The daily times., 1922-01-20
PREPARATIONS MAY
NOT COME BEFORE
GENOA CONFERENCE
FRANCE is OBJECTINc
In This Case the United States
May Not Send Delegate to
the Genoa Conference, But
May Appoint a Representa-
tive on the Reparations
Commission.
FRANCE is oBJECTINC
(By David Lawrence.)
Copyright, 1922, by The Daily

(By David LaWrence.)
Copyright, 1922, by The Daily
Times.)
Washington, Jan. 19.-The United
Estates government has one move left
which may make it unnecessary to
lattend the Genoa conference and
which may make the new Poincare
m inistry in France see that ulti-
mately it cannot pursue single
handed policy in handling German
Preparations.
This move is the appointment by
President Harding subject to the
confirmation of the Senate of an
American representative on the Re-
parations Commission.
The prediction was made in Off
lcial quarters today that the step was
inevitable as a consequence of the
new declaration by Premier Poincare
that France will not go to the Genoa
conference unless it is agreed before
Ihand that German reparations will
not be discussed. Coming on top of
the statement by Poincare that he
thinks the Allied Supreme Council
no longer necessary, and that he
would insist upon a literal return to
the provisions of the Versailles
treaty, the belief prevails that the
French premier will reinvest the
Preparations Commission with the
mroal influence and importance
which it lost when the Supreme
Council took the matter of repara-
tions out of the hands of the Com
mission, a move which many French
and British critics have ever since
characterized as illegal" in the
sense that it violated the Versailles
treaty.
The truth is the Supreme Council
was waiting for America to ratify
the Versailles treaty and hesitated
to see the reparations commission
have too much power. On the other
hand, the United States now has
ratified it's own treaty with Germany
which embraces the economic and
reparation clauses of the Versailles
treaty and entities America to a seat
on the Reparations Commission. The
Senate adopted reservation re-
quiring the President to obtain the
confirmation of the Senate for any
appointment to international COM
missions provided for under the Ger
man treaty. !. &A
But in view of the turn of events it
is not expected that the Senate would
object to the sending of a full-fledg-
ed representative to speak for
America at the Reparations commits
sion meetings to take place of the
unofficial observers who have hereto
fore attended.
The Reparations Commission con-
sists of representatives of the United
States, Great Britain, France, Japan,
Italy and Belgium. Unanimous voting
lis not necessary. This means that
limited States, Italy and Japan would
dominate the decisions of the Repair
ations Commission and leave the
Poincare ministry not bit better on
with respect to German reparation
payments than was the BRAND min
Iistry. In fact NJ BRAND made the
point as he retired that a return to
the Versailles treaty would newt
ably mean that France would be out
voted on the reparations commission
: anyway.
The impression prevails here that
+ Great Britain, Italy and the United
: States would stand together on re-
:, ,parations matters and that japan is
: more. likely to go along with this
, group than with the Franco-Belgian
t viewpoint. There has however lately
1 been a disquieting tendency on the
/ part of France to help japan at the
r Washington conference which may
l or may not mean that there is ar
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