Republican farmer., 1918-11-22
STUDY CERMANY'S ABILITY TO. PAY
 BIG INDEMNITY Government Agencies In vestigating Financial Con ditiop of Hun Empires. HER NATIONAL DEBT
 IS $35,OOO, 900, 900 Allies Not Concerned With Debt to the German People But With Ability to Pay.

Washington, Nov. 1S-Studv of Germany's financial situation has been undertaken by government agencies nere with view to throwing light on the ability of the German nation to pay big sums as reparation for de- Vastat1on of invaded countries. UJn- official reports indicate that Germany's national debt, represented mainly by war bonds held within the empire. now is nearly $35,000, 100000, or more than two-fifths of the estimated na- tonal wealth of eighty billions. AL though there has been no official an- nouncement or intimation of the az gregate amount which the Allies will expect Germany to pay, it is cer- tain to run into billions of dollars and necessarily the terms of payment must accord with Germany's. ability to pay. This ability will be measured by the nations power to revive her peace time industries and trade, and to tax this for state purposes. Financial ob- servers here say some claims for re- storation and restitution set forth oy interests in a few allied nations are extravagant because they are beyond Germany's ability, even though this is estimated at the highest.
 The victorious allies will not con- cern themselves primarily, it Is be- lieved, with Germanys redemption of her own national debt, since this is largely internal. Comparatively small amounts of German war bonds are owned outside Germany and perhaps the largest sums are held by citizens of the United States, former German subjects. Officials here who have known internal conditions in Germany in the past do not believe the govern ment will repudiate the internal in- debtedness, but rather think that taxes will be made so heavy as to force citizens to turn in their bonds in settlement. In this way the debt would be cancelled without actual re- 1 pudiation.
 There is some discussion in official | circles here of the advisability of the | Allies requiring payment of an 1nde- finite amount for reparation, this sum | to be determined in the future by commissions as the physical recon struction progresses in Belgium and France and the actual cost of the work becomes more clearly deter mined than now. 1 It is pointed out that future prices cannot be measured accurately al present. Interest on the part o1 American officials in the subject i: somewhat indirect, however, inas, much as the government expects none of the payments to go to its credit.
 Whatever may be the weight of the final burden of reparation and re- stitution to be placed on Germany the enormity of the task ahead of hel may be illustrated by comparison o: i her national debt with that of the United States. Germany has 66,O0O,. 900 population and $8O,O0O, 900, O0C of estimated wealth, to pay $35,O0O,. 100000 of war debt already created
 The. United States has 10000, ,00( population and an estimated nationa
 wealth Of s25O.0Oo,OOO 900 to pa. nearly 1S,O0O,O00,O0O war debt al. ready created, or approximately S23,.
 000,000,000 within another six
 months. This means that the pel
 capita will be at least three times greater in Germany than in the
 United States