New-York tribune., 1921-01-01
Germany Can Pay
The Prophecies Of German Friends

VS.. The Cts
To the Editor Of The Tribune.
Sir: Referring 20 recent discussion
Ct the treaty, particularly on the sub
ject of indemnity, fairness to the ma
ton whirh did most to win the com
mon victory against the enemies of
freedom, fairness which has ever
teen typical of The Tribune, requires
that the following considerations be
not lost sight Of:
/. The vital provision of the treaty
in regard to reparation is contained
+: Article 232:
"Gcrmany undertakes that she Will
make compensation for al damage
done to the civilian property of AL
lied and associated powers and to their
property during the period of bel
l'Ecrency.'
Annex specifies tfe exact damages
claimablc under this article, which
includes only damage to civilians by
acts of war on land, or sea or from
the air, and the direct consequences
thereof; by acts Of crue- ty. violence,
or maltreatment, by acts injurious to
health; also maltreatment Of pris~
oners of war, war pensions and ALLOW
ances, damage caused to civilians by
forced labor: and finally. damage in re-
spect to all property carried or.
seized, injured OF destroyed by Ger
many, and damage for German lcvies
Upon the civilian population" There
is not in all this anything even re-
motely suggestive OF indemnity in the
sense of submitting to a financial pen
atty apart from paying for damage
Gone; and wno is to pay the damage
specified if not the wrongdocr? Is it
not better that tho burden should weigh
heavily on him than that it should
crush his victims?
,. Discussion OF "the amount Ger
many can pay or cannot pay is un
profitable, for no one knows the an
swer to that questions; but the Ger
mans and their friends. l,mong the lat
tel Mr.. Keynes, a prophet who dis
poses of his prophecies for profit, totally
fell to take into account, in their per
SIS tent attempt to lead the discussion
ii that direction and away from the
question of the amount which Ger
many ought honestly to try to pay,
many facts, particularly those show
irg the prodigious economic develop
rAcnt of Germany in the last fifty years
Il of, hot.
years may witness
If the prediction that the reduction
O. the amount Of rcparation will go on
to the point advocated by Messrs
Baruch, Keynes and AsQuith. (strange
hedfellows in international politics
should prove true, it would mean that
60,000000 Germans with thcit homes,
fields and industries intact, following
Z war in which their man power loss.
or the basis Of population, was half
tnat of France, will not pay more than
from sl33 to 5000 per capita by way
OF reparaton for all the damage done
Ey their wanton aGgressions, not alone
in France, but everywhere else; while
for France, on the basis OF popula-
tion of 3S,00000 the result viii be
az follows per capita: (a) 4 war debt
caused by Germany's aggression, but
which the treaty does not require Ger
many to make good, of over $1,000;
(b) budget for the current year rep
resenting about 500; (c) damages, as
specified in the treaty, amounting to
about $1,000, this being the amount
which Germany has agreed to pay, OF
which four-tifths would be sh;ifed from
lie shoulders OF evcry German to those
Of every French man, woman and child.
The population of Germany in
creased two thirds from 1870 to 1914,
ard Herr lIelfericll, noted German
economist, estimated GcrmaMys gross
income for 1913 at over 10000 100000
The idea Of letting Germany Off with
something like that amount by way
or rcDarptiOn rrnuvNant TO cycTV