AMERICA'S PREDICAMENT.
There is little doubt that the American people are
beginning to realize the serious conditions as regards their own country, but it is impossible to tell what may be the effect of this realization upon America's attitude towards the War Debts. With huge Budget deficits, neither the American Executive nor the American
(Continued on. page.v.)
Finance—Public and Private (conunued from page 28) people can be expected to welcome the prospect of cancellation or drastic revision of War Debts, though in passing it may be observed that if, for the sake of argument, the settlement of Europe's War Debts to America were to be on lines involving one huge payment achieved through the flotation of a great loan taken up by American nationals, the sums raised might help the American executive over their immediate troubles in the matter of Budget deficits and give the country, as it. were, a starting point from which to strive for an improvement in trade conditions. Moreover, the chances of such improvement would be the greater if, as a conse- quence of the settlement of War Debts, the countries in Europe were able to shape their policies with greater confidence in the knowledge that War Debts had shrunk to dimensions no longer calculated to disturb seriously the equilibrium of the exchanges.
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