24 HASKINS & SELLS March
America's Interest in the Reparation Conference
By GEORGE P. AULD, Former Accountant-General of the Reparation Commission
THE reparation negotiations now being
conducted in Paris by the Young Committee
are of large practical consequence
to this country in our international relations
and our domestic affairs.
The subject matter of the conference is
one which ever since the war has had the
most important effects on the political and
economic life of Europe, and we can hardly
fail to follow with absorbed attention,
the writing of a new chapter in this great
controversy.
As an exporting nation of the first magnitude,
we cannot remain unaffected by the
outcome of the conference. Annually we
ship abroad five billion dollars' worth of the
products of our factories, farms, forests,
and mines. These exports, of which Europe
takes nearly half, amount to seven or eight
per cent. of our total production. This
represents a highly important proportion
of our activity, and any substantial decrease
in it would throw our industries into
the doldrums. Five years ago our Euro-
