Evening star., 1922-06-04
GERMAN PROMISES
HELD MEANINGLESS
Tardieu Says Hypothesis
Is LoophoIe for Future
Evasion.
BY ANDRE TARDIEU,
Former French High Commissione er
to America

! BY ANDRE TARDIEU,
| Former French High Commissioner
to America.
| By Cable Dispatch to The Star
PARIS, June 3.-Germanys s. reply on
the reparations question means moth
! ing. Like all German answers since
Germany began replying, it reminds
| one Of the ambiguity of the notes that
Wilson received from Berlin prior
to Americas declaration Of war.
True. it contains certain promises.
but they are based upon a hypothesis
which may not be realized, and thus,
when the day of fulfilment arrives,
Germany can say. II am not commit
! ted to anything"
AS I said last week. May 81.
although called the final limit. was
not the day Of payment, but only the
| day whereon Germany must accept
or reject the reparations commits
| moratorium. These conditions were
chiefly the cessation OF fduciary In
| f1ation and the expectation Of capital.
Promises in Principle.
On these essential points-and the
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tial to Germany as to her creditors
Wirth's note formulates promises in
principle. but leaves the realization to
further conversations. The creditors
seem to have forgotten that Germany
couldn't refuse whatever conditions
| they Judged indispensable to putting
| Germany's finances in order. for arti-
Gle PAL of the Versailles treaty stipu-
i Ifrk1 Nl@ a-1,y
| modify her laws, DEGREES and ordi-
| nances so as to assure complete
execution OF the reparatlons clauses
Wirth merely declares he will discuss
with the reparations commission what
must be done: Thus we find ourselve.
| on the terrain of conversations and
| hypotheses. abandoning the firm
| ground of law as defined by the
treaty.
! Furthermore, Wirth's note assumes
an international loan, which the
! bankers have not got through discuss
1t will be granted. The mandate OF
I the bankers committee Is very linn
| tied. and the loan is a future place.
ment extremely difficult to consum-
| mate within such limits. The over
| whelming probability is the bankers
such conditions, and in that event It
| Is undoubtable that Wirth, who ac-
! cepted the Hermes proposals only
after long resistance. will take ad-
| vantage of the situation to withdraw
his promises.
Peril OF Imitation.
| That, in my opinion, is the great
| drawback to these successive i'm
provisa tions which for two years and
a half have been substituted for the
| pure, simple execution of the writ
| ten contract between the parties. In
June. 1922, 1t is realized that fiduciary
imitation and expectation OF capital
are deadly peril to Germany and the
allies alike. Why wasn't this real
| ized in 1920? Why wasn't Germany
| then, by virtue of article 241, required
to take proper legislative and execu-
| tive measures to stop imitation and
expectation of capital. which meas
ures Wirth today only promises to
examine? Don't be astonished that a
Frenchman asks these questions. for
at the moment of writing France has
advanced eighty-five billion francs for
| Germany's account. The interest on
the loans whereby this money was
raised takes four and a half billion
francs annually from the pockets of
French taxpayers. and before we fin
! ish with pensions and reconstruction
we will have ninety billions more to
spend.
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