous" applied by Snowden to the Balfour Note. Lord i'armoor replied quite frankly that he did not like it. •♦;„:«„ Lord Parmoor proceeded to cnticiae cwtain aspects of debt «f Memen^ TlLta . The Mar.,uia of Salisbury eongrjtu W Lord l-armoor upon tiated hnnNelffrom the thejord h.d "figured iu Mr Snow- «»'. observations on the B»" ou ' ?°!f: Lard Parmoor'a »»i | "»'7 B " fc jtttd hv 89 votes to 6, »** Lord »w *" taaeada motion was agreed to.