New Ulm review., 1922-01-18
fere with the true life conditions Of
nations, large and small.
I Paralyzed Mentality.

natlOnS, large ana small.
Paralyzed Mentality.
The mentality Of most Of our former
enemies is paralyzed by the fixed idea
that their health will be restored by a
flow Of gold from Germany, BY a river
of wealth which has only to be damned
and ladled out. Such a stream Of gold
is a fiction. We Germans are bound by
our word Of honor and our signature.
We shall dc DUR Utmost to the limits
of possibility. But this need not deter
us from expressing our view that the
form Of these exactions is not COM
patible with the resources and the
strength Of our country. They are
unsuited to German conditions, and
they contain inner contradictions. on
Germany Pays By Labor.
It is, Of course, possible to exact
tribute from another country. This
may be paid in gold, or other precious,
or raw materials; We know that
Germany is not a producer Of gold or
raw material. We know that Ger
many, save for her coal treasures,
which are needed for her own industries
which are needed for her own IN
dustries, has. always lived from the
labor of her, hands,; Thus we can only
pay with the labor Of our hands ana
brains,, and we shall do our best q But
payment by work has concomitant
symptoms which may at first have
escaped observation. Work is not an
object; it is attached to substances:
Whoever pays in work, has to pay in
the shape of substances in which labor
is invested. Taking the finished pro-.
duct, labor hardly ever represents more
than forty per. cent OF it's total value.
Hence if we wish to pay four milliards
in work, we have to couple them with
six fnilliards Of material, so that finally
tel, nilliards have to be exported. This
sum almost equals the total OF our
peace exports, and such exports can
not be thrown on the markets Of the
world without causing severe. disioca-
tions. If this fact has to be faced by
US, it has also to be faced by our op-
ponents. Probably they did take it
into consideration. Undoubtedly
they have foreseen this contingency.
to meet this deluge Of German goods
on the markets of the world, a dam had
to be: constructed. This led to the in
vention of the index. .s... ,, ~r Z"
III D& Purpose of the Index.
The functions Of the index are
varied. For one thing, it is to, be 9
symbol of the development OF Ger
many as showing up improvements.
It cannot. serve that purpose to any
great extent, for a eountry condemned
to pay and condemned to export IN
giant quantities is not healthy be-
cause it meets its obligations. It IS
not the intrinsic value Of Germany
that is being measured by. the index,
but only a measurement Of the goods
we have delivered and have yet to de-.
liver by way Of reparation. t{ This,
however, is not the true function OF a
measure for the value Of economic i'm
provements. ss
The other function the index was
to fulfill was very evidently this: To
prevent dumping, that is, to prevent
the goods from flooding the markets
of the world. The index cannot ful-
fill this function any more than the
other. It can have the effect OF IN
creasing the pressure in Germany to an
extraordinary degree. of redoubled
steampower being employee IN Ger
many in order to push the goods across
the frontier into foreign countries
But thiseffect Of increased expectation
tits not intended to restrict, and, there
fore, it, cannot and must not be Re
stricted by an index. The stream will
be damned but not stemmed. fsBe-
sides, the effect Of the index will be
that it will cause successive German
governments to doubt whether it lis
desirable to increase Importation and
expectation, or whether concentration
on home trade is preferable. 1t may
happen that one government advocates
an increase Of foreign trade and the
nnyt docs all IN IFS mower tO throttle it,