Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1921-03-02
THE GERMAN OTTER

its Representatives, has offered TO pay
in reparation for war damages about
10000, 100000 gold marks. There
is q vast difference between this
offer and the demand made by
the r%eparation commission, which
was for. the payment Of .22s,-
ooo. 100000 gold marks: The ear
~ dispatches on the subject do not
indicate the time during which this
payment is proposed to be made, and
If the sum offered were any appreci-
able part of that demanded, the. ele-
ment Of time might be considered Of
some importance.
Reduced to dollars, a term which
We find it a. little easier to UNDER
stand. the payment demanded amounts
in all to about IS billion. This in
cludcs tntallments o. principal. and
also interest yea by year for the per-
iod Of ~ years Reduced to the basis
Of a cash payment this il placed
roughly at about - billion dollars. II
the present offer is on tho basis Of
cash it would amount to about Sc, 0oo,-
eoo. ooo. If 1t includes interest extend
ed over whatever period is contemplate
ed. 1t, would be much less. the amount
depending on the time.
It is interesting to tho
present German proposal with the
German demand on France fifty years
ago. Germany had attacked and in
vaded France. Her armies had seiz-
ed the French capital. From that
vantage point Bismarck dictated his
terms. France "a required to pay
one billion dollars, and Paris was to
remain in possession Of the German
armies until the amount should be
paid. The sum was considered an
enormous one. The German author
tiles did not expect that it would be
paid for years They did not desire
payment. What they had intended to
do was to make the terms so impossi-
bic Of fulfiliment that Paris would
continue to be occupied by German
soldiers. and in the meantime the
people Of France should be struggling
to pay the tax th4t would be levied.
The expectation was that before the
last payment had been made France
would have been wrung dry, and
would have been reduced permanently
to the status Of q fourth rate nation.
Just now Germany proposes, as a
defeated nation, to pay in r%eparation
for her crimes q sun which, accord
inb to the comparative values Of mon
ey then and now, would be less than
she exacted from France. We do not
recall that the French offered the
plea that they could not pay. We have
no recollection Of France making a
serious effort to escape payment BY
appealing to the sympAthies Of tho
world. II any such appeals were
made they must have been perfume
tory, for the French knew that they
were dealing with a stern creditor
whom nc appeal would move.
To the surprise and disappointment
Of the Germans, the French produced
the money. They drew on their little
boards and handed the money over to
the government, glad Of the sacFiacs
if it would rid them Of a hated pres
ence.
There is no possibility that any such
offer as that just made win be seri-
ously considered. 1t is absurd. 1t Is
conceded that to pay anything like the
sum originally demanded will be a
hardship to the German people. Great
emphasis has been placed on that fact.
1t has been so strongly emphasized
that the things that Germany has done
to incur This penalty, and the injuries
which the people OF other nations have
suffered from her acts, have been OBJ
scured. 1t is well enough occasional
~ to recall them. If all the wealth
that remains in Germany were to be
forfeited, and if the entire German
population were to be condemned to
a state of perpetual slavery to the
rest of the world, the products Nof
their labor to be turned over to the
heirs of those whom Germany has
wronsed, the debt could never be WHIP
ed out. AS one writer has put it, the
question is not what Germany reason
ably ought to pay, but what she III
reasonably be expected to be able to
pay. That is really the question.