Italian Debt

The House voted. The agreement made with Italy by the U. S. World War Debt Funding Commission (TIME, Nov. 16, 23, THE CABINET) was approved, 257 to 133, and went to the Senate for final action. A favorable vote in the House had been a foregone conclusion. None the less the greater part of a week was spent in debate. From the line up of men from certain sections against the measure, some observers suspected that the Klu Klux Klan was bringing pressure to bear against the settlement.

The Arguments Pro. The forces for the settlement were led by Representative Crisp of Georgia (Democrat), Representative Burton of Ohio (Republican), who are both members of the Ways and Means Committee and of the Debt Funding Commission, and by Representative Ogden L. Mills of New York, one of the financial experts on the Committee. The argument they presented for the agreement was simple: Italy is bankrupt; these are the best terms we can get; this is all that Italy can pay. Representative Mills turned to the opposition with the declaration that the average income of the Italians is less than one-sixth of the income of the average American; whereas the average American spends $50 to $55 a year for meat, the average Italian spends lesa than $46 a year for all his food. The total national income of Italy is 100 billion lire, which amounts to about 26ining 9e Ways and Means Committee because he was not elected to the 67th Congress (1921-23). Mr. Rainey has not liked the first two important measures which came out of the Ways and Means Committee this yearOPEN_P]They produced severally a number of arguments. Mr. Rainey denounced the government of Mussolini, calling it cruel, tyrannical; declared that the U.S. had no business to make an agreement with such a government. It was said that Mussolini would soon be overthrown and that therefore it was folly to make an agreement with him. Mr. Hull favored waiting until Italy had made economic recovery in order to get better terms. Others declared that Italy was doing well economically, had great resources. How, they asked, is it that a bankrupt is able to get a loan of $100,000,000 from J. P. Morgan & Co.? And how is it that she can pay a high rate of interest, 7% or 8%, to J. P. Morgan yet is not able to pay our government any interest for five years, only 1/8% for the next ten years, aned Italy. The figures as to Italy's wealth and resources had been verified by the U. S. Commission. Mr. Mills turned with scorn upon those who pointed to Italy's loan at high interest from J. P. Morgan: " If this were the case of a corner grocery store instead of a nation, and the figures were hundreds of dollars instead of millions, there would not be all this 'mystery'; if the interest is high, it proves that Italy is bankrupt big debt for a dead horserices so that the U. S. got a profit out of it. Twenty-five cents on the dollar is not much, they argued, but as a plain business proposition it was that or nothing. "What else do you propose?" they asked. "Would you have us go to war to collect?"

And so they voted.

On the following day in short order the House ratified five other debt-funding agreements. In only one case, that of Belgium, was there any material modification of the standard terms established in the first agreement, with England. In succession the Belgian, Czechoslovakian, Roumanian, Esthonian, Latvian agreements were voted on.