The Washington herald., 1921-05-01
By FRANK II. sInoNDs.

always a date Of anxiety, bringl
more than usual apprehension thiI
year. for Il Is the day fxed in the
treaty OF Versailles for the compile
tion OF the nrst series of payment.
BY Germany and the adoption o.
the further program which shoul<
provide for the liquidation OF Ger.
many's debt TO her victims of the
war. The recent German appeal
to President Harding to act as ar
umpire and his prompt refusal t.
act In that capacity. serve to bring
home to the United States the
gravity Of the situation.
About the whole subject of repa.
rations there has waged, since the
moment Of the armistice, a battle
which shows no sign of abatement
battle between the Germans. seek
Ing to evade all payments, and their
French creditors, seeking restora.
tion for their ruins. In addition, a
hardly less sharp debate has per-
sisted in allied quarters over the
sum which may be considered rea-
sonable and possible for Germany to
pay. At this decisive moment. then.
perhaps 1t is worth while briefly to
review the questions at issue.
Contrasts Past Wars.
We have. first of all, to note the
difference between the world wal
and the conflicts of the past. Given
the immensity Of the struggle, its
length, and the corresponding vast
ness Of the destruction, peace. when
II did come. revealed instantly the
staggering fact that there could be
no adequate reparation made by the
aggressor: that. to put the thing
bluntly. the German while at war
had wrought havoc and done injury
far in excess of his capacity to re-
store. Whatever happened, on thu
economic side. all the European par
Elephants in the struggle were bound
to be losers. irrespective Of the bat
tleheld decision.
BY contrast. when after the reIa
lively brief period of fighting In the
! sFranco-Prussian war Bismarck not
only annexed Alsace-Lorraine. bu,
laid upon France a tribute of 5000
900 of francs. more than $1,000. .0eO,
o0O he obtained for Germany a cum
at least twice as large as that ac-
tually expended by the victors in
the war, who had no devastated
areas to restore, since the war had
been fought on French soil and such
destruction as had been incident tc
the struggle had been at the sx-
pense OF the conquered. This 81 .000.-
100000 which France had to pay
could be paid and was paid in two
years, and until the debt was dis
charged German armies remained in
occupation OF the eastern depart
ments of France.
Rut in 1913. as contrasted with
1871. II was patent from the begin
ming at the Paris Conference that II
was beyond the power of Germany
to undo all the injury in material
things which she had done, and that
for her to make such partial pay
ments as were Inevitable would
take many years. at least a genera
tinn as compared with the two years
within which France paid up. Two
facts then. altogether too little ap-
preciated in the United States. ex-
plain the present problems: First
the inability of Germany to pay all
she should pay. as an aggressor
morally and legally bound to make
good the harm dcre; second. the in
evitable prolongation Of the partial
payment over a period Of at least a
generation.
Can Germany PayP
Frequently in talking with Amer
leans about the whole subject, 1 find
impatient protest against the idea
that the war should be prolonged
after peace and repeated declsra-
tiUns are made that holding a.whole
people to ransom or subjecting them
u economic slavery is a vicious
thing in itself, and a positive men
ace to world peace. Yet in what
other way can France, Belgium.
Italy. receive even a fraction of that
which justice would assign to them?
" the economic servitude of the
GaTman people must last for a gem
erhtion, will not the economic mis-
ery Of the peoples which were the
victims Of the German attack last
equally long?
Now. taking up the question OF
re0arations figures, the situation is
this: At the Paris conference ii was
ereed-and the agreement is WRIT
ten into the treaty of Versailles
that Germany should pay in kind
nr in gold UP to $4,000. 900. 900 before
May /, 1921: that she should. in ad-
dition. issue $1,000. 100000 bonds to
cover Belgian obligations and there
pfter two further sets Of bonds Of
$4,000. .o0O. 900 each. Thus the actual
sum fixed amounted to s26.000. 900, :
200. But. in addition. it was left to
the allies to demand additional bond
Issues as they might decide.
In point Of fact. while nominally
"~eiding upon a figure of s26.O00.-
100000 as the sum total OF repara-
tons. subject to later additions. the
treaty OF Versailles actually trans
f~rred the whole question of the fix
alton of the sum to the reparations
commission, leaving II free to de-
eide upon a sum larger or smaller
than the $4,000. 100000 and to de-
termine all Of the modalities of pay.
ment. The only thing that was fixed
definitely was the sum of the first