WAR DEBTS DUE

Taranaki Daily News, 17 June 1933, Page 7

WAR DEBTS DUE

EIGHT PER CENT. PAYMENT DEFAULT BY SEVEN NATIONS ALL ALLOWANCES IN SILVER FRENCH VIEW UNCHANGED BOUND BY A RESOLUTION By Telegraph—Press Assn.—Copyright Rec. 8.45 p.m. Washington, June 16. War debt payments to the United States to-day totalled less than 8 per cent, of the total of £287,212,000 due under the existing agreement, £2,230,918 being the sum announced by the State Department as representing the token payments of Britain and Italy and payment in full by Finland. , All the advances accepted are in silver at the rate of 50 cents an ounce. Italy owed £2,709,000 and paid £200,000; Finland owed and paid £29,718. Offers to pay £36,000 by Czecho-Slovakia and £5OOO by Roumania had also been received but no reply had yet been made to those nations.

Seven countries, Belgium, Esthonia, France, Hungary, Lithuania, Poland and Yugo-Slavia, made neither payments nor offers. Italy and Czecho-Slovakia asked for a debt review. Latvia paid £l2OO on an instalment of £23,921 due. The French Government’s note to America is brief. It recalls the previous note giving reasons for deferring the debt payment and says these are unaltered. The Cabinet was bound by the resolution of the Chamber in December. SILVER LINING OF PAYMENT METAL DRAWN FROM INDIA INCREASE IN PRICE POSSIBLE Rec. 10 p.m. London, June 16. “The silver lining for Britain’s debt payment will be transferred from the Indian Government’s reserve to the United States in order to increase the supply of silver coinage there,” says the financial editor of the Daily Telegraph. “As the Indian Government will not replace the silver it has sold no benefit will accrue to silver producers. The prominence given to silver by the British method of. payment may increase speculation and raise the price, but unless the United States embarks on an extensive use of silver for coinage purposes the position will remain as before. . The discussions with a view to furthering plans for an ultimate settlement of toe war debts will be continued by Sir Ronald Lindsay, British Ambassador at Washington. London political circles consider that the final adjustment largely depends on the course of events at the World Economic Conference and not for some weeks, possibly not until September, is it likely that a British mission Will go to Washington. Such a mission will probably.be headed by Mr. Neville Chamberlain, Chancellor of the Exchequer. Any final settlement would be subject to ratification.