Evening star., 1920-11-14
GERMANY. NEEDING
ECONOMIC PEACE
Excess Labor and Coal
Prompt Desire for Rela-
tions With France.
ny HENRY WILLIAM FRANCIS.


PARIS, November 13.-Germany mas
more coal than she can consume uh-
der the present conditions OF her IN
dus,ry, and one of her biggest PROD
lsms is an excess and not dencit OF
,,hor This is the declaration OF a
French authority, prominent IN the
industrial life of the country, ana
we'll known outside of 1t. who mas
lust returned from an exhaustive IN
vestixation of German conditions. and
uho reported his findings to the
FRENCH government. He made the loi-
lowing statement to me on the cohui-
tion that his name should not De Hlaoe
public =: car-
manv at the present time explains.
nerhans. the desire which the Ger
man leaders now are manlfestins 10
rssume the commercial relations with
France, which were broken oy tneir
crisis, which since last June mas mas
developed with great rapldlty, mas
brought about an eVer-lncreaslns
amount of unemployment. Inc Inc
Deutsche Allegemeine Zeituhs Oh Oc-
tober speaks of an army OF unem-
nioyed 100000 strong. Official ng-
nres nut the number at considerably
less but, nevertheless, II is neon
,estibIe that an enormous amount OF
unemployment exists. What is the
cause?
View of Omcial Journals.
The official German newspapers pro-
fess to see in this crisis the conse-
uuences of the understanding at Spa
and of the delivery OF coal to the al
lies. According to them it is lack
,f coal. which forced the factories TO
close. This thesis does not bear IN
yestiEation; to find the remedy one
must first hnd the real cause OF the
evil.
.Paradoxical as it may seem. al
firm that at the present time Ger
many has more coal than her inous
tries can consume. The truth IS tnat
the unemployment is not due 20
ability to sell manufactured goods,
to an excess of labor and to a lack
of raw materials.
ut is q fact that the order books
OF the big commercial houses ana
factories are almost empty. This is
due not only to high prices-high
because of the depreciation of the
mark-but also to the ruinous COM
mercial system inaugurated by the
German industriaIs in the early
months of this year Foreign buy
era who might have allowed them
selves to be tempted to buy because
of the deprecated mark, have been
systematically excluded from the
taxes Of all varieties and by the
innumerable obstacles placed in their
way by the government. The result
is that an army df clerks and func-
tionaries has been created and that
all business has been jeopardized-
Fails to Meet Situation.
Now, what Is official Germany do
must say that the efforts 30 far made
seem to have been insignificant
The German government, seeing that
the Industrial workers are too nu-
merous. might reasonably provide the
fields or in the mines. Such a plan
would be not only to Germany's in
terest, to the interest Of her people,
but it also. would be to the interest
Nothing Of this sort has been at
tempted.
"The colliery output At the present
time 10 inferior to what it was before
the war. Germany does not seem to
Wiling to understand. that better
coal output would follow the inaugu-
ration Of better conditions Of life for
the miners. better food and better
lodgingsl It Ia certain that the
coal which the allied governments
have voted for the amelioration Of
the working conditions In the mining
districts 10 used by the Germans for
other purposes. and this violation is
against Germany's own interest.
The government has believed
that it could remedy the unemploy-
ment situation by legislating and de-
creeing that factory owners and en-
ployers should employ a number Of
employees equal to the number en-
ployad before tho war; 1t has passed
laws forcing tho unemployed to re-
main where they cannot mako q liv-
ing