Evening star., 1922-12-18
Transfer of Money Depends
; on Reparations Question
and Security.
GUARANTEES ARE SOUGHT
American Bankers Unwilling to
Take Risks-Oficials Play
Waiting Game.
RyDayID LAWRENCE.

Tho United States Go'erh'ioA.
hasn't taken half the NUMBER oi a. ,.
in its policy of aiding Europ. ,a.t
.h. sensational reports OF tne
80 d.,.s from various capitals Oh 'n.
ND seem to indicate. Anu
~. ..;,..concilable' element IN Coh
vress is unnecessarily oes'i
q thing has happened or Is liN
bannen to trespass on the'f i'
,yoid,nr political UNDERSTANDINGS
agreements with European Po" ~
nh. simple truth is that , tne Nv
ronaan nress, possibly stimuia. a,.;ra
IRRESPONSIBLE reports iI", ,,,,nc The
is many leaps aheao r:.rmanv y: is the
,daa Of IA loan to Her"i'n Her"i,,,ndiny
o;,,.,I source OF MISUNDERSTANDING 80.
The i.nit.d States goHerhll'ea. n.e,,
,an,nla1es no loan Sohe' nro-
have no concern about SUI visit to
,asaI And J. p. Morgans at VS. he
Muo.t;n rton doesn't mean tna. nt
.sIeJ The United States oada nv
Dr.r,ntee a. loan to be ii"u
private bankers.
Deuendx on Reparatiohs'
-r,. situation is exactly Where 1aft
,arn,t;onal bankers committee
IN MANY months ago. No .:ad at a
sihIe until reparationS Is ID nv
definite sum an. ana ,as Ssrs.'fi s,,m fixed. Who
,,o,,ld huy a, loan among the my
Of the world if it was isu1ch suo1 min,
n,inute TO the whins OF a on;on Of
t,r,. u,hich could order the lnVaslot of
German territory dhu '
German resources so far has
All that has happened ~ GOV
been sounding out of t.urope', eon-
ernments and the mos, rd r,,ioi ths exer-
versatjons looking toward 'he nrnner
80 of American influence IN pioP.u n
way in the reparationS ulspu uar-
raIk of loans and other lor1ns u =; Oh
lean aid is premature. III n Viking of
SoI,Itely dependent upon the HiaH.Ias ~
apreement between Germany frart m,,
and Great Britain on repara,loHs. ~ ,s
that is settled it is recosf1IIu Ia,ab
useless to talk OF wnal III" t,.;r war
ard british capacity TO pay theii W.
Snh,s or interest will be. for the "noie
aconouic future of Europe rts's
whether Germany is to be aisii'elioe 80
or helped to her iect so sne van pN'
Secretarv of state Hughes is out-
,,oL.n in his dispieaSure over 'he
character Of the reports "nich 49, 49,
been published in the last rev uai
The effect has been to new ilua. 80
,aonIes of thu. world and to arouse
rsars in Congress that the admins
tration was about to reverse itseil
conulet.ly ON it's policy of avoidlllS
foreign political entanglemeh's'
Conditions OF Loan.
Tn answer to the clamor or the
nress for a clear statement or Wha
the American government ,hn
mind the argument is made py inc
White House itself that to discuss tne
situation officially might mean spiii-
ing the beans.
But the situation is not cloaked IN
,nysterv 1t is all too obvious 10
those who have studied the circum.
stances leading up to the present
crisis in Europe. There are no ne"
facts The international bankers WIZ
conferred in Paris and called j. r.
Morgan to aid them came to the con
cIusion then that they might be apie
70 float a loan of s1.5OO.0 100000 to help
Germany, provided certain thihes
were done by France and Germany
On the one hand Germany was sot 70
make certain internal reforms look
ing to the balancing of her oudset
and the stabilzation of the marx On
the other hand. France was 70 agTet
that the loan would be prior iieh
on Germany's assets ana was 10 sN
up the so-called military clauses nt
the Versailles treaty. which permit
France and the allies to invade Ger
many territory as a penalty for de-
fault in payment of rcparattons.
Until those obnoxious clauses OF
,he treaty are wiped off the slate no
loan is possible The United states
government isn't party 10 tuoSe
penal sections of the NerSallles area's'
but can use her diplomatic influence
to persuade France TO agree not "
use those penalties.
some of the cable reports from
Paris Indicate that the Frencn gov
ernment wants to know the Ameri-
can proposal and wants to see ioali
foated before it will decid" what 70
do about these military clauses. ihat
a line of reasoning which Will bring
colJanse to the informal negotiations
now going on If persisted in
French Policy Vital.
The whole situation really revolve.
now, as it has for four years, aronno
French policy. The American govern
ment knows the big task ahead ana
is feeling its way cautiously. 70 fe-
veal it's method of approach. ana the
details of its argument would ne 70
make difficult the continuance ~,
nerotiations The idea that rigid
urocram has been worked out or that
a formula has been devised TO save
Europe from disaster is. unfortunate
ly, not true. The government mere
, seeks such A program and wants such
a formula, but must first satisfy ltSeil
OF what can he done. The central con.
troversy is about reparations. Cntil
that is settled there is no use thlnk-
ing of loans or even economic cor
ferences. All tho steps which imply
n more active policy of help to Eu-
rope on the part of the United States
can be momeptarily set aside while
the government here endeaVors to
mediate as between France and Ger
many and Great Britain on the
amount of reparations
The United States is a party to that
portion of the treaty of Versailles deal
ing with the fixing of the amount of rep
arations and can take the initiative in
Droposing a settlement. The United
States as one of the victors in the war
is entitled to say what she believes the
vanauished will pay. Some method of
arbitrating this dispute and compelling
an acceptance of the decision of the ar
bitrating nation or tribunal must first
be found before anything else can even
be considered, even the idea of fore
going interest on allied war debt of
the major funding operations. which
the American funding commission is
preparing to discuss with the debtor ma
fions in the early part of 1928.
One thing at a time-and not so fast
for diplomacy moves slowly. This Is
the word of caution of officials today as
they warn the public not to expect
America to be able to accomplish very
much. For, after all. 1t is an almost in
flexible French government whose views
must be nodded to conform with the
ortt1cS, American yieyS hefOre Fill