The Washington herald., 1921-05-01

= polite friction Of peace. France,
with her economic future and her
present financial solvency At stake,
demands German payment in full.
up to the sum agreed upon by all
the allies in q recent Paris con-
ference and notified to the Germans
at the London gathering. France
possesses = powerful army and all
the necessary machinery for coercion.
n Germany remains defiant, then.
France can occupy all Of the. great
Ruhr Industrial region. containing
more than half the coal In Germany,
and operate the vast manufactur-
Ing plants to her own profit. as well
as employ the coal mines to feed
her own industry and as basis Of
political and economic barter in Eu-
rope.
Germany. on her part. refuses to
meet the allied terms. but seeks At
the same time to avoid the French
occupation. She faces two possibili-
ties which In her mind spell the
same sort Of run. To submit TO
allied figures means forty-two years
of hard labor: to refuse to submit
means an occupation Of the richest
Industrial district, the prostrstion Of
her own industrial life, and the pos
sible economic and political disin-
tegration Of the empire. In this
dilemma she has come to the United
States, after appealing to England.
In the vain hope that We will inter-
vene and save her both from the
necessity to pay an1, the danger OF
French occupation.
But. up to the present moment
the whole problem Of German repa-
rations has had but one of two
solutions-either the ruin of France
or-what seems to Germans-the al
most certain ruin of Germany. Not
to be paid. for France. means ma
tional collapse. To pay means, for
Germany. putting her economic fu-
ture in pawn. The world has been
now asked again-to de-
eide between France and Germany.
10 interpose on behalf of Germany
means to seal the fate of France:
for. as\I have pointed out. unless
France gets the maximum sum. now
fixed as German obligation, she Is
financially ruined.
Hun Runs True to Form.
OF course, II Germany had ever
given the slightest evidence OF an
intention to pay anything. except
under duress, the situation might
be different. But German tactics
now are exactly what they were in
the submarine days. the Germans
were prepared to promise anything.
to use any and every appeal to
neutral prejudice, but they were not
ready ever to abandon the use of
the submarine and they are not now
ready to pay, to pay anything eX-
cept under pressure. The best
proof of their spirit is their steady
refusal to abide by those portions
of the treaty of Versailles which
direct German disarmament. Here,
too, they have consistently evaded.
deceived, defed.
AS for the French. they have
come to the end of their patience.
Financial collapse is within sight
as a consequence OF the vast sums
France has already expended to re-
store her ruins, in advance of any
German payments. The French
have made up their minds that the
Germans will never pay. except un-
der the immediate and constant
pressure OF force. They have de-
clined to be made the dupes OF
German tactics any longer. Their
temper Is that OF the United States
after the final German submarine
blockade of February. 1917.
What is even more serious is the
fact that the French have reached
a pitch Of desperation which pre-
cludes the possibility of effective
-
France believes that the rest of the
world is not ready to make any
sacrifice for French safety or SOL
vency. II Great Britain and the
United States continue to give a
measure of apparent sympathy to
France, each is really anxious. in
the interests of its own economic
affairs to restore peace in Central.
Europe and to obtain this by such
reductions in the sum total of rep
arations as may placate Germany
From the French point of view
british and even American policy
seems. upon trial to aim at restor-
ing economic peace in the world,
at the expense of France, who has
most to lose by the reduction of
German reparations. Both we and
the British signed a Treaty OF Ver-
sailles promising to come to the aid
Of France in case of German attack
in the future. but since we have
failed to ratify, the treaty Is dead
France has nothing left now but
her own strong right arm. and it is
strong at the moment. There fore
most Frenchmen agree that now is
the time to act.
United States as Arbiter.
The German suggestion that the
United States arbitrate and the sub
liminal suggestion in Mr. Hughes
reply, that America was ready un-
der certain circumstances to medi-
ate, left the French, IL not cold. far
from impressed. II the United
States should mediate, should de-
eide that Germany could only pay
,000, instead of S2l,0O0,-
100000, would the United States,
having reduced the sum, agree to
heip to collect the reduced total?
This was the first French inquiry.
TO whtoH the obvious answer was
that the United States would not.
But there is a second inquiry, |
bound to be made before long, ii |
The possibility of American media
lion recurs: Europe owes America
some S11 1000, 900, ,OGC in loans. which