Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-08-01
FRANCE CHANGED
ON PREPARATIONS
RY PAIL SCOTT MOWRER


Especial Cable to The Atlanta Journal and
Chicago Daily News-Copyright, 1927
PARIS, July 29.-Some time ago
the correspondent announced in one
of these dispatches that the French
government was at least trying to
| present a positive Preparations pro-
gram instead of the somewhat neg
alive position it has maintained dur
| ing the last three years.
On the eve of the important con-
versations soon to be held by Pre-
| mier Poincare and Lloyd George this
program seems to be nearing COM
| pletion. 1t has not yet been formally
| enunciated but as nearly as the
| writer can discern it will be some
what as follows:
1t will agree to a tentative reduc-
ton in the German Preparations to-
tai to about 5O,0OO,OO0,O00 gold marks
entire issue of series G bonds until
such time as they can be utilized
| in compensation of war debts, or at
| least as compensation for the B
British war debt.
The organization on a larger scale
of payments in kind and the use
of German labor and materials for
| French works.
Allied control of Germany's public
finances in, order to stabilize the
value of the mark and to arrest the
flight of capital and readjust the
budget.
| The organization of a small inter-
| national PREPARATION loan to provide
| funds for cash payments.
This program, if adopted by the
| French government, will be the re-
suit of compromise between the
three tendencies now existing in
France.
M. de Lasteyrie, the minister of
| finance, seeing the problem wholly
in a financial sense, calculates that
! France must either cease to advance
funds for Preparations or in another
| five years the interest on the accu-
mulated Preparations debt will absorb
the entire government income. The
reconstruction thus far accepted has
benefited the big producers and man.
ufacturers because of it's value in
! the national economy. What re-
| mains to be done is to rebuild or
build anew the house of thousands
| of humble citizens. 1t is unthink-
able that these houses should not
be built and for this reason M. de
| Lasteyrie believes that the only So
| luton of the problem is international
| reparation loan.
The finance minister also wants
! the French war debt to Great Brit
| ain Cancelled and wants Great Brit
ain to renounce her % per cent
share of the German reparations.
He would then be willing to see the
| total of the reparations reduced to
! $4,000, 100000 gold marks, which
sum he believes could be raised by
a loan.
The French foreign office is not
hostile to this plan but fears that
the British might attempt to attach
to- it such unacceptable conditions
as the evacuation by the allies of
the west bank of the Rhine. For
that reason the foreign office for the
moment favors an experiment in the
way of organizing extensive repara-
tions in kind. Premier Poincare,
who IS a jurist as we'll as a states
man and a stickler for form, wants
the reparations commission to an
nounce to the world Germany's wilful
default and otherwise proceed
strictly according to the treaty. He
is at least as much pre-occupied with
Frances political security as with
the country's financial situation.
Putting these various tendencies
together has resulted in program
similar to the one outlined. 1t is
now believed here that the Lloyd
George-Poincare conversations will
be held about the middle of August.