DEBT CANCELLATION

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21621, 16 April 1932, Page 14

DEBT CANCELLATION

MR AL SMITH’S PROPOSAL AMERICAN PRESS COMMENT. NEW YORK, April 14. (Received April 15, at 10 p.m.) Mr A 1 Smith’s debt proposal resulted in considerable reaction in the press. A leader in the New York Sun says: “ The Imperial Conference at Ottawa is likely to grant Australia and Canada the rich privilege of selling England most of the wheat needed, and, as matters stand, the American grower will be undersold in the British markets.” The New York Times, without accepting the proposal outright, comments; “ It may prove to have an ultimate value, but of great immediate value is the blunt assertion that v/e have been dealing with the question in a way that is bad for ourselves, as well as for the rest of the world.” The New York Herald-Tribune characterises the proposal as “ exceedingly difficult to defend from any economic angle.” However, it commends Mr Smith’s courage in discussing the issue candidly, and suggests “ that it might be an ingenious political device to make cancellation palatable for American voters.” Mr A 1 Smith, in addressing a group of distinguished Democratic leaders at the annual Jefferson Day dinner, proposed a modified debt cancellation scheme. “ Let us say to the nations of Europe who owe us money, ‘ We will forget about it for 20 years, and not only will we do that but we will write off as paid each year 25 per cent, of the gross value of American products which you buy from us.’ This, in effect, means that if a nation purchases 100,000,000 dollars’ worth of our cotton we will forget about 25,000,000 of its indebtedness, and the same for wheat, fruit, and tobacco or any of our manufactured products.”