Time EFFECTS OF LAUSANNE.
The influence of Lausanne on the investment markets was more evident in anticipation than in the realization of a settlement which is considerably more favourable than many people had ventured to hope for while the Conference was passing through the usual stages of deadlock and compromise in the search for a formula. The settlement has not pleased all parties in Germany, because it is not an absolute wiping of the slate, and in this country there are some who are inclined to criticize it on the ground that while it is a practical elimi- nation of Germany's liabilities and relinquishing of our claims on our European allies, there is no compensating scaling down of our War debts to the United States. The American debt, however, was not on the agenda of Lausanne, for America was not a party to the Conference. The American people are apparently not yet prepared to write off European War debts, but American official pronouncements seem to indicate a willingness to reconsider the matter, and an encouraging fea- ture of the position in the United States is that both Democratic and Republican candidates in the coming Presidential election have declined to make War debts a plank in their election plat- forms. In other words, both desire to preserve a free hand to deal with the matter as they think fit when they come into power, * * * *
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