Evening star., 1933-01-24

Of anger. that the wicked Germans VIII
not meet their obligations to the allies
and that the latter will not meet their
obligations to America, in spite OF the
fact that the obligations to pay are GER
tainly legally unassailable.
THE American finds 1t indeed bitter
that he, who of his own free will has
given his help to others in their need,
now int his own hour of need Is left by
them in the lurch, when. indeed, 1t is
a matter of fulfilling assumed obiiga-
tions. He may we'll regard the ces;a-
tior of reparation PAYNE nts by Ger
many as the first cause of this denial.
Does bad intention really lie behind
this, or has 1t to do with the necessities
accompanying the situation? A nation
possesses land facilities for production
and the ability to labor of its inhab-
itants and. in addition. also some gold,
although in an amount which is prac-
tically negligible in comparison with the
great indebtedness here coming under
consideration.
"A nation can thus pay only with
goods, that is-in the last resort-only
with the products of its labor. Should
these goods not be taken in sufficient
amount by the creditor nation. then in
ability to pay must unqualifiedly set in
This intcrrelation becomes somewhat
obscured in its simplicity. only there
from that the interposition of the ccn-
cept of gold hides the facts little frcm
our sight.
Paid More Than Decade"
Germany has, to be sure, paid for
more than decade; does not this con-
tradict the foregoing assertion? No!
She paid with funds received in the
form of loans. whose rapid repayment
would certainly shatter the money
system.
In this way most Of the countries
of Europe have already been them
selves forced to submit their foreign
payments to a far-reaching curtail-
ment When we take into considera-
tion these frozen credits we can say,
indeed, that the attempt to meet the
war debts has failed. even as was in
evitable in accordance with simple con-
siderations
why, however, has America not
taken the payments in the form of
goods or through an encouragement OF
the importation of goods? Because her
own industrial establishments would
have been seriously damaged by such
importation. One sees thus how this
situation necessarily had to arise. Such
a quiet understanding is suited for TAX
ing from the situation its sharpness
and bitterness.
"One will have to try to reduce the
international obligations to figure
which agrees with the willingness to re-
ceive the corresponding amount of
goods.
Il come now to a second point, the
comprehension of which is more i'm
portant for my German count-ymen
than for Americans. 1t has been as
Sumed. namely, that the world depres-
sion for the most part had its origin
through the war debts; and it cannot
be doubted that the fear of foreigners
on the part of the Germans, which ex-
presses itself in their internal political
life in such an unhappy manner is
activated to high degree by this as
sumption. If this view were correct,
it would then be impossible to under
stand the severe economic crisis in
America; the economic connection of
this great country with the outside
is certainly not close. enough to ex-
plain the depression in America as
due in the main to the economic
failure of Europe.
Human Labor Eliminated"
According to my conviction, it can
not be doubted that the severe eco
nomic depression is to be traced back
for the most part to internal economic
causes: the improvement in the ap-
paratus of production through technical
invention and organization has de-
creased the need for human labor. and
thereby caused the elimination of a
part of labor from the economic circuit
and thereby caused a progressive de-
crease in the purchasing power of the
consumers.
THE spreading of this view would
be important. since thereby alone a
dangerous source Of the mutual en-
bitterment of the nations would be
set aside; from this understanding
would also grow the spiritual forces
which could lead to the overcoming
of the crisis.
"A third problem must here still be
mentioned, since it concerns Germany
and stands at present in the foreground
Of interest, namely, Germany's demand
for military equality I am allowed as
a non-official person indeed to express
INV perSonal ODiDion The demand for