Evening star., 1924-05-12
IN TODAY'S SPOTLIGHT
BY PAUL y. COLLINS

/ Germany must export. before gaining
| any trade balance above her 15,0o0.-
| o0o, 900 gold marks Of tmports
| x** y 4
| By the treaty, OF Versailles France
is to receive So per. cent Of whatever
| instaIlments Germany pays in ;repa-
rations. France has been literally
banking" upon the billions which
| Germanys obligations indicated were
to be paid. from time to time.
Since 1919 France has maintained
two budget systems-one based on
revenue from taxation for ordinary
running expenses of the government,
the other based upon expected re-
ceipts from Germany's reparations.
The latter is called the budget or
recoverable expenses" Its expenoi-
lures have to do with re6uiiding tne
| cordingly, France has invested Dill
lions in rebuilding, but has actually
diverted from that fund every franc
received from Germany to pay the
Eexpenses of the army OF oeeupation Sa
| France has lived on credit ever
since the war. rather than raise ade-
quate revenue by taxation. one has
| raised by internal loans trom SOCK
savings and chimney banks) 11S,0OO,-
600 900 francs. The interest on this
loan from the peasants equals the
total amount needed to run the gov
| ernment prior to the war. Stlil 4o,-
O0O 000, 900 more francs must De Dor
years program Of rebuilding. All that
| is charged to the budget OF recover
able expense" theoretically to be col
lected from Germany-but when!
| X r +
| Vast building operations to replace
the devastation have been going on.
Every private citizen whose house
was shot to pieces in battle Is en-
titled to a new house at the expense
of Germany. France has been ad-
vancing the funds and charging the
cost to the budget of recoverable
expenses" Not only tho original
owner is interested, but he has been
able to sell his claim to some prof
iteering corporation which has then
| collected from the government inflated
claims. Recently this wholesale
building graft was investigated, and
the first 500 cases showed graft to
the amount of 5000. o.ooo,0oO francs.
| with all this building financed by
the treasury, there is no unemploy-
ment in France, but a semblance of
great prosperity, though 1t is false
prosperity, being dependent ultimate
| ly upon collecting from Germany the
sum to reimburse the budget OF re-
| coverable expenses" No wonder 1T
| is impossible to state to Germany the
total she must pay in reparations
| France owes the United States to-
| day 1890, ,605.64, on which there Is
| accrued interest OF hundreds Of mil
4 oF 81 10 10 10 Yla h
| ing on either interest or principal,
yet since the war she has loaned to
Poland, Jugoslavia, Rumania and
! CZechoslovakia nearly 1000, 0QQ, 900
| building them up on the east OF Eu-
| rope to offset Russia and Germany.
/ The returns from yesterdays cleo
| tion of deputies will be most signifi-
cant of how France is going to sup
| port Premier Poincare's aggressive
policy toward Germany. The sena-
torial election last January seemed
| in accord with his policies, but since
| senators are elected by an electoral
| college, their election is not so sig
nificant as an election of deputies by
Gals charge that Poincare's method
of handling the Germans threatens a
| return Of war.
Mr.. Ramsey Macdonald. prime min
| lister OF England (Which continues to
| support with doles nearly 100000
| idle men), says:
Tho main cause of the hostile feel
| ing toward France in England is the
| occupation OF the Ruhr, which is the
main contributing factor in the pres
| ent economic crisis in England. Eng
| land reproaches France with having
too little consideration for the higher
/ interests of Europe and with having
none for the particular interests of
England"
! The British press says there is a
| growing feeling of resentment in
England that she, in the midst of a
severe trade depression. with a mil
lion and a quarter unemployed, should
be paying 37,000,000 pounds a year
| of interest on her war debt to the
United States, when France, with
| prosperous trade conditions and nc
| unemployment, is paying nothing to
her or to the United States.
| Copyright, 1924. By Paul V. Collins)