Page:Walter Renton Ingalls - Wealth and Income of the American People (1924).pdf/207

Rh 6. Whatever be the decision it is certain that this debt ought not to be reckoned as anything but a deferred or doubtful asset in an inventory of the national wealth.

At the present time there is among American economists and financiers a difference in opinion as to the cancellation of the debt that is owed by European nations to the American government for advances on account of the war. Among the people at large how- ever the sentiment is all but unanimous in opposition to any proposal of that nature. Nevertheless it may be foreseen that the force of circumstances will eventually compel such a step irrespective of any likes or dislikes. This may be logically expected as one of the consequences of the immense debt with which the world has saddled itself.

According to O. P. Austin, of the National City Bank, the indebtedness of the world increased from $43,362,000,000 in 1913 to $382,634,000,000 in 1921. Interests charges have risen from 1.5 billion dollars to 15 billion dollars. These figures have been converted into dollars at the pre-war normal value of their currencies. Inasmuch as the debt is payable in the remote future, there is no other practicable way of stating its full amount. In addition to the bonded indebtedness there is an enormous volume of paper currency outstanding in many of the European countries which is also really a part of the public debt.

Mr. Austin’s enumeration includes both the external and the internal debts of the several countries. Economically these stand in quite different positions. Through its external obligations one country may command physical wealth from other countries. Inter-