The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1918-08-23
Other Mems Views
An Editorial That May or May Not Square
with The Views OF The Forum
From The Kansas city Star:

From The Kansas City Star:
After Germany is defeated and confined with
IN her own proper borders, what means shall be
adopted to put her under bonds to keep the peace
Tor the future? What guarantees can the world
exact to insure that she will not again prepare
huge ornaments and what weapons will it have
to enforce them?
Stephane Lausanne, editor of The Paris Matin
and member of the French high commission in
the United States, discusses these questions in
the Outlook and concludes that by wise use Of
the economic weapons in its hands, the world can
enforce any disarmament terms it may impose
upon the common enemy. Germany is manu-
featuring nation. 1t must have raw materials If
its great Industrial centers are to resume opera
lions after the war, and unless they resume Ger
many will have nothing to export and almost
literally will have no means Of livelihood. Most
of the basic raw materials which industrial Ger
many must have are the products of countries
with which she is now at war. She does not
produce them herself in quantity. 1t Is plaint
therefore, that after the war she will be abso-
lutely dependent upon her present enemies for,
the means of putting her idle machinery in mo--
ton and giving employment to her industrial
population.
To illustrate this dependence M Lausanne,
takes the three essentials Of wool, copper and
fats. The German wool industry in the year be-
fore the wharf.-the turning of the material into
workers in some 10000 plants To keep these
plants going required the importation in 1911" of
wool valued at $100,0O0,000. Where did it come
from? By far the larger part of it from the
British dominions, Australia, South Africa, New
Zealand, almost all the rest from Argentina and
practically none from the countries now in the
German alliance. 1t be shown, therefore,
that without the good disposition of Great Britain
the German wooden industry is dead. In figures
the worlds wool supply, as brought out at the
recent international conference in London. is d.
vided as follows: The entente nations, 1,138,000
tons: Germany and her allies, $4,000 tons. No
looms can run in Germany without the entente's
consent.
Germany is stripped Of copper today, even the
kitchen utensils have been used up, yet the manu-
facture Of electrical appliances into which copper
enters was one Of her greatest industries before
the war. In 1912 she exported manufactured
articles of copper to the value Of $780, 900 marks
and employed in that industry 100000 workers
Where did she get the copper? Nearly 100000
tons Of her total requirements Of 100000 tons
came from the United States. Without the con
sent Of the United States this other great Ger
man industry cannot be revived.
OF fats Germany used in 1913 some 100000
tons the product entering into fertilizer-an alb
solute essential to agricultural Germany-lubri-
can't soap, cattle feed and various kinds of manu-
featuring. OF this requirement nearly a million
tons had to be imported, more than half Of 1t from
the Allied countries. M. Lausanne estimates from
men in, 1000 factories are employed in the utili-
zation Of these oleaginous products. The French
commissioner might have gone farther. He
might have shown that the entente nations con-
troll 100000 tons Of cotton against practically
none in Germany; 900 tons of rubber against
none and lead, zinc, nickel, aluminium, coal and
iron out Of all proportion.
The effectiveness of this economic weapon can
not be disputed. If the entente nations agree to
it's use they can tell Germany that her supply Of
materials will depend upon the size of her
military budgets If she starts off again with
budgets of the size she was expanding when the
came her supplies will 'be cut off entirely.
If she cuts them in half limited supplies will be
doed out to her. If she cuts them down to moth
ing she can have everything she wants. This is
M. Lauzanne's proposal and it seems worth con-
sderng. We can defeat Germany and will de-
feat her, but without some means Of preventing
her from rearning we have guaranty that we
wouldn't have it to do over again in a few years
Napoleon defeated Prussia very thoroughly and
he had no means of enforcing the agreement and
Prussia didn't keep it. When Prussan niltarism
is broken this time it must be beyond secret or
open repair. Perhaps an economic suzerainty may
be the solution. s-....... IS.