The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1921-06-19
Leaders Say Germany Can Pay Her Debts,
But Regard Upper Silesia AS First Essential

policy will fail because there IL no
tendency in Germany to break away
from Prussia despite all the foreign
hopes and intrigues. while Poland
will always be weak and ready to
fail apart because Of the inherent
instability of the Polish character
AS for Russia, French puppets like
Deniken and Wrangel failed miser-
ably. and modern France more than
Napoleon himself. could not under
stand the spirit of Russia"
Herr Stresseman went at length
into the question of reparations.
He held the view that after a few
years, during which Germany will
desperately endeavor to fulfill her
pledges, the European people will
realize the folly of maintaining
such abnormal conditions of world
trade and will call another confer
ence to revise the whole peace
treaty and will develop a scheme
for an international economic union
by which the interests of all Eu-
ropean nations would be secured
with better arrangement than
wild. destructive competition with
tariff walls and rivalries.
Suggests Common Pool.
The war debt OF all the nations"
he said. could be wiped out in a
few years by a small tax on raw
materials like cotton and coal paid
by all purchasers and put in a COM
mon pool for that purpose"
In his opinion Germany, with the
best will in the world, will be un-
able to continue the payment of in
IDENTITIES for half a century. This
will be recognized. he thinks, by
the increasing common sense of Eu-
ropean peoples. That undou bit eddy
is the Official view Of the German
Volkspartei, but 1t is challenged BY
DR.. Walter Rathenau, Minister Re-
construction and probably the
greatest German economist. who
said definitely in the reichstag. I'VE
can pay" and by Philip Scheide-
mann. leader of the Majority So
cialists. with whom I had a talk
in the company Of his friend and
adviser. DR.. HeiphAAd. millionaire
Socialist.
Scheidemann. who helped to
found the republic after the war,
in which he was but a mild critic
supporter of the imperial, policy
until the great wreck happened, 10
a man of distinguished appearance.
not like Stresseman who Is a typi-
cal little Prussian with a close
cropped, bullet head and a squat
figure. Scheidemann is tall and
looks like a French painter with
silver hair and a little, pointed
beard. So he seemed to me when
met him in DR.. Halphand's villa
outside Berlin on the edge of a
beautiful lake called Wannsee in
the woods of Grunewald. 1t is not
bad spot for two elegant social
lists far from the maddening crowd.
Sees Hope fer Germany.
Herr scheidemann's view Of Ger
many's future. interpreted in vol
uble French with a tremendous
German accent by Dr. Helphand.
was optimistic on the condition that
their people were given peace and
fair play by France and England
He said that under that condition,
which is utterly essential. Germany
could fulfill tie terms of payment
without m,scs< doubt
BY the disqualification of the
army" he said. I'VE are saving
1900. 100000 gold marks annually
which would go some way in pay
ing OFF the yearly tribute. We
could save other sums by restrict
ing the imports Of Inquiries and by