A lucid exposition of Britain's position with respect to. inter-allied debts was made by Mr. Winston Churchill, the Chancellor of of the Exchequer, in the House of Commons to-day in reply to Mr. Snow-iden, the former Chancellor of the Exchequer, who initiated a debate] con the subject.
Brithin was endeavouring, as far as ai, Churchill emphasized that possible, to give effect to the principle of the Balfour Note while ce jering the capacity of individual debtors to pay, as well as being fair towards those debtors—who genuinely tried to meet their ob-
He emphasized that the Italian ebt settlement contained no political consideration except Anglo-
Italian friendship.
He dwelt upon the extraordinary situation that might arise when other Powers funded their.debts, when the wealthy and_ prosperous: United States would be receiving from war-stricken Europe at least 60 per cent. of the total probable} reparations from Germany.
He hoped for a speedy and satisfuetory settlement of the French debt, whereby Britgin would receive} '£12,500,000 per year, Italy was paying £4,000,000 a year.
He estimated that—£2,000,000 might be received from minor Towers, Germany might reasonably te expected to pay £15,000,000 to] Great Britain, thus making a total of £29,000,000 2 year against the '£38,000,000 which Britain would shortly be paying to America. Perhaps Russia someday would fill the gap between Britain's receipts and
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.