A FOREGONE CONCLUSION.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17127, 23 April 1921, Page 16

A FOREGONE CONCLUSION.

i BREAKDOWN OF REPARATION CONFERENCE. GERMANY UNREPENTANT; (FKOU OCB OWN CORRESPONDENT.) ' LONDON, March 10. One fact has been clearly demonstrated as the result of the proceedings of tho Reparation Conference, which camo to a tragic conclusion —Germany intends to try every possible and probable, expedient to escape the penalties of' tier crimes. German mentality Is unchanged, and the nation is already attempting to shape her destiny so that eventually; of all the countries of Europe she 'will emerge least of: allrbaridicapped .as tlio result of the world war. Probably one of the most untactful statements made by Dr. Simons was that in which he declared that his people would not have the Paris figures, because they meant an injustice to his and his people's grandchildren. "Ships that aro sunk can be rebuilt," he said. VHouses that are destroyed can be built again; mines; that were ruined can be restarted again. I must remind the Allies that Germany is suffering from the most lasting and most permanent effect "* of the war. By the blockade my ailing grandchildren will grow up to be ailing old men and women.. Look at our children to-day.. The nation Will carry.a perpetual and terrible inemo"rlai of the victory of the Allies." Therefore the Germans will agree to no plan which would place the bulk of tho burden of indebtedness on their grandchildren. And as no conceivable plan for reparations on a reasonably adequate scale can ignore the contribu- • tions of their grandchildren, the "burden" must be transferred, apparently, to the grandchildren of Englishmen and j Frenchmen. i Whose Grandchildren to Suffer ? '.'But there are our own grandchildren to bo considered," the "Evening Standard" says in comment. "One would think, from Dr. Simons' s words, that it was.proposed that three British and French generations were to , live happily ever afterwards on the labours of 'three German generations. It is, indeed, doubtful whether tho German ' egotism is' not more.nauseously exhibited in this mood than in the full arrogance of the war-time humour. Wo cannot quite understand the obtusenesa which, by calling to witness the claims , of German children, reminds the Allied peoples of tlie difference the war, made in Germany, planned and concocted ' thero with patient . and treacherous malice, &a Toadi, not only to themselves but to those who follow them. Being thus reminded, let'us sayatonco, and quite bluntly, that if ' it is a question of any grandchildren suffering more than others, let it be German grandchildren, and not our own. At the best, we, as victors, will be compelled long to bear the 'leader chains' "* Finance Minister Helfferich designed for us-as victims.. That load we ars prepared to. bear, since no better can be. But we are not .prepared to add to it in order to help Dr. Simons's grandchil-, drcn at- the expense of our own, and the impudence of his argument defeats its own. purpose." - Besponsibllity for the War-r-Two Views "The question of war guilt," said Dr. Simons, "is to be decided neither by the Treaty, by acknowledgment, nor by 'sanctionsj only history will be able to decldo the question as to who was responsible for the world war. We are all of us still too near to the pventl 1 have always, been far from wishing to absolve the German Government of any responsibility for the war, but whether a i&tngle nation can' be taken to be exclusively guilty of thi9 terrible war, and whether this nation would bo the German people, has not been finally decided 'by/tho signing of the Treaty of Verj"A. very significant part or Dr. Simons's speech," said Mr Lloyd .George in the course of his reply, "was his