Evening star., 1924-01-20
BY GEN. TAUFFLIEB,
distinguished French Soldier and
Senator of the Bas-Rhin.

Senator of the Bas-Rhin.
7 HILE Germany is straining
AN every nerve to eVade the
v " payment of reparations. is
it possible to expect
France. who has had to advance one
hundred thousand million paper
francs for pensions and for the re-
construction of her devastated
regions, to pay off her war debts?
| Must the whole burden of the war
be thus laid upon the shoulders of
the victim who repelled the most
unjustiffable aggression at the cost
of unspeakable sufferings?
However legitimate from a moral
point of view this argument may be,
it is our opinion that France should
adopt a manly attitude and resolutely
meet her obligations. If the Ger
mans are dishonest, all the more
reason why we should see that our
own honesty is above all suspicion.
! The creditor of bankrupt Germany, of
outlawed Russia and of most of her
continental allies (9,000,000, 900 gold
francs), France, the inheritor of
Roman law, must not shrink from the
necessity of discharging her own
debts.
Not but what the question bears a
somewhat different aspect according
as England or the United States is
considered.
When fighting on our side. Great
Britain was primarily defending her
own frontiers. Her share of the
| repara tions, by no means a negligible
quantity. amounts to 22 per cent of
the whole. Besides. though some
| Iyy.tt y,
out a shadow of justification, to draw
a comparison, from maritime and
colonial point of view, between the
dire unemployment with which their
country is afflicted and the havoc
wrought in our ten wealthiest de-
| partments. have not our allies de-
| rived substantial compensations from
the eclipse of German power?
L. 8. Disinterested Assistance.
The case is quite different with the
United States, of whom it can surely
action was determined by fear of the
! German -Mexicans and the German
submarines. They brought US the
most disinterested. the most chival-
rous assistance. They claimed no
percentage of the German repara-
! tions. no share of the German col
onies Nor can it be claimed that
| the war made them rich, considering
! how deeply their economic life has
been upset by the influx of gold
! which has made Of America an mac
cessible Garden of the Hesperides.
! Furthermore. IL should not be for
gotten that the United States did not
ratify the treaty of Versailles, and
cannot be expected, therefore. TO link
up the payment of war debts with
! the payment of reparations arising
! from that treaty.
! The states that signed the treaty
! by which was created the machinery
! Of the settlement of reparations are
: on Il different footing altogether.
They are severally and jointly re-
! sponsible for the carrying into effect
/ of the various clauses of the treaty.
7 But there is nothing TO prevent them
| from agreeing among themselves TO
! enter upon new arrangements as re-
! CARDS their war debts, or any part of
| their claims upon Germany under the
reparationS clause te.g. the G bondS).
/; But it is perfectly natural that the
! Washington administration should
| not have considered any scheme Of
| the kind. And now that the Ameri-
can viewpoint is thoroughly under
stood. we should no longer hesitate
| to tackle Independently the question
of repaying the 14.750.000 900 odd
! francs we owe the United States.
/ Example of England.
! In this matter Great Britain set US
an example, of which, however, she
promptly proceeded to forge a
weapon against US. Her war debt to
February, 1928. at s4.6Oi 12S,0S5.
! For the repayment of this amount
Mr.. Baldwin concluded an agreement