Evening star., 1924-09-07

Continued from First Page)
in which Britain deals, and therefore
to the detriment of Britain.
British to Play Last Card.
Accordingly the British govern
ment will now obviously seek to play
it's final card. France owes Britain
over $1,000, 100000; SO does Italy.
Let France and Italy turn over to
Britain enough of their claims upon
Germany, enough of their repara-
ton shares to meet their respective
debts to Britain, then the British can
cancel them or better trade them in
with Germany in return for trade
agreements which will protect Brit
ish industry from German compe-
tition. In word, Britain must now
seek to use her debt claims upon her
former allies to protect her indus
tries from the competition which
would inevitably follow Germany's
recovery and incidental payments to
, her continental creditors.
France and Italy, on the contrary,
are just as certain to resist the Brit
ish effort, to insist that they paid in
blood and ruined lands. and that the
British loans represent a British con-
tribution to a common cause. You
are likely to have, then. d pretty
strong combination between France,
Belgium and Italy, backed by the lit
tie entente states, in opposition to
the British in the matter of debts.
which is a detail in the reparations
settlement.
1t is manifest then that the period
we are now entering is economic.
The struggle is going to be between
the Germans, who desire to recover
without paying anything; the British,
who are reconciled to moderate
German recovery, but do not want
German industry and production
Stimulat ted by the need of meeting
vast reparation payments in kind
and, lastly, the French, and to de-
gree the Italians, who can take Ger
man coal and are not menaced by
German competition as the British
are.
Objective OF British.
If the British could establish the
obligat ton of the French and the
Italians to pay the war loans; if they
could then take as payment French
and Italian claims upon Germany for
the amount of the loans; if they could
then cancel these in return for Ger
man trade concessions. then their
profit all around would be obvious
This, on the whole, would seem now
to be the objective of British policy.
France and Italy, on the other hand,
are certain now to stand on the pro-
posal made by Bonar Law-namely,
that Britain would reduce the French
and Italian debts to that sum which,
added to the amount due from Ger
many to Britain as the British share
of reparationS, would just balance
British obligations to the United
States. This would in reality mean
only a relatively small reduction Of
the French share in German repara-
tions, although it would pretty well
eliminate the Italian. But there is
grave doubt as to whether the British
will now renew the Bonar Law offer,
which was rejected just before the
Euhr occupation.
In any event, however, it must be
patent that what lies In the future
is economic rather than political dis
putation, and the diScu ssion for the
present will turn over the liquidation
not of reparatiOns-that job has been
at least temporarily attended to and
no readjustment can be pressed for
several years, since no considerable
German payments will be demanded
but the liquidation of war debts, of
war debts between the European
allies without regard to the Ameri-
can debts. which must presently fill
still another chapter.
. Lineup Over Debts.
In this forthcoming discussion Of
debts which will take place at Paris
in october the battle will be between
the British and the French, the
French supported by the Belgians and
Italians, unless the British make a
separate bargain with Mussolini.
Brits,a policy will aim at getting as
much as possible on the debt ac-
count in the shape of German obli-
cations to pay France and Italy and
then later seek to turn these in at
Berlin in return for trade ad-
yantages.
Britain cannot, in the opinion of
most of her experts. either afford to
take reparations herself from Ger
many or afford to have Germany pay
reparations in kind either to Italy
or France, because these reparations
in kind will be in thinga which
Britain produces and has hitherto
supplied the continent. The more
coal France gets from Germany on
tho reparations account the less she