36 ESSAYS IN PERSUASION part

towards this country or towards America, if theirfuture development is stifled for many years tocome by the annual tribute which they mustpay us. There will be a great incentive tothem to seek their friends in other directions,and any future rupture of peaceable relationswill always carry with it the enormous advan-tage of escaping the payment of external debts.If, on the other hand, these great debts areforgiven, a stimulus will be given to the soli-darity and true friendliness of the nations latelyassociated.

The existence of the great war debts is amenace to financial stability everywhere. Thereis no European country in which repudiationmay not soon become an important politicalissue. In the case of internal debt, however,there are interested parties on both sides, andthe question is one of the internal distributionof wealth. With external debts this is not so,and the creditor nations may soon find theirinterest inconveniently bound up with themaintenance of a particular type of governmentor economic organisation in the debtor countries.Entangling alliances or entangling leagues arenothing to the entanglements of cash owing.

The final consideration influencing thereader’s attitude to this proposal must, however,depend on his view as to the future place in theworld’s progress of the vast paper entangle-ments which are our legacy from war financeboth at home and abroad. The war has endedwith every one owing every one else immense