refusal to accept on behalf of Germany the responsibility tor the war, ' which,is the very basis of rthe Treaty < of Versailles, only did he refuse to,accept that basis, but he appealed itf'nistory for a, revision of tho sentence. When does history begin? W;hen L/see a proposal limited by five fears'it leaves an uneasy feeling in my mind that there is an inclination in Sermany to consider the possibility of history beginning five years hence, and an. Appeal for tho revision of that sentence being one of the considerations to be examined at. the end of this short periodfv no A^ es cannot possibly * enter into any 'discussions upon that basis.' The responsibility of Germany for the war is, with them, fundamental 'The whole Treaty of Versailles depends uoonit, and unless Germany—whatever *lie may think, of ,the verdict—is prepared to act upon it, then no arrangement which is made can give confidence between the parties and restore that ' atmosphere of neighbourly goodwill which, is essential to the peace of Europe:" Only One Certainty. Of the proposal to accept the Paris conditions for five years, the Prime Minister said: "It is subject to conditions which make it uncertain; which 1 might terminate it in the course of the iiiextdew weeks. It is subject to the plebiscite in High Silesia. If the ple- . biscite in High Silesia,, or in part of it, io adverse to Germany, Dr. Simons, it we'accepted his proposal, would be perfectly justified in coming here and saying*. has changed, Ger- » many has been deprived of the terri- - tory,vupbn which she depended to pay ' those'annuities, and .therefore the ar-i rangement which I made in London is ' at an end.' That is, it is not a pro-' posal for five years; it is a proposal for 'five v'weeks. There are some indications, which aro "disquieting; for instance,' it is "part of the five-year proposab that Germany should pay even tlie low figures fixed for the annuities ( for those five years not out of her cur- ' sent revenue, hut by means of, a loan. She is to borrow. By borrowing* .she mortgages her future. She vmL borrow—must necessarily borrow —with „ a guarantee of priority for- those 'who lorid even over reparations. So that: what .happens after tlie' fire years is that Germany, not anticipating that she*will be able to ' pay out of her current revenue for tho first five years,' will mortgage her income for the years that come after, in order, to pay the annuities of the first five. Now that is the only indication of what is in the German mind as to ■what is likely to happen after five years. There is no other test, there is no other promise, and there is only one certainty. Ave have been asking tor some- sort ofjsertainty, there is only one certainty, and that is the certainty that it* will be inadequate." A comparison of the financial wof responsibilities, as detailed by the Premier .of the various countries, is significant. "If Germany carries out this year the Paris proposals, she will /"' aave to find 120 millions sterling, not tor Great Britain, But for all the Al- • Sea-wme-fourtb. of what Britain alone has io find with ft million unemployed - for war debt charges and for pensions. Th& case of /France is more striking. ' France, in-addition to her war charges - andher very heavy pension list, has to find 12,000,000,000 francs for repairing'her devastated area. She must find it this year somewhere, or leave those provinces unrestored. -Germany would W to find, therefore, this year ■me-riinth of.wha* France has to find one-ninth for the whole of the Alhes 'France has to find t herself for .' the war. And we are told; that the effort Germany puts forthwith her 5.5,000,000, as gainst ThSU with 42,000;000 or 43,000,000^ ' a colossal sacrifice 1" It .Ue * ' said, that Germany T»as not yet quite

