Italian Debt

" 'At one word from me 3,000,000 youths will rush to my side and draw their swords to vindicate the rights of Italy. ... In every revolution some of the conquered have been put to the sword. The Fascisti have not done this until now, but it is never too late.'

"That, sir, sounds like the roar of a wild beast, not the utterance of a man. That sounds like the voice of hell turned loose into the wholesome atmosphere of the earth. . . .

"It is to this man and to this man's government it is now proposed to present $1,500,000,000 of the American taxpayers' money. It is to fatten this monster and strengthen his arm, to sharpen his sword, to enlarge his cannon, to increase his war fleets, that it is proposed to settle with Italy in a manner that is nothing but grand larceny perpetrated upon the American people.

"Mussolini! The throne of his power rests upon the bodies of an oppressed people. His sword is at their throats. The vision that delights his eye is a field of the slaughtered. The picture that most entrances his soul is an ocean of blood, through which he can walk with brutal, tyrannical feet."

This outcry from the Demosthenes of Missouri, James A. Reed, was in vain. The Senate voted at tea time, precisely at the stroke of 4:00, and confirmed the Italian debt settlement, 54 to 33. Senator Reed, incensed, announced that he would move to reconsider, saying that it was unthinkable that the U. S. should accept Italian bonds worth $528,000.000* for a debt of $2,150,151,000. But those who had argued that the settlement was all that Italy was financially able to pay--that it was either so much or nothing--were ahead of him. Senator Fess moved to reconsider. Senator Smoot promptly moved to table the motion, thereby cutting off debate. Later Senator Smoot withdrew his motion.

The effect of the passing of the Italian debt settlement was to lay the way open for immediate and favorable consideration of other debt settlements arranged and pending before the Senate: the Belgian, Czechoslovakian, Esthonian, Latvian, Roumanian. Since the chief concessions were made to Italy, it called forth the major opposition of the Progressive Republicans and Democrats. Having won the major issue, the majority was prepared to press to easy victory in the minor events.

Two days later Senator Reed's motion to reconsider was voted on, after he had delivered another philippic, and the vote was 43 to 24 against reconsideration.

* With interest calculated at 4.25%, the proposed payments of Italy are worth this amount. It is by reducing interest to 1.1% that the Italian payments are made to cover the entire debt.