The St. Joseph observer., 1921-03-12

D
II He Can Find the Remedy.
The United states occupies an
anomalous, If not an absurd position.
! It IS the greatest creditor nation in
the world to begin with. The allies
owe it about $4,000 100000 in war
debts. Some three or four billions
more are due on foreign trade bal
ancc. Besides, there are s1.OOO,OOO
worth Of claims Of American citizens
on file with the state department for
/ property cOnfiscated by the German
/ government. True, the treaty of
Versailles provides that our govern
ment may pay these claims OF our
own citizens against Germany out of
the property Of German subjects
4 seized in the United States by the
alien property custodian. while Ger
many must pay her own subjects for
their property seized by America.
party to the Versailles treaty and the
indications are that the present admin
istration will negotiate a separate
peace.
Under these conditions, a fact de-
velops that would seem amazing II
we were not used to the situation that
makes it possible. The allies are
proceeding to fix the amount of rep
arations Germany shall pay and the
way they shall be paid, and to whom
they shall be paid. without the slight
No doubt they are closely observing
US and the reactions of American
opinion. No doubt their final settle
ment with Germany will be affected
by their need of gold relations with
and financial assistance from the
American people. Yet this country,
, for all that, is very much in the po-
sition OF one of the chief creditors
of a bankrupt estate who finds him
self excluded from the creditors con-
forences and from all the settlements
in liquidation OF the bankrupt con-
cern. When he comes to effect his
separate settlement. there will be
. nothing left for him. The other cred
itors will have all the priorities.
Would Still be Interested
II the United States had not par
. ticipated in the war and made posi-
BILE Germany's defeat, it would have
7 had a vital economic interest in the
. settlement. Germany could not pay
a 900 with interest over a period of
2 forty years moro or less. and pay in
5 exports of goods, without affecting
the export and import trade of this
. country. Germany could not pay to
o the allies an export tax OF IL per
' cent for forty years moro or less
' without influencing the United States
fiscal policy for a generation. Ger
% many could not be prohibited for all
" that long period from negotiating
IS foreign loans without the consent OF
N the allies. and leave the American
. money market unaffected. But the
y United States did participate in the
y war. The United States turned the
scale of victory. But for the United
IS States. Germany would have won the
- war and have collected indemnities
Instead OF paid them.
27 We cannot blame the allies for the
50 present situation preposterous as Il
seems. There has not been a mo-
ment when they have not desired thi!
n country to ratify the Versailles treaty
a2 which our president signed; nor ha.
there been a moment when they
would not have welcomed a repre-
sentative of the United States as 1
ss member of the reparations commits
m sion which was created by the treat,
90 to effect the financial settlement o
America negotiate a separate peac,
because It will surely furnish tn,
groundwork for sharp differences ant
dangerous conflicts in the future be
tween tho United States and the al
lies.
II Isolation the less Said
II our attitude is to be that OF ma
at