THE WAR DEBTS

Hokitika Guardian, 24 January 1933, Page 8

THE WAR DEBTS

BRITAIN’S PAYMENT TO U.S.A

NOT MADE UNDER OLD SYSTEM

The attitude affirmed by the British Government in yielding to the American demand for the war debt payment last month was explained byt he Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr Neville Chamberlain, in tlie House of Commons on December 14. He sad that while the Government had decided to pay in full, it insisted that the payment must not be taken as a resumption of the old system of war debt payments. “We could not leave Congress under any misapprehension as to what our views were about the possibility o! continuing such payments in their previous form in the future. Therefore wo consider it necessary, while informing the United States Government of our determination to pay the instalment, to intimate at the same time our intention, when the discussion on the final settlement began, to put forward our contention that tho old regime, which was interrupted by the Hoover moratorium, could never ba revived. Therefore the payment which we have made, meeting our obligation, is nob to be taken as implying a revival of tlm old system, but it must be bo taken into account when we are considering the new regime which will be expected to result from the discussions with the United States Government.”