Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1931-07-19
BY WILLIAM HARD.

The dominant views of Washington
regarding the week end developments
of the German world crisis are as fol-
| lows:
A new and extremely realistic League
! of Nations" is now getting instituted
at Paris and at London. The first
American delegates to this new league
are Secretary of State Stimson, Secre-
! tary of the Treasury Mellon and Am
bassador Gibson. They will discuss. in
practice. all topics. however political
and however European, that are
brought to their attention by their
colleagues from other countries.
Secretary Stimson made 1t perfectly
clear to numerous newspaper corre-
spondents at the Naval Arms Confer~
ence at London, Winter before last. that
he personally favors a consultative
pact" for the allaying OF mutual mill
| tary fears between nations in order
that the peoples Of the world may be
better able to live together in peace
and prosperity. His mind is hospitable
to political arrangements of that sort.
y
Chancellor Bruening and Foreign
Minister Curtius of Germany. Prime
Minister Laval and Foreign Minister
BRAND of France and Foreign Minister
Henderson of Great Britain are now
inducing Secretary Stimson at Paris
into the intricacies of the political
needs of the FTanco-German situation.
These proceedings Will not be con
ference" They will be a converse
ton" All the proceedings OF the new
new League" will operate without a
constitution and without public ses-
sions and it will operate.
~ **
The present conversation" at Paris
will be succeeded some time soon by
further conversations" at Paris or at
London or elsewhere, and these further
conversations" besides including rep
resentatiVes Of the United States,
Great Britain, France and Germany,
will include representatives also of
Italy. Belgium and Japan. The pro-
spective development Is already Of
ficially announced. 1t will then only
be necessary to add the Netherlands
in order to have brought together the
dominant financial powers OF the world.
Those powers will constitute an in
formal league" which for practical
purposes will far outweigh the League
at Geneva. Its eight MEMBERSHIP
United States in the Western Henri
sphere, Japan in the region of Asia
and Great Britain, France, Germany,
Belgium, the Netherlands and Italy in
the European area-will suffice to die
tate the worlds economic and there
upon its political future.
y
The stake of the United States In
the instant matter before the new
league" is enormous For more than
half decade now the investors of the
United States, in the course of put
made a speciality of putting 1t into
Germany.
The United States Department of
Commerce complies annually a tabu-
lation showing capital issues of
principal European countries publicly
offered in the United States" A COM
bining Of the figures thus published
gives the following results:
In the years 1925 to 1880, inclusive,
the investors Of the United States put
s2,856,716,7l4 Of long-term money into
ever, they put $l,233, 940,714 into Ger
many. In other words, they put into
Germany more than 40 per cent of the
total Of their European fling.
X X 4
A sentimental light is thrown upon
these American investments in Ger
many by speaking of them as efforts
to help Germany" A supplementary
light is thrown upon them by the OBJ
servation that German borrowers we're
and are paying higher rates of interest
than the borrowers of any other coun-
try In 1929 German municipalities
were paying sometimes almost 10 per
cent on long-term money and some
times almost A 1nv Aar
accommodations. Such rates. along
with the satisfaction of helping Ger
many" deposited a vast number Of
American eggs in the German basket.
Secretary Stimsons task is to see that
they do not 60 added, but hatch out
into regular annual interest payments.
X X X
To that end he fayors a financially
and industrially robust Germany. For
many weeks prior to his departure for
Europe he pondered daily upon the
mtSeries OF Germany, expressing q deep
solicitude for German business revival.
Among the influences which pressed
the President into his final decision
lem major place must be assigned to
Secretary Stimson.
Mr.. Stimson, then, as q negotiator to-
day In Europe, has two main character
isties. The first Is an open-mindedneSs
toward international political measures
for world betterment. The second is q
strong disposition to better the United
States by lettering Germany.
X
At that point, though, Mr. Stimson is
encountering q modifying current Of
thought from the French. The French
think that Germany should be better
enough to be able to sit up and crochet
but not better enough to be able to
stand up and fight. The problem there
fore IL 70 nut Gernnanu snnaeurlaara ha-