1917, just before the Bolshevik revolution. The amount of the foreign investment in commercial enterprises in Russia can not be ascertained. Some recent unofficial figures showed that the French government and French individuals had an aggregate investment in Russia of about 22 billion francs.
Of our foreign national debtors, Great Britain is the most important, but Great Britain herself is a large creditor of other nations on account of war advances. If she could collect her own debts she could easily pay us out of the proceeds. But even without such collection Great Britain may be expected to pay us, anyhow, sooner or later. If we should cancel our credits of this nature, Great Britain would be bound morally to do likewise. The whole question is, therefore, one that is chiefly between us and the countries of continental Europe.
The matter of these debts involves questions of both policy and equity. It may be right that Europe should pay us in full, but the payment may develop conditions that will be disagreeable to us. Europe can not pay us with gold, for she has not got it. Even if she could, a further addition to our holdings that are already stupendous would be useless to us and might be dangerous. Practically, Europe can pay us only with goods, especially manufactured goods. But a great influx of cheap goods, advantageous to us in itself, might, nay probably would, produce dislocations in our own manufacturing industry. Foreseeing this it is contemplated to increase the tariff on foreign importations. Manifestly, however, we can not expect Europe to pay her indebtedness to us and at the same time cripple her only means of doing it.
