Evening star., 1927-05-08
SEE DAWES PREPARATION
PLAN DUE FOR REVISION
American Financial and Economic
Leaders Predict German Debt
Issue Will Be Reopened.

is so framed as to facilitate a final
and comprehensive agreement as to
all the problems Of reparation and con
| nected questions as soon as circum-
stances make this possible"
Mr.. Sterrett concluded his prophetic
remarks as follows: Events are NOV
| Ing, the will to agree is growing, and
it is not unreasonable to hope that
it will not be long until the final and
comprehensive agreement foreseen by
! the experts committee will become a
reality The questions yet to be set
| tied are delicate and of a nature
! easily provocative of quarrels, but
! the problems can be settled in
| friendly way if approached in the
| right spirit. The situation at present
! calls for patience and an effort to
| understand. In particular. there
| should be everywhere a restraint upon
i criticism
Germany Meets Obligations.
Germany has loyalty and fully. to
date. lived up to all of her obligations
under the Dawes plan. In the year
1924-25 she paid her debtors 100000
900 gold marks; in 1885, 1,220,000,-
600 gold marks; in 1926-27, ! 1900. .00O.-
600 gold marks, and in the reparation
year now current, 1929, there is
ever S1S VIII account IulIN
for the required payment of l $50 900.
600 gold marks. But there is fair
unanimity of opinion both in Germany
itself and among her creditors that
when she is called upon in the first
so-called STANDARD year" 192S-29, to
account annually for an indefinite
number of years for the sum of 2,500,.
000,000 gold marks, Germany will face
almost insurmountable economic diff
culties. She will have to raise one
half of the maximum total through
her budget. and find the rest out of
transport tax. interest and amortisa-
ton on the German industrial deben-
lures and interest and amortisation
on the German State Railway bonds
Authoritative German Views.
Two authoritative German views as
to the reparations future have re-
Gently been given to the world. One
emanates from Herr Heinrich Koch
ler, German finance minister, who. in
his budget speech before the Reich
stag a few weeks ago. openly ex-
pressed his misgivings in regard to
Germany's future reparation capacity.
Herr koehler said: Germany will
continue to do whatever is within it's
power TO fulfill Loyalty the obligation
she has undertaken; at the present
moment / see no possible way by
which. even with the best intentions
on her part, we can raise the sums
payable under the Dawes Plan"
Since the German Finance Minister
used these plain words. DIR. Bernhard
Dernburg, former German Colonial
Secretary and Minister of Finance
and now a powerful figure in the |
Reichstag, has made some equally |
frank forecasts of Germany's "ca- |
pacity to pay" DIR. Dernburg is un-
mistakably pessimistic on this score |
h cordially agrees with S. Parker |
Gilbert. the American agent general |
for reparations, that "at the proper |
time it will be possible to work out a |
more general and final settlement that |
will do justice to the interest of all |
concerned"
Sees "GrOtesque Situation"
DR.. Dernburg calls attention to |
the grotesque situation in which the |
outside world demands payments from |
Germany for huge amounts, while the |
only way in which the payments can
be made is being deliberately blocked.
The barriers to which Dernburg re.
fers are high tariff walls and duties |
imposed on goods which are special !,
ties of Germany" Thus Germanys |
ability, Dernburg points out, to accu- |
r1ulate gold for reparation payments |
is almost fatally crippled. He men, |
tions the putting up of harsh immi |
grafton bars, such as now exist in the |
United States and Australia, as an
other handicap to the solution of Ger |
many's surplus population problem. |
''The fundamental aims OF the Dawes |
plan" says Dernburg, namely, busi |
ness restoration. an increase of ex- |
ports over imports and the mainte |
nance of a decent standard of living. |
seem so far unaccomplished, and at |
the same time there is no prospect |
that Germany will have the means of !
meeting greatly increased reparation |
payments
DR.. Dernburg directly links the |
reparation payments Germany must |
make to European governments with |
the Indebtedness of the latter to the |
United States Treasury. This" he |
declares "in effect means that the |
final decision las to Germanys future
capacity TO pay) will rest with the !
United States Government" There is |
plain implication in this assertion !
that Germany. sooner or later, expects |
the United States to be drawn promi- |
nently, If not decisively, into the new
old problem of reparations.
Copyright 1927