Evening star., 1923-01-28
BY HENRY W. BUNN.
- HE following is q brief summary OF
the most important news of the world
for the seven days ended January 2N

the most Important news OF tho world
| for the seven days ended January sM
The Ruhr.-The reparations commission
made an important decision on Friday. They
decided that by it's announcement on January
1s of suspension of reparations payments to
France and Belgium the German government
had cancelled it's request OF November Il Tor
a moratorium. and that, in consequence, no
action respecting a moratorium would be
taken by the commission-that, therefore, the
schedule of payments of May 5, 1921 was
again in force, though the grant OF delay
until January 81 of payment of the INSTALL
ment due January is still held good They
declared a general default the part Of Ger
many in the performance of her obligations to
France and Belgium in consequence of which
the famous paragraph II. annex 2. OF the Yer
Which paragraph Germany is obligated mot
to regard acts of war economic and fnan-
cial prohibitions and reprisais ano. IN genera
ward which Germany may be In default may
determine to be necessary"
This famous blanket paragraph is inter-
preted by France and Belgium legally to
ures than those already instituted by these
governments.
Poincare's new moratorium plan. to which
I referred last week, is pigeon -holed-doubt-
lessly to reappear when or r. the Germans
of e eu by
has the merit of forestalling crisises that
otherwise might be created by special de-
faults such the certain to occur
January 81. The liberty of action now en-
joyed by France and Belgium cannot be am
On Wednesday Fritz Thyssen and five other
German magnates charged with disobedence
OF the orders of the occupying authorities.
were tried by a military court at Mayence.
All were found guilty and sentenced to pay
fines. Two of them Estate off1cials) were also
sentenced to one years imprisonment, but
execution of the latter sentence was suspend
ed and all were set free 1t might seem that
the net result of the trials was to unite the
and west of the Rhine in passionate protest
against the occupation-to create a united
will TO resist that occupation. Monster pop
ular demonstrations followed the trials in
Mayence. Essen. Dusseldorf. Cologne. Treves
all over the occupied areas. French detach-
ments were baited. insulted and threatened.
That there were no bloody clashes was due
chiefly to the admirable cooiness of the
French. In several instances the German
curity police were far from conspicuous for
efforts to. avert trouble. but In Essen they
It does not follow from these consequences
that the French were ill-advsed in bringing
Tnyssen Thy ss,n and the others to trial The trial
to the accused and evidently without the
slightest rancor on the part OF the French.
Indeed the prosecution declared that French
men in the position of the accused would have
acted like them May IL not be that the chief
object of the French in instituting the trials
was to furnish very dramatic iliustration
of those rights OF military occupation which
they are permitted to exercise in occupied
countless tones going be written on
the rights Of military occupation in the light
OF the French occupation of the Ruhr
Reports concerning the mining situation are
very conflicting. Some declare that yery few
workers are on strike and that the output OF
the mines is nearly normal-others have it
that 10000 miners are strike and that the
output is not more than so per cent Of normal.
The French seized some state-owned mines
and coke ovens. but. apparently. the workers
promptly striking. withdrew.
They have not seized any mines coke