For a time the English-speaking peoples looked upon the decreasing values of Continental European moneys with indifference or amusement. Trade with the Continent, which could not pay pounds sterling or dollar prices, fell off and threatened us with a crisis of over-production. This was a danger to which we quickly adjusted ourselves, with the consoling thought that the business would have had to be done on credit anyway. Who could afford to sell on credit to countries already virtually bankrupt and with a constantly falling currency? The English-speaking peoples had the rest of the world to trade with, and it seemed that there was nothing to do but to wait until some of the countries affected by chaotic financial conditions became bankrupt and repudiated their worthless paper money, as revolutionary France had repudiated the _assignats_ and the American Southern States had seen their Confederate dollars become worthless. The more stable European countries could in time conquer the problem of inflation and rebalance their budgets. Were it not for the two intimately related problems of reparations and interallied debts, Great Britain and the United States would probably not have become involved in the political and financial implications of the European financial situation. But all these countries owed Great Britain and the United States large sums, representing either advances made during the war or sums due on reparations account. This being the case, it was impossible to expect the Continental European countries to settle their accounts with one another until some agreement had been reached with Great Britain and the United States in regard to the accounts of all the Continental European countries with the creditor nations. The problem of international debts was still further complicated by two facts: that Great Britain owed nearly as much to the United States as was owing to her from her European debtors; and that the United States, while demanding preferred settlement for her bill against Germany for the expenses of the army of occupation, had failed to ratify the Treaty of Versailles and had made a separate peace with Germany. The American Government was unwilling to accept the thesis set forth in the Balfour note of August 1, 1922, that Great Britain’s debt to the United States should be considered in connection with the debts of Continental Europe to Great Britain. It was unwilling, also, to defer the payment of the Rhine occupation bill until the general question of German reparations had been satisfactorily solved. Adopting the attitude that “business is business,” the American Government not only concluded a refunding agreement with Great Britain, independent of European financial problems, and sent a Treasury official to France to press the claim for America’s share in the German payments for military occupation, but also announced its expectation that other debtors should follow Great Britain’s example.