THAT AGREEMENT

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 2, Issue 278, 19 July 1932, Page 2

THAT AGREEMENT

Althougli the announcement of the terms of the "gentlemen's agreements which has been reached by Great Britain, France Itaiy ancl Belgium will tend to moderate the enthusiasm which first -greeted the Lausanne settlement, there is no reason why it should. The only doubtful feaure of the understanding is that its existence was so long concealed. Had it been announced that the Lausanne settlement was conditional on other things be- ' ing done, world reaction to the settlement might have been somewhat different. At first there was a lack of candour which will suggest something of a black conspiracy to certan section^ of the American public, and where hostility exists to proposals for the scaling-down of debts it will almost surely be intensified by this method of approach. There is, however, nothing sinister or internationally reprehensible in the attitude which has been adopted by the parties to the "gentlemen's agreement." When the agreement was first mentioned unofficially, it did seem like a piece of American propaganda designed to harden United States opinion against making debt concessions, this feeling being causec. by the deliberate withholding of facts that should have been revealed from the beginning. But Americans as a whole should be able to appreciate th'e commercial common sense of the arrangement. Germany's reparation creditors could not afforc. to reduce her burdens without having theirs reduced correspondingly, otherwise the load on their own people would be proportionately increased. The position as it stands now is not complicated, nor i's it discouraging. All that has happened is that the European nations are placing a perfectly reasonable responsibility on American shoulders. America will benefit by restoration of financial confidence, anc general improvement in economic conditions. It is just, therefore, that she should take her part in doing what is necessary to lift the world from the depths of depression. Nothing can be done by the European countries alone. Even if the Lausanne settlement were immediately ratified, there would be v no improvement in European conditions, for what was gained on one hand would be sacrificed on the other. The nations of Europe have proved their wiliingness to make necessary adjustment; the rest depends upon the United States. If America wants her trade to be restored; if she wants to reduce her volume of unemployment, she must concede to other countries what they are prepared to concede to Germany. There is no middle course ; compromise is impossible. The "gentlemen's agreement" is not an ultimatum to America ; it is not evep a direction. It is merely a statement ■of necessity.