Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1921-01-16
Germany at the Brink.

SSoIoAS OILly :. =. u ~, X0.VV, nv, 80
Germany at the Brink.
Cable dispatches from Berlin indi-
cate that German statesmen are grave
ly apprehensive over the change OF
ministries in France and fearful that
it means sterner French insistence
upon fulfillment of the terms Of the
Versailles treaty. They profess to be-
Ceve that Germany may be forced to
go the way Austria has gone, confess
herself a bankrupt and invite her late
enemies to take over administration
of her affairs.
The world will waste little sympathy
upon the fears and apprehensions of
German statesmen, and their doleful
assertions will be believed only so far
as they are known to be true; but
there are certain outstanding facts
which neither France nor the other
nations which have reparation claims
against Germany can afford to over
look. One of them is that if the Ger
man people are stripped Of all their
tools of production they cannot pro-
duee. and unless they can produce
they cannot pay. These necessary
tools of production embrace cash cap
ital. machinery. materials. fuel. live
stock and other instruments by which
things are grown and mined and man.
ufactured. If all this capital which
Is removable were taken, Germany
allies would still be unsatisfied. 1t is
apparent, therefore, that instead Of
stripping Germany of such resources
as were not destroyed in the war, they
mainly must be left to her for the
purposes Of production. and indem-
mites paid out of surplus products.
That the plight of the German peo-
pie is due to their own sins and the
madness Of their rulers is true, but
that fact does not make it any less
condition which the world must
reckon with. Even If the vindictive-
ness Of the world led it to wish for the
destruction OF Germany, it is a pun
ishment the world cannot afford to in
flict And as Germany must continue
to exist, it must be allowed to retain
the means Of existence.
Among the hard facts about Ger.
many with which the world must
reckon is that its national debt, with
out taking reparation claims into &C.
count, is more than three times the
entire national wealth. The American
people complain Of the burdensome-
ness Of their national debt. The ma
uonal debt Of the United States is 49,
per cent Of the national wealth. The
national debt Of Germany is 1925 per
cent OF the national wealth. 1t is true
that major portion Of the German
debt Is owed to the German people
and could be Cancelled without affect
ing foreign claims. but enough Of It
Il owed outside to present an appalling
problem in q nation which has so
largely destroyed its taxable resources.
Before Germany can get production
uD to the point where there is any
surplus for the payment Of debts large
stnclrs Of materials must be purchased
abroad. and to make these purchases
Germany lacks both credit and cash.
the value Of her currency having di-
m1nished almost to the vanishing point.
Before the war one German mark
would buy 23.8 cents worth Of Ameri.
can goods. Today one mark will buy
but LIS cents worth.
No one blames France for wanting
to-eollect indemnity as q means of re.
hss&ng her own serious financial plight.
bot frances best friends may doubt
de wtsdom Of pushing her debtor to
tho vail. Tho problem Of French states
nansaip seems TO be how to make the
possibilities Of collecting from Ger.
many square with the expectations of
sasch collection that the French people
hGve been inbued with. Successive
ministries have failed because thew
could not find the solution. At this
distance it is impossible to see how a
new ministry can succeed where the
others have failed.
To the outsider there would seem to
have been wisdom in the proposal of
Premier Leygues-a proposal which
brought about his downfall-that Ger
many be required to pay three hun.
dred million gold marks a year for a
period Of five years. at the end Of
which period the total Of the French
claim would be fixed and method of
its payment determined. But the pro-
poeA failed to satisfy the French peo-
PIE or to meet the approval Of their
representatives in parliament. so the
friends Of France can only look on
and wish her we'll as she seeks a more
acceptable solution.
Canadian grain is being studied by
United States economists with refer.
ence to its coming across the border
either in solid form or after a process
Of nQuefaction.
m III