• We regret to record that the American Commissioners and
the British Mission have not been able to come to an agreement as regards the funding of our debt to America. The Chancellor of the Exchequer and his colleagues will accordingly leave New York on Saturday, so that Mr. Baldwin may consult with the Cabinet in London. But though this temporary breakdown is to be regretted, it must not be taken too tragically. There is only a half per cent. difference -between the two sets of negotiators, and even that half per cent. does not concern the first ten years. Roughly, the situation is as follows : The American Government suggests as the rate of interest 3 per cent, for the first ten years, plus a sinking fund charge of a half per cent, during the whole period, which, it should be remembered, is to be in the neighbourhood of sixty years.
