Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1929-03-17
BERLIN NOT KEEN
FOR WORLD BANK
Settlement of .Annuities
Question Chief Concern
of Germans Now.
By JOHN ELLIOTT.

BY Radio to The Star.
BERLIN. March 16.-In some Euro
pesn capitals the project Of constitut-
ing a world bank" or PREPARATIONS
clearing house" which is being con-
sidered by the experts in Paris, is re-
garded as the germ institution which
in years to come will do even more
than the League of Nation to stabilize
the peace of Europe.
Such sublime theories regarding the
embryonic bank do not prevail IN Ber-
lin. For the Germans the all-impor-
tant goal of the separations experts
now. as before is to settle once for all
the height and length of the annuities
this country must pay. and everything
else is regarded as secondary. Perhaps
the Germans may be considered guilty
Of lack of perspective in the view they
take of the proposed central bank, but
after all one does not expect a drown
ing man to philosophize over the fun
damental purpose of the universe. And
If Germany cannot exactly be said to
be drowning man, nevertheless she
has a bread-and-butter interest in the
fixation of the reperations liability
which exceeds that of any other
power.
Press Approval Cautious.
While. therefore. at best the world
bank has met with some cautious and
tentative approval from a section of the
German press, the Nationalist have
bitterly attacked the project as a coll
tinuation of the same foreign control
over Germany which 1t was the pre-
fessed object of this conference to abol-
ish. For instance. Count Kuno Westarp.
aaNlia afo, 1An@ 1~ 81 kA Ne ieL
party, writing in his Kreuz Zeitung.
asserts: In the place of the personal.
financial and economic dictator, ap-
pears the Societe Anonyme; In place
of controllers appointed by and &C.
pendent on state authorities, immedi-
ate representatives of the real rulers
of the world and Of international big
business step up"
The same idea is expressed by Die
Deutsche Tage Zeitung, which declares:
1.-THE whole reparations problem can be
summed up under one word-Morgan.
This Yr1outhpiece of the Junkers be-
leves that S. Parker Gilbert will cease
to be agent general of reparations only
to become head director Of the new
bank, and as the Germans say, allies
bleibt beim alten"-everything will stay
the same. Similarly DR.. Rheinhold
Quaatz. Nationalist Reichstag Deputy,
writing in the Lokal Anzeiger--a news
paper owned by his close friend, Dr. AL
fred Hugenberg, the most powerful
member Of that party-declares that
international control over Germany
under a central bank will remain,
"Only the form changes, following in
ternational fashion. We pass from a
rigid system of control to a flexible
one
Opposition of Nationalist.
But the Nationalist have given clear
notice of their intention to fight any
proposed settlement of the reparations
problem, however favorable to Ger
many. They are, from party stand
point, In far better position than they
were in 1924. At that time the Ma
tionalists had sufficient votes in the
Reichstag to block legislation necessary
to give effect to the Dawes plan, re-
quiring as 1t did q two-thirds majority.
But fearing to throw the country into
chaos by rejecting the plan, half Of the
Nationalist members voted for the
Dawes bill. To-day, in hopeless mi
nority in the Reichstag, the Nationalist
enjoy to the full the luxury of the
privileges of the opposition.
General opinion among the German
following the lines of least resistance,
hoping that by completing the ma
chinery for reparations settlement they
will diminish the distance that sep
arates the views OF the Germans and
the allies. The Frankfurter Zeitung
warns against attributing exaggerated"
Importance to the reparations clearing
house and recalls how at the time of
the Dawes conference similar hue and
cry was raised over the proposal to form
German currency bank. which later
melted away into a reich bank.
Technique of Depositing.
"One must not take the. technique of
depoSiting money as the chief business
which remains for the fixation of the
future amount of Germany's payments.
declares this important South German
newspaper. One of. the few German
commentators to date to catch a
glimpse Of the immense possibilities
contained in the conception of the
world bank is DR.. Leo Stahl, Paris cor
respondent Of the Vossische Zeitung.
and he obviously fears that it will turn
out to be dangerous FFankenstetn.
ut is myth, a tower of Babel. the
dash OF giants who stormed Olympus
and dethroned the gods writes Stalll.
He objects TO the bank because it will
lack democratic foundation. being con-
trolled by an irresponsible financial oil
garchy. I'VE do not doubt" writes
Stahl. that the bankers of Wall Street
and the city believe in their ability to
rule the world better than it has been
done by ministers and parliaments. But
experiments are too dangerous If it
succeeds it will be dictatorship with
out precedent; If it fails the whole world
will be dragged down in the crash"
(Copyright, 1929
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