Evening star., 1921-04-27
America Advised
Offer Is Not
Acceptable.
CABiisET AGREES
ON ACTION HERE
All Chance for u. S.
to Act as Media
tor Is Lost.
BY DAVID IAWRENCE

III DAVID LAWRENCE.
America will not forward the Ger.
man proposal on reparations to the
allies
Great Britain and France have al
ready advised the United States gov.
ernment informally that the German
note is unacceptable.
Whatever chance there was for the
onited States to act as mediator and
prinS the Germans and allies into ac-,
| cord has been destroyed by the action
OF the Germans in publishing the full
text of the note
president Harding and his cabinet
are not inclined to regard seriously
the German effort TO secure Americas $
services as a mediator for the reason
practically the same time as il was
sent to the United States No time
was given Tor negotiation and as a
consequence the German move is
.ooked upon as simply plan to draw
the United States into the Deus
sion.
Ambassadors Called In.
Secretary of State Hughes has call
ed in the ambassadors of the allied
powers and asked their views with
! out. of course. officially transmitting
the German note. The allies have in
! Ell ect declined TO accept the note,
and MIR. Hughes in turn has not been
IN the position of Offering it to them.
The German communication lies on
the desk of the Secretary of State
where 1t probably will remain in
defnIte1y-nobody being willing to
receive it. This means that the
American government either will be
| Obliged to notify Germany that the
! ha
/ acceptable or America will simply
allow developments abroad to give
; the Germans their answer Premier
F.; BRAND already has spoken Prime
i Minister Lloyd George will have ex-
pressed~the British viewpoint before
another twenty-four hours
New Proposal May Result.
The upshot of the situation will be
new proposal from Germany or the
occupation of the Ruhr valley by
| French troops and further pressure
| upon Germans for an acceptance of
the allied demands.
| Four or five days stit-remain within
which time Germany can make an
| that if she decides to accept the al
| lied demands the negotiation will be
direct and without an Intermediary
/ The feeling in the Washington gov
| ernment. indeed the hope is, that the
f, HidtteT WI De taken Out OF amer
ica's hands by direct negotiation and
that the United States will not be
further embarrassed. There is no tell
ing. however. what the Germans are
likely to do, and the desire to inveigle
America into the negotiation is so
strong that Berlin may yet yield to
the allied demands by indirect COM
munication through America.
Dfspleased With Maneuver.
The school of thought here which
frowns upon meddling in European
affairs is of course displeased with
the German maneuver, and is hoping
that the allies will take matters in
their own hands and ignore the Ger
man communication to the United
States. On the other hand. those " no
have from the start believed Ameri-
cas- moral influence was sufficient to
settle the reparationS controversy
and thus improve the world eco
nomic situation. look upon the Ger
man note as Offering a splendid oppor-
Itunity for leadership of which they are
still hoping President Harding will
avail himself.
Cabinet discussion Tuesday develop
ed a unanimity of feeling as to Ameri-
cas- duty in the cumstances. 1t was
agreed that the United States could
not put her stamp of approval on the
document even vaguely and that the
action taken must be of such a char
acter as not to encourage the Ger
mans in believing the United States
has separated herself from her as
sociates in the war.
BRAND Believed in Peril.
Some cabinet members believe that
except for political situations in each
of the European countries the German
proposal might have been used as q
basis for compromise. But the the
ory here is that Premier BRAND is
in a perilous position and that il
his ministry is overthrown France
will come into the hands of mill
tariStic regime. which will go to the
extremes in handling Germany and
possibly drive the Germans into chaos
Prime Minister Lloyd George. who has
always shown disposition to be
more reasonable with the Germans
than the extremists in France. is be-
lieved to be lending his moral sup
port at this moment to Premier Bri-
and. largely out of fear OF a politi-
cal collapse in France of the BRAND
cabinet. the single bulwark against
unthinking militarism.
Controversy Not Hopeless.
Broadly speaking, the reparations
controversy is not as hopeless as IL
seems. The Germans have come
nearer the allied demands in the
latest proposal than ever before, even
though they attach mischievouS and
nullifyins conditions. Failure Of the
attempt to draw America to Ger
many's side is expected to drive the
Germans still closer to the allies
with a new proposal. even though the
Ruhr may Yet have to be occupied
as means of coercion. The more the
Germans realize that the allies are
in earnest and are not to be trifled
with. the earlier will an agreement
be secured. The attitude Of the allies
as expressed to America this week
probably will have an important
psychological effect on the German
tendency to procrastinate.