It is not possible in these notes—and few who have
not tried to epitomize the chief events of the week in the English-speaking world in a few paragraphs can appreciate the difficulties of the task of condensation—to report the statements of Lord Balfour and Mr. Harvey on what the former describes as " the most difficult, most danger- ous, and most anxious question of international indebted- ness." No very useful purpose, it seems to the writer, would be served now by reopening a discussion of all the different aspects of the British-American debt con- troversy. The vast majority of the peoples of both countries have approved of the settlement and, as the Washington Star observes, the " conclusion of the funding negotiations renders the topic largely academic." Mr. Wile states that, while the controversy is not all likely to take a more serious turn, nevertheless it " leaves an unpleasant taste behind." Now that the debt settlement has been made, we can afford to ignore passing contro- versies on the debt and how it was incurred. But how different would have been the situation if no settlement had been reached I
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