Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1918-07-01
The Ninth German Loan.

EaTller IN tnlS month II was an
| nounced that Germany's eighth loan
was successful. and now a vote Of
credit for the ninth loan Is asked. This
will raise the German war debt to 139.-
600. 100000 marks, but that will not
prevent the loan being all taken.
Rather, 1t Is an assurance Of 1t, for the
| more paper there is afloat In Germany
the easier 1t is to exchange one piece
of it for another. Floating paper loans
is like falling off roof The trouble is
in the stopping. That Germany viii.
come to a full stop sooner or later Is
seen even by Germans. Thus a pro-
fessor at the University Of Berlin was
| quoted in the Times Of yesterday as
saying that the taxes even now do not
cover the interest on the loans. and
| that it was expected to pay only per
cent interest on the per cents, finding
the difference of a per cent by addi-
tons to principal.
That Is Reputation between Ger
mans, which Is something that Ger
mans will feel more than reputation
Of obligations to others. With per
cent constantly added to the principal
of an unpayable debt, Germanys con-
dition can only go from bad to worst.
That Germanys debt Is unpayable ap :
pears rom the neutral quotation OF
the mark. Yesterday the mark was
quoted at 33.45 in Amsterdam. That
is below the franc at 34.67. altho nor
mally the franc is II points below the
mark. Germany Is not poying gold
marks The significance Of that dis
count is therefore that Germany IS
not expected to meet It's promises to
pay. How could 1t be expected to pay
when it's professed reliance Of solv-
ency was In an indemnity to be ex-
torted from those who are likelier to
take Germany's bond to keep the
peace than to pay an indemnity? The
total German revenue before the war
was $3.50. 0OO,O 600 Total receipts this
year are s1,SO0,OOO.0 But what Is
that against an officially estimated
budget after the war Of s2,25N 00O: 900!
The notion that Germany is f1nanc-
ing the war by loans rather than by
taxation is correct in substance. Yet
Germany has Increased its taxes by
81 1925, 900 900, and would increase them
But beer is hardly obtainable by the
poor. while the rich are swimming IN
champagne, according to reports from
Berlin. To be sure. champagne costs
thrice what it did before the war, but
that does not prevent the consumption
OF three times as much. The taxes on
coffee and tea also are raised, but only
substitutes can be bought. The thea
tiers and race tracks are crowded, while
the poor are wearing paper clothing
and living meatless weeks" Mean
while the Deutsche Bank pays IA per
cent dividends and in 1917 did busi-
ness Of $4,000, 00O,C coo marks over the
previous year.
How Is 1t possible to doubt that Ger
man finance Is a sham, like Its demo-
crazy? The reality Of our democracy
Is shown by the fact that our rich are
growing poorer so far as our taxes can
manage it, and our poor are growing
richer by high wages. In the birthplace
|zpf socialism. In the depth Of war dis
tress, the German rich are growing
richer and the poor are growing poorer
It can only be, a question how long the
poor will stand 1t, or how soon the In
flated riches Of the war wealthy Will
collapse. Nevertheless. there Is no rea-
son to expect that there will be any
difficulty about the ninth loan, or the
tenth, or the eleventh. The trouble with
the German loans is the same as that
with our tariff In Blaine's time 1t VIII
be remembered that he smashed his
silk hat on the committees table and
declared that there was nothing in the
proposals to make a market for a
single barrel Of pork In like manner,
the German loans do not assist In
supplying goods and services. Billions
OF marks do not supply man power for
the farms, the factories or the front.
Germany is doomed thru its finance.
and It's finance Is doomed by the sever
est economic pressure ever put on any
people.-New York Times.