Evening star., 1921-06-05
ny ANDRE TARDIEU.
America and Delegate to the Peace
COnfereAce.

ny ANDRE TARDIEU,
Fsrner french High Comnissioner to
America and Delegate to the Peace
Conference.
By Cable to The Star.
PARIS. June 4.-France is about to
be saddled with q heavy burden of
taxation to pay for a great part Of the
reconstruction of her northern prov
inces and to provide war pensions,
all because Germany has been granted
{ remission Of more than one-third
of her just war debt-from sixty to
ninety billions of francs
On account of this and deficient
revenues this year We are facing a
supplementary fiscal burden of at
least seven billion francs year,
which, when submitted to the tax
payera Is certain to cause unanimous
irritation. because the whole of France
considers it unjust to make the
mans. in plain contradiction of the
promises of the treaty Of Versailles.
This realization comes at time
when news from beyond the Rhine is
only moderately satisfactory. 1t is
true the Wirth cabinet has paid sin
agreement. instead of the twelve bill
lions which according to the treaty
she should have paid on May I.
But Bavaria still refuses to disarm.
German troops continue to penetrate
Upper Silesia- We see we'll known
agents Of pre-war Imperialism now in
the German cabinet. men like Rosen.
the foreign minister. one Of the most
vehement opponents Of the recent set
tlement. and like Rathenau. the min
ister of reconstruction. To profess
confidence in these men and this stu
alton, as Premier BRAND did in this
weeks debates in the chamber of depu-
ties, demands great credulity.
Recent Vote Of Confidence.
These deba :es. based upon the diff
ferent and the difficult problems sug-
Eested by the London reparations
agreement. resulted in q vote in the
chamber which requires some analy-
sia Out of go deputies. $50 approved
the government in an order Of the day
which pointed out that the melan-
choiy London decisions represent the
"irreducible minimum" of what France
can accept. In addition to the 15S
deputies who voted against the gov
eminent, about fifty abstained from
voting. which means that more than
one-third of the chamber refused to
vote their confidence in the cabinet
declarations
The vote marks the important fact
that there is objection of a deflnitive
character to the reduction of Frances
rights under the Versailles treaty.
vote, propose to make known to the
American public the present state of
French opinion. l need not empha-
size the fact that 1t was with any
thing but glad heart that the French
chamber approved a policy which
even NJ. Doumer. the minister of
finance, himself admits is leaving
France with a war burden of at least
sixty billion francs. My estimate and
that Of the chairman Of the senate
finance commission is ninety billions,
all Of which. according to the YER
sailles treaty, Germany ought to pay.
Yet a majority agreed to ratify this
solution Of the problem.
way BRAND Was Supported.
There are all sorts Of reasons. Some
concern home affairs, others concern
the intsrpational, situation. Concern
ing home affairs, the chamber-much
to-. its c<edit-dreads a new minis
'feriaf crisis and. desires for France a
steadfast government. Furthermore.
the BRAND cabinet had taken preeau-
tions to consolidate it's forces before
the opening of the debate. To the
parties of the right it granted the
nomination of an ambassador to the
Vatican and general chaplain to
the Rhine armies To the parties of
the extreme left, the police commits
sioner. of Paris was sacrificed, be-
cause he was unpopular in socialistic
circles.
Finally the semi-official press had
celebrated the London agreement SO
loudly it had made distinct i'm
preston upon many deputies un-
familiar with the complex problems
OF the settlement.
Abroad the government found sup
port in the very difficulties which
seemed to be disturbing the relations
between France and Great Britain in
regard to Upper Silesia.
The government waved the threat
of rupture" and Isolation before
the eyes of the deputies.
had OCCASION. like many members
of the parliament, to remind the peo-
pie that the viewpoint of the Brit
ish government was open to discus
sion. and possibly open even to modi-
fication. without the danger of
break with Great Britain. Clemenceau
proved this on many occasions by acts
during the war and during the peace
negotiations.
But the French parliament. tired of
the constant ne2otiat ions and infer.