"The pre-war debt, in the light of recent figures, is almost negligible, and the outstanding certificates in anticipation of taxes and the Fourth Liberty Loan will be redeemed in due course by the flow of funds owing to the Government in taxes and subscription payments. The problem of how to deal with the eighteen-billion-dollar war debt is the vital question. How much of this sum represents a charge on the coming generation and how much an invaluable national asset? WHAT IS OWED THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. "We have loaned abroad the following items: Great Britain $3,745,000,000 France 2,445,000,000 Italy 1,160,000,000 Russia 325,000,000 Belgium 183,520,000 Greece 15,790,000 Cuba 15,000,000 Serbia 12,000,000 Rumania 6,666,666 Liberia 5,000,000 Czechoslovak Republic 7,000,000 ------------- [5]$7,919,976,666 [5] Increased to $9,646,419,494 by October, 1919. "Here, then, are figures totaling nearly half of our war debts that are not only self-supporting but also a double-edged weapon in the international market. In the first place, they represent money spent at home on American goods, from which the American manufacturer has taken his toll of profit; and in the second place, they have put the world in our debt to an extent that will be difficult to pay in the exchange of goods. "Imports of foreign commodities or even gold will take a decade to halve the debt, for the gold can not be spared, nor do we wish it, and our creditors will find it difficult to increase their exports to a point capable of bringing about a balance in their favor. The imports from Europe are bound to be offset by our own exports, some able economists predicting a balance of a billion dollars in our favor for the next five years. Regardless of the demands to be made upon us from this source, it is probable that the peak-load of expenditure has been reached and the period of readjustment and redemption set in.