Evening star., 1924-01-08
Wiley Raps Germans.
Discusses Coming Farley to De.
termine Her Ability to Pay.
the Editor of The Star.

4 To the Editor of The Star:
notice that two unofficial delegates,
namely, Dawes and Young, are now on
their way to Berlin to determine to
what extent Germany can pay the
reparations and other indemnities de-
manded in the treaty of Versailles. Tf
they are looking for the intangible
wealth OF Germany, namely, industrial
! securities of other countries and gold
and silver, they will find little or moth
| Ing. 1t is we'll known fact that
| all valuable assets of an intangible
| character possessed by German indus
| trialists have been safely deposited In
other countries. The newspapers have
! Just carried statements, purporting to
come from New York banks. that they
DO not propose TO give out the amount
or German securities deposited with
them, as there IS no law which COM
peis them to do So The bankers are
probably right in this respect; they
guard the interests Of their own de-
posltors. Any quest which our repre-
sentatiYes may make in this direction
is even more hopeless than looking for
the proverbial needle in the haystack..
On the other hand, the real wealth
of Germany does not need to be sur
veyed. Is is well known to all ma
tions. The wonderfully efficient aEri-
cultural production of Germany has
practically reached its peak during the
last year. The Department of Aari-
culture has published a notice that the
granaries of Germany are bulgfng; that
the quantity of beet sugar made is rap
idly approaching pre-war level: that
there is plenty of pork and an abundance
of milk cows in Germany. There seems
TO be also, according to the recent re-
port of New Year eve festivities an
abundance OF hard cash. A story in
The Star of Wednesday, January 3, by
Frederic William VILE indicates that
Broa dway was no more lavish in the
spending of good hard cash than was
Unter den Linden. The fields of Ger
many are undevastated; they are still
yielding bumper crops. The mines of
Germany have never been flooded The
underground wealth of the country ia
so great as to defy any accurate esti- 4
mate. This includes iron ore, coal and
particularly potash, an element so nee
essary to successful agriculture The
factories of Germany have never been
dismantled. No hostile army has burned
her public buildings. If the children
/ of Germany in the cities are starving
! for milk the fault is solely that of Ger
| many When nation deliberately de-
bases It's circulating medium so as to
| put up plea for moratorium or even
a cancellation of its debts, the syr1-
| pathies of the world for its suffering
cannot be raised to a very high pitch,
! ] myself am sorry for all Germans un-
| der the age of twenty five for they
/ have had practically no part in ths
debacle of Germany's. finances / have
! little sympathy for those who are suf-
| fering and who are over the aRe> Of
| twenty five. and took an active part
, in, or gave hearty approval to. all the
devastation which the, German army
inflicted upon Belgium, France, Serbia,
Italy and Russia.
If 1t were possible, the only advice
which our experts could give would
| be to appoint a receiver for Germany
| In the hands Of a competent business
receiver. Germany's ability to pay would
be readily and speedily restored. The
wealth of a country is not in It's cir
culating medium. Every dollar Of a
circulating medium might be destroyed
! without touching the natural wealth
| of a country. Germany has an army,
! larger than that OF any other country,
! OF trained technical experts They have
| the ability and the skill and the mate
rial for the best agricultural output
| per acre OF any nation. The same Is
/ true of their. manufacturing output
1 There is no reason, therefore, to shed
| tears over the distress in Germany.
What We should do is to let Germany
know that while she was willing r.,
wreck the world with her supposed in
1 vincible armies, she shall not be allowed
1 to wrek the work with her foolish.
| imbecile and socialistic financial oper,
ations. What Germany needs Is a re-
| turn to normalcy-not contributions 10
J charitable relief The world is tired
| of her whining. H. w. WILEY