The Europeans believed that "the settlement should relieve the world" of the crushing debt burdens. However, most of these debts were owed to the US, which was reluctant to write them off. US Senator William Edgar Borah held that "the troubles of the world were really due to the War, and to the persistence of Europe in keeping great armaments, and to the mismanagement of money" and so he was not willing to postpone, reduce, or cancel the payment of debts "and have Europe go ahead with a programme which has practically sunk the world into its present economic condition."