Mr. Frank .Simonds's article on the world debt- in the
Times of last Saturday is important, sinr-e it-expresses so clearly the American attitude toward the Balf our Note and in general helps to clear the, opaque atmosphere surrounding the- whole subject of international indebtedness. America, he says, sees in the Balfour Note a British manceuvre intended to-isolate the United States, to shift on to her the burden of responsibility for the present istate of European finances, and to place upon her a moral onus of materialism and selfishness. "It is all very well," says Mr. Simonds, "for Lord Balfour to shake his head sorrowfully and say that the American attitude makes British cancellation impossible, but this does not make French, Belgian, or Italian payment, let alone German and Russian., one bit more likely. You have to remember that the only real money in the whole transaction from. first to last is that which the British owe us. Therefore, as a practical matter, the Balfour Note changes nothing and advances nothing."
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