Evening star., 1922-10-29
BY G. GOULD LINCOLN.

aftermath or the SINKING OF
~ the Lusitania, with the loss of
n 12s American lives. as well as
other damages to American
citizens. both prior to and following
the entry of the United States into the
world war. is a meeting which is to
be held Wednesday, No-ember I. in
the diplomatic anteroom at the State
Department. At that time the Ger
man-American commission for the
settlement of the American claims
against Germany will meet for the
first time. The Secretary of State, 1t
is expected. will preside at the open
ing meeting.
The settlement of claims growing
out of war has been a long and te-
dious matter in the experience of ma
tions in the past The settlement of
thu American claims-many of them
already pending for upward of eight
years-promises to take considerable
time 1t may be some years before
the commission now about to begin
its labors will have concluded them.
Claims Mount to $sOO.OOO.OOO.
In round numbers the commission
will be called upon to pass upon two
or three thousand claims of Ameri-
cans against Germany, perhaps even
more. amounting to some 100000, 900.
This is a sizeable job. The ground
work Is already being laid. The COM
mission consists of an American COM
missioner, Judge Edwin B. Parker Of
New York. and German commits
sioner. DIR. Wilhelm Kiesselbach. who.
with his assistants, has just arrived
in this country. Associate Justice Day
of the United States Supreme Court
is the referee to whom all cases Will
be referred wherein the commission
has been unable to reach decision:
The American wing of the mixed
commission, as it is called. is already
established in offices in the Edmunds
building. a stones throw from the
Department of Justice and within
few blocks of the White House and
the State Department. 1t is expected
that the German commissioner Will
be provided with offices there, too
The claims, which have been and are
being filed with the State Depart
ment, are being transferred to the
commission, and necessarily the files
of the commission will be very ex-
tens,ye.
Machinery Not Complicated.
The machinery under which the
commission will operate is not COM
plicated. The two nations are repre-
sented by agents" who are provided
with a legal staff. Each claim will
be put in shape by these agents for
presentation to the commission. II
an agreement is reached in the first
instance that will end the matter SO
far as that particular claim is con-
cerned. If no agreement is reached
then the umpire. or referee. will be
called upon. The offices of Justice
Day, it is understood, will be in the
Edmunds building also. Justice Day
has rendered his resignation from
the Supreme Court to the President.
effective November IA. and thereafter
will give his attention to the Amer
lean claims.
preliminary work to be done. The
agreement between the United States
and Germany for a mixed commission
to handle the claims was signed Au-
gust 10 last. The agreement pro-
vided that the commission should
meet IN Washington within two
months after the date of signing. A
meeting actually was held in the State
Department on October 9. The Ger
man commissioner was not present,
but was represented. 1t lasted only a
few minutes. The United States gov
ernment has agreed to submit notices
to the German government of claims
which will be handled by the COM
mission within six months of the date
of the first meeting.
Claims In Three Classes.
The commission is to pass upon
claims falling into three categories:
1. Claims of American citizens aris-
ing since July 81, 1914, in respect Of
damage to, or seizure of, their property,
rights and interests. including any COM
pany or association in which they are
Interested, within German territory as
it existed August 1. 1914.
.. Other claims for loss or damage
to which the United states or its
nationals have been subjected with
respect to injuries to persons. or to
property, rights and interests, includ-
ing any company or association IN
which American nationals are inter-