The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-01-28
PREPARATIONS ISSUE AGAIN IN HANDS OF BOARD 0F EXPERTS
Frenchman's Demand for PIP Billion Gold Marks Causes Embarrassment When
 Subject Is Resumed
By Assoc,nsea Press

Paris. January 27.--The question of Ger man reparaticn is again in the hands of a committee of experts. This commit tee, which was appointed after pro- longed discussion by the supreme ccan- Gil this afternoon is to consider certain details and report to the council before a final decision is taken.
 The discussion on reparations was taken this afternoon In an atmosphere made unfavorable by the radical posi- tion assumed yesterday by M. Doumer. the French minister of finance, who named 212,o00,O0000o gold marks as the total amount of indemnity Germany should pay M. Doumers attitude, though practically disavowed by the press generally and supposedly by some of the members of the French cabinet, caused considerable embarrassment as the conference when the subject was re- stunned.
 The British prime minister is under stood to have clearly indicated that ths radical demaBds made by M. Doumcr were impossible of realization.
 The committee is composed of Ai. Eoucheur anl M. Doumer. for France; 1; Sir Abernond and Sir WorthinSton-Cy- Ians. for Great Britain; Colonel Theunys. for Belgium; signor Giananni, for Italy. and Kengo Mori, for Japan. The con- mittee is meeting tonight and will pre- pare it's report as speedily as poss.nie for presentation to the council, possipiy tomorrow.
 AGREED ON MERITS
 Mr. Lloyd George took up the whole auestion of reparations at the openlng session of the supreme council. He de- clared there was no difference of opl1ion regarding the merits of the problem
 "Germany must pay to her utmost ca- ,,a city, he asserted. Tn order to assure this. the allies must stand together. II is useless to try to get more snan 1er- many can pay, for her interests con- trary to the opinion sometimes expresseu' are identical with the interests of ths all lies. If is to Great Britain's interest as well as to the interests of Belgium ana France that Germany pay to the iast farthing. But, the question is' now so get it. .a.a. ,,. limits of her own territory, but she can not export her forests nor her raiiWays' If the allies took possession oi ner rdi' ways and doubled the passenger anu freight rates, they would be paid only n ra ner marks that would become worth less across the frontier.
 F. was generally recognized that Frame had sustained the greatest human loss and endured the greatest snffering. said Mr. Lloyd George. but on the other hand, Great Britain zhav- ing been obliged to wage war abroad, had been forced to incur the greatest financial expenditure. Her naval ellort alone had cost ten billions of pounds, ONLY ONE METHOD Germany, he continued. can pay only in exports If she exported too much to the allies it would mean the rum [of allied irdustries; if she exported tSo much to the neutrals 1t would mean inc loss to the allies of the neutral markets. Consequently the question |of effectively securing payment or |reparations must be taken up with dae account for these facts.
 The British premier insisted upon the |n necessity of real progress at the pres- ent conference. This could be accoin- nlished If the French government would accept the Boulogne suggestion as a basis of discussion, that is to say. six billion pounds in 30sor S5 annuities. with interest
 Certain things must be insisted upon.
 MT. Lloyd George deciared--the de- 'termination of Germany's capacity to nay, the renovation of Germany's fan-. tastic budget and the imposition upon her people of taxes as heavy as those paid by the allied peoples. Germany must make Her people economize as (Centinuel on Page Two)