The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-02-19

with regard to the treaty of Ver-
 safIies. The vote was 1s1 to 4o.
 London, February 1S.-Mr. Lloyd George the prime minister declared in the House of Commons today he stood by his pledge that Germany must pay to the limit of her capacity
 The prime minister was discussing the German reparations question in answer ing Horatio Bottomley's arraignment of the governments policy of alleged in- aptitude with regard to forcing Germany to comply with the reparations demands, the provision for the trial of war crim- inals and other portions of the peace treaty.
 There was great difference, continued the premier, between Germany paying for the whole cost of the war and pay ing to the limit of her capacity.
 In speaking of Germany's ability to produce and pay, Mir. Lloyd George said l:
 We have got to make allowances to enable her to get the raw material and the food which is necessary to enable her to produce these goods, and that is the calculation we have got to make.
 'I do not want to enter the conference except in the spirit of doing my best to get from Germany the last farthing she is capable of paying. but I will not go there in the spirit of. advancing pro- posals which upon advice of the best experts we know to be utterly imprac- ticable and would raise false pride in this country,
 Germany must do her best to appre- ciate the mark by balancing her budget, which now is redicllous, namely, about one fifth her expenditure. This is intoi- erable. It is not that Germany is too poor to meet the allied demands and we shall not be convinced she is until she has imposed upon her people the charges which we are entitled to expect she shall impose. l have suspicion she is coming Into court with rather ragged clothes in order to make a good case and reduce her monthly payments.
 EFFORT IS DEMANDED
 '-The mark is not ragged as it appears. It is not a shadow as it looks. It is just put on. This is my conviction and it is one of the things which certainly will be pressed on the German delega- ton, namely, that they must make an effort like any other country to balance their accounts improve their currency and make it more possible to meet oo- legations. At the same time, let us not ignore how much has been accomplished. The German fleet has disappeared, the German army has disappeared, the gi- gantic war material of Germany has been surrendered, the German colonies have been given up and very consider aple quantities or materlal nave been surrendered
 ''So far, the treaty has been enforcel and it will be our duty to see that the rest is imposed to the utmost limits of the capacity of Germany to discharge it.'
 Mir. Lloyd George implored the mem- bers of the house who thought greater things could have been accomplished, to exercise a deep sense of responsibility and not give impracticable advice.
 It must not be forgotten he de- clared, that deliberate failure by Ger many to carry out her obligations means action by the allies to enforce the treaty"
 The prime minister declared that be- fore any governments could take the re- sponsbility of calling on their respective countries to take stern steps, those gov- ernments must be satisfied that the fail- ure of Germany was due to deliberate attempt to defy the treaty
 Alluding to the trial of the former German emperor, MT. Lloyd George said in view of Hollands refusal to surren- der Wilhelm, he would say it was use- less to insist that the kaiser be handed over. France was as England in tho de- mand for punishment of the kaiser, the premier said, but even France did not think the allies should risk anything in the nature of hostile action against Hol- land. He declared he would insist on trial of the other war criminals.