The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1923-01-18
A GREAT CRISIS
IN EUROPE


France, and certainly it affords on
Of the most pointed sets Of event
since the second battle of tn
Marine.
For four years the fortunes o
war were undecided and the stars o
nations rose and sank according t,
the successes and reverses of thei
arms. And now we have seen fou
years of financial wavering, and al
the while the world looked on il
suspense, sometimes with abatet
breath, wondering if civilization wa
going to sink after the world ha(
been made "safe for Democracy"
On Armistice day the test of arm,
gave way to the test of diplomac.
and finance, and as one financia
barrier after another gave way an(
the price of the mark and the roublt
went to lower and still lower depths
approaching the vanishing point
Germany protested her inability tt
pay, until France sent out her armies
to collect the reparations bill on
the plan that might be expressed by
a western man when he talks OF
taking it out Of their hide
Some of the allies have come to
believe that Germany cannot pay
yet, but France believes otherwise
Under the treaty she has the right
to go In and undertake to collect 1t
by taking charge Of the customs
duties and other revenues, and she
is on the job setting up the govern
ment machinery to accomplish that
purpose. 1t has been freely pre-
dicted that as Germany recognizes
no law but the, law of force, she will
pay when 1t comes to q showdown.
1t has also been predicted that this
attempt to force matters in times of
general distress will only cripple
business, bring on strikes and fam
inc and intensity the troubles. It
was SO after the Civil war in
America when force was employed
in the southern states in the effort
to set matters right under military
rule. 1t was different after the
Franco-Prussian war when France
had to pay to Germany-she paid
and she paid quickly and kept on
paying beyond the expectations of
the widest estimates of her enemies.
Indeed France paid off the crushing
indemnity in so few years that Ger
many herself never got done kick
ing herself" because she had not de-
manded more, and the attack of
1914 was based on the determine
ton to finish the job-bleeding
France white.
After Napoleons defeat in 1916,
even the victors could not pay their
debts. Famine stalked abroad
while statesmen waited, and in ut
ter dread sought to postpone the
collapse of the British empire. In
time they found themselves produc-
ing so much new wealth, they took |
courage and actually made Roadway
in reducing the debt, and followed |
1t up till it was wiped out. England |
favors that kind of a process for
Germany now; France favors max
ing Germany do what France did in
1871 and years following-pay as
fast 1t is humanity possible. Under
the treaty of Versailles she has the
right to go in and collect it by force
If Germany fails to pay, and Ger
many has failed.
New Features Of
the Treaty
A new analysis of the treaty of
Versailles has just been given by
David Lloyd George in an article
that was given to the public last
Sunday thru some of the largest
newspapers on different continents,
and was considered so important
hat it was copyrighted in six ma
ions. Briefly stated it is this, and
t was fitting that it should be re-
eased at the hour when the French
armies were crossing into the !
The treaty provided, first, that
Germany should pay for what she !
lad destroyed, and for the lives she =
lad snuffed out, but that as this was +,
! sum beyond the ability of that ma !
ion to pay, she must pay for the
property she had destroyed in
france and Belgium, and part of the {
ther 7
Second, since Germany could only
ay part of her real debt to the
lilies, it would be necessary to de- S
ermine how much she could pay, i
nd then decide just which she n
hould pay and when and how. g
Third, since nobody knew how n
luch Germany could pay, COM C
lission should be appointed to take f.
n inventory of everything affect
lg her paying ability for two or p
lree generations and fix the amount S
lat she should be required to b
ndertake to pay, and since there "
ould necessarily be errors in such a
n. estimate, the same as there were a
rrors in estimating what France 81
ould pay following the Franco
russian war, there should be a fl
)ntinuing commission to keep d
udying the reparations question p
I'D making such notifications from a
me to time as the circumstances ii
light justify, but that in no case p
lould the exactions made of Ger II
any be so heavy as to starve the W
,pulations that were earning the p
oney or making the goods with Sc
hich payment was made, nor SO b,
,pelessly heavy as to blight their d
yes to that extent that would az
ush human hopes and cause revo- a
ton in their hopelessness. For m
ample, using bread and butter as rs