The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1919-05-23
ALLIES REPLY TO
 GERMAN NOTE
tContinued from Page one.)


 consumption of German coal was in the territories which it is now pro posed to transfer. Further, it falls to take into account the production of Ignite, so, 900, 900 tons of which were produced annually in Germany before the war, and none of which is de- rived from the transferred territory. either is any reference made to the fact that the output of coal in the non-transferred districts was rapidly increasing before the war. and that there is no reason to doubt that un- der proper management there will be an increasing amount in the future. But should not the coal situation be viewed from a different and wider standpoint? It cannot be forgotten that among the most wanton acts per petrated by the German armies dur ing the war was the almost complete destruction by her of the coal supply of Northern France. An entire in dustry was obliterated with a calcu- l l,-ion and a savagery which it will | take many years to repair. The result | has been grave and prolonged short age of coal in Western Europe. There
 can be nc reason in equity why the | effect of this shortage should be borne exclusively by the Allied na- | tions who were its victims or why l Germany. who deliberately maS~sher- | self responsible for the deficiency. should not to the full limit of her capacity, make 1t good.
 Stress is also laid upon the hard ships alleged to be inflicted upon Germany by the necessity of import ing iron ores and zinc. It is not un- supposed to suffer from conditions tr-hf nf
 submit. It would appear to be a fundamental fa1lacy that the political control of a country is essential in order 10 procure a reasonable share of It's products Such a proposal finds no foundation in economic law
 OF in history.
 ''The Allied and associated powers
 cannot accept the speculative es- innate presented to them in the Ger man note on the future conditions of
 German industry as a. whole. This estimate appears to them to be char
 acterized and vftiated by palpable exaggeration. No note Is taken of the fact that economic disaster promised
 by the war fs widespread, and, in
 deed, universal. Every country is called upon to suffer. There is no
 reason why Germany, which was re-
 sponsib1e for the war, should not
 suffer also.
 similarly, as regards the popula- ton of the future. no reliance can be placed on the date which are con- tained in the German note. On the one hand, it is sought to prove that emigration from Germany woul1 be necessary. but that few countries will receive the emigrantS. On the other hand, it is sought to show that there will be a flood of Germans returning to their native land and live under the conditions which have already been described as intolerable. It will be unwise to attach too much weight to either speculation.
 Finally. the German note rashly l asserts that the peace conditions will | logically brfrs about the destruc- ton Gloss in originaD of several mil l lions of persons in Germany in ad- dition to those who have perished in 1 the war or who are alleged to bave | lost their lives in consequence of the l blockade. Against the war losses of l Germany might be placed the far greater losses which her initiat tive and | conduct of the war have inflicted d l upon the Allied countries and whic h ! have left an uneffaceab1e mark upon l the manhood of Europe. On the other hand. the figures and the losses all
 
 blockade are purely hypothetical The German estimate of future losses could be accepted only if the premises upon which it is presumed to rest are | accepted also.
 But they are entirely fa11acious. [ There is not the slightest reason to believe that a population is destined to be permanently disabled because it | will be called upon in future to trade across it's frontiers instead of pro- ducing what it requires from within. | A country can Doth become and can | continue to be a. great manufacturing | country without producing the raw
 materials of it's main industries Such
 is the case, for instance. with Great
 Britain, which imports at least one | half of her food supplies and the | great prepond erance of her raw ma l terials from abroad. There is no req | son whatever why Germany under the | new conditions should not build up
 for herself a position both of sta bility and prosperity in the European l world. Her territories have suffered | less than those of any other conti- | mental belligerent state during the
 war. Indeed. so far as pillage or de-
 vastation is concerned, they have not | suffered at all.
 l The German reply also ignores the l belief that would cause her people to
 be more hopeful in the reduction ot
 her military arms"
 | NO result should be more satis-
 factory to the German people. | But the first condition of any | such recuperation would appear to be
 that Germany should recognize the | facts of the present state of the
 world, which she has been mainly in- | strumental in creating. and realize
 that she cannot escape unscathed 1 The share which she is being called | upon to bear of the enormous cal | amfty that has befallen the world has | been apportioned by the powers sole 1 iy to her ability to bear it.
 "All the nations of Europe are suf- l ferins from losses and are bearing g and will continue to bear burdens which are almost more than they can | carry. These burdens and losses have l been forced upon them by the aggres-
 sion of Germany. It Is right that | Germany, which is responsible for the | origin nf fhega calamitieS shOnld