New Britain herald., 1919-04-15
PREPARATIONS NOT
 YET FULLY DECIDED
Smaller Powers May Object to
 Amount Allotted Them

farls, April ,, (By the Associated Press )-Thc problem of rcparations settlements still has troublesome lmes before connection with the dis Vrloullon of indemnity to be paid by o'crmany. Smaller powers which sui 1ered under German invasion and ucEastation, arc still to be heard rcla- i've to thcr shares of the reparation >uhu, particularly Belgium and r.orthcrn France who arc entitled to
 h0l consideration under various ErC- conlcrcncc pledges
 . AHe tentative scheme of diStribu- , o' "nlch Great Britain and France
 aoNanccd appOrtionS between so
 '' per cent, probably 85, of tho
 'e. sum realized to these big powers, s' pefhapS, 15 per cent. to sat tue demands of Belgium, Jtaly, ~ "1t'' ltoumania, Russia and others.
 '''' IS a smaller proportion than tue 0o0o'luary powers expected and they ..lc almost sure to be dissatisfied N;th It, It has been suggested among the experts on the reparations committee tilaI houmania, Serbia and other rii- .,ol'S nave received rcparauo'lo .''toush the acquisition of territory, put thls reasoning will scarcely appear to Belgium
 A snare of the separations 1uhd "ill' according to the present nndcF- standing, be assigned to Russia for damage to invaded Russian territor- lcs, but will probably be turned over to Great Britain and France to apply on advances made to the old Russian goNcrnm cnt during the war.
 1,C 1I,i nay by Germany are characteristic, a very considerable part of the first $0,0C0,- 00O,00 will not be available for re- paration purposes, since it has been assigned to the payment of the cN- pcnses Of the armies of occupauon and such food supplies as must Hc furnished Germany. Since the occu- patton of tho left bank of the RhH1e will continue during the entire two years covered by this first payment tho expenses, particularly of thc French occupational army. will cat deeply into the 5000, 100000.
 No announccm has yet been made regarding tho precise defnlt1oh of the various "Catcgories' of rcpa- rations. In other Words., there IS no definition of the classes of damages for which Germany is required to pay. It can be stated however, that the five "categories' adopted com- prise ~reparotion for~actual damage to life and property; pensions for , cripplcs and tho families of slain sol dierS: compensation for enforced labor cxactcd of inhabitants of occu- pied regions, including work done by dcportod BclSians; remuneration for labor by prisoners of war; and pay 1iSji occupied territories. It is understood that no offset has been allowed Ger many for the maintenance of pris- oners of war 10 Germany during the war, holding that the prisoners were chiefly supported at their own expense through food parcels by which alone the prisoners were able to maintain existence during captivity, and that the surplus has been covered by i work the prisoners performed for 1 Germany.
 Although members of tho com- mission regard the rCparations qucs- ton as settled, in the main, there arc various details to be worked out, in cludinG q scheme for German con- tributions of labor, raW materials and manufac cured articles for the rcsto ration of devaSted districts Discus 5iOnS ct meetings of the commission have been marked by shifting tend cncy from the principle inltially ad- vocatcG by tho French of leaving the exact sums to be paid indefinite for future determination by an inter Allied commission, to definite fiNa- ton of ail initial contributions. Tbc French change of attitude was un- doubtcdly inspired by pressure from parliam ont, which demanded definite knowledge of what was to be received from Germany.
 Another financial question rcQuir ing scttlcm ent between the Allies is that of repayment of advances made by Great Britain and America to the Associated Powers. A sub-commiS sion was appointed to consider this question. but the British and Amer ican representatives have thus far not participated in deliberations. This has hccn apparently in anticipation Of discussions which night deal moro with the negotiatiVC aspect of delay ing or mitigating payments than ac tual conSd dcratiOn of rCpaym