Evening star., 1923-11-04
ALLIES FAR APART
! ON PARLEY STAND
Tardieu Sees Little Hope for
New Move to Fix Ger
man Capacity.
By ANDRE TARDIEU.

BY Cable to The Star.
PARIS, November 3.-Once again it
has been proposed that a committee
of experts shall study Germany's
capacity to pay. That has been done
many times since 1919, but still not
everybody agrees just what such a
study means. 1t is an old story now
continued, and to understand this new
chapter we must freshen our memo
ries concerning earlier ones.
At the peace conference all agreed
that, considering the total of the Ger
man debt and the necessity for spread
ing the payments over a long period,
any examination of Germany's paving
capacity was useless. Even those who
like the Americans. wanted a definite
figure named in the treaty. did not
suggest that such figure could be
scientifically established.
consequently it was decided thai
the reparations commission should,
before May l, 1921, fix the amount of
Germany's debt at the total of dam
4ses incurred. When, in April 1921,
this amount was fixed at 1872, ,0O0, ,O00,-
o0Q Sgold marks the governments re-
dueedI 1t more than half by adopting
the Iondon schedule of payments, and
ny 'deyiSinG the famous c bonds
which neither bear interest nor date
OF maturity, and could scarcely be
estimated at more than fifteen billions
In actual value, as compared with
their face value of eighty-five bill
lions. This operation was only an in
direct way of reducing Germany's
debt by appeal to the principle of
capacity to pay"
France and Britain Differ.
tee of the reparations commission,
then the reparations commission it
self, acting on various requests for a
moratorium: then the bankers COM
mittee of May "a, 1922, and finally
The governments, in conferences at
cannes in January. 1922; at London
in. August. 1922, and at Paris in Jam
uary, 1923. have re-examined this
problem without ever reaching a So
luton, England using the supposed
capacity Tor payment as an excuse
Tor further reductions and France
maintaining that this amount was
fixed once for all and could be di-
minished only in proportion as the
lnteraliied debts were diminished
Ihe situation today remains the
same as ever. And as all seem agreed
to- form a committee of experts,
named by the reparationS commits
sion. to examine again into what
Iermany can pay, the old divergence
as wide as before.
Prime Minister Baldwin speaks of a
settlement" meaning a final fixing
OF Germany's obligation. 1t seems that
Secretary Hughes had the same idea
some months ago when he proposed
the conference of experts to which
Lord Curzon referred in his disuatc tch
of October IL. On the contrary, Pre-
mler Poincare rejects this iIlea of a
general settlement. He maintains
I1I~
definitely the new committee can only
study Germany's present paying ca
pac1ty-that is, make a schedule OF
Germany's payments for a brief
period. as the reparations commission
= mas often done in the past
Limits Hurt Conference.
Under such conditions, 20 speak
frankly, We may well ask what good
purpose such a conference can serve
and whether, indeed, it's work will
not have to be suspended on the very
day 1T meets. This means. as the
writer has constantly maintained,
that Americas intervention, in any
form whatever, risks being entirely
useless so long as prior agreements
nave not been reached among Ger
manys European creditors.
BY stipulating that the proposed
conference be purely advisory, Sec
etary Hughes refused to make the
American government an umpire be-
tween London and Paris. 1t Is only
too obvious that between the extreme
views expressed by Lord Curzon last
spring. and by Gen. SHUTS and Pre-
mier Baldwin. more recently, on the
one hand, and the attitude affirmed
by Premier Poincare every Sunday
on the other. there is not, at least
for the time being. any possible COM
promise. q,
Saying this may disappoint certain
1n6 prtf sG1,
posals and their acceptance with res
ervations by France. But why de-