realised the essential facts of the situa-tion,-and: that; more each'time I'have attended these Conferences, and heard these proposals being made.

"The proposals put forward by Dr. Simjons," the Prime Minister concluded, "are neither the Paris proposals nor their equivalent. lam afraid, and Dr. Simons will forgive me for saying this, he is not really is a v position to negotiate. He represents/ and he <ds' returning' to report, to a public opinion which is not ready to pay this debt. In the interests of the Allies, in the interests of Germany, in the'interests of tne world, -we must have; a settlement, we must have a definite settlement, and we must have an immediate settlement. Proposals such -as those we have heard are not a settlement. They simply evade and postpone a settlement, and very regretfully we have come to the conclusion that the sanctions must be put into operar tion immediately." , Levy on German Goods.-

In the House of Commons Mr Lloyd Georgo explained the nature' of the sanctions which are to be put into operation immediately. "With regard to the deductions on the price of German goods coming into the countries of the Allies he said he attached real "importance to it, not merely as a sanction, but as a method of liquidating the debt, and he regretted that it snould be necessary to put it forward as a sanction, because he thought it should form part of any arrangement that might be made. "What it means is this," he continued. "A man buys £IOOO worth of German goods. Let us asume for the moment that the figure is 50 percent, which you deduct. 1 should propose to deduct any percentage that is necessary to levy the proportion of the annuities <-«lhich appertain to our' country. Fifty per cent, would cover the amount this year, it, then, tho order is given, that 50 per cent, of any purchase price should be paid into the Exchequer, a man who buys £IOOO worth of German good* would pay £SOO into the British Exchequer. The 50 per cent, would be paid straight into the Exchequer, and the exchequer would give 1-hc purchaser a receipt. Ho would tJhen send over to the German seller a bill of exchange for the balance, and ho would pin on to that the Treasury Toceipt." Questioned as to the position of the Dominions in this matter, Mr LlovrE Georgo said: "That is.a question, for the Dominions. They must legislate for themselves. "We shall certainly pass the proposal on to them, and they aie just as interested in the indemnity as we arfe, and will probably find this tho best way of collecting it. That is all we can do. "We cannot pledge the Dominions, tlhey must act themselves." "Dr. Simons is a little, a very little man," remarked one .of the most astute members of tho Supreme Council to acorrespondent, "but he is clover enough and cunning in a way. Only he remains a German, and a Prussian bureaucrat at'that. This explains his utter lack of comprehension of any but the German mentality. He is .impervious to any foreign' atmosphere, and tactless, as only a German can be. His sryeedh is really one mass of Teutonismsl' It was to be anticipated that Dr. Simons would refuse to accept Mr Lloyd George's findings 6n Germany's war, guilt. But no one had anticipated the stupendous blunder he committed in suggesting that future times might reverse the Allied verdict—when Germany had grown strong again. This was pure Treitschlte or Bernihardi, the; reaffirmation or the' Bismarekian axiom that 'might is right; and; symbolically, as it were, whilst tne German Foreign Minister was giving utterance, to /these militarist heresies, General yon Seeckt, in uniform, with his traditional monocle; j his stars, and—strangely enough—his j sword, relaxed his imperturbable demeanour to nod ;Dr. Sjmons, moreover, . /aggravated, nis original "gaffe!' fry contending that the Peace of Frankfurt embodied the principle that the vanquished.must,-.pay, and t/he vanquished was not necessarily' the guilty party. ......' . •■"■■■ ■The German v answer cnine at noon. Dr. Simons read it from,,his seat at one, side of the old State dujing-roaim in Lancaster House.. He was, as uswil, nervous, and at times almost inaudible. Mr Lloyd George requested him more than oncd to repeat' an ; ' imp6rtant phrase. Marshal Foch listened with a steady gaae at.the speaker, nor did any of the other Frendh delegates relax fori an instant their scrutiny of the Germans opposite them,.

; Appeal to League of Nations. "Germany is not a member of the League of Nations,'" declared Dr. Simons in his final protest against tho imposition of the sanctions,. "but she has signed the pact of the League, and I therefore announce, in the name of the German Government, an appeal, to the Assembly of the League of Nations against the sanctions with which we are menaced." The delegates came hack to St. James's' Palace -just before half-past four for the final' act of the drama.' Mr Lloyd George is described as looking grim, even angry, as he bounced out of his car, carrying a bundle of papers in, his; hand. Dr. Simons was there before him, pale, and plainly feeling the strain as he lifted'his soft felt hat with an indefinite bow to the few witnesses of-'his arrival. Count Sforza seemed depressed. Marshal Fochj on the other hand, looked cheerful, even jovial, as he saluted his admirers. "There is nothing we can add to what we have already said," declared Dr. Drecheler, of tho German delegation, to a Press representative. "After Dr. Simons had spoken, it was obvious that. our mission was at an end, and we return to Germany. The occupation of the three towns by Allied troops is not resented by us merely on sentimental grounds. It will injure Germany economically and commercially and I have no doubt that it is being done for that deliberate purpose. No reasonable person could think otherwise. We have done our best, and can only hope that some months hence the Allies will see the folly of their, demands. Perhaps belated wisdom may give cause for regret.. It- is. not easy to see how the Allies can secure more than 'we offer now by making 7 us poorer than we are at present." \- > Duisberg, which joins Ruhrort, is an important railway centre with large foundries, and rolling mills, for copper,' steel; and brass plates. There are big chemical works, and tobacco, cotton, sugar, and soap manufactories. It was united with ltuhrqrt to form a single municipality. Their combined harbours are considered to be the largest river harbour in the world. The joint population is nearly 300,000. Dusseldorf is the principal banking centre of the Westphalian coal and iron trade. It has extensive quays, iron industries, 1 foundries, dyeing and textile works. The inhabitants number more than ■ 800,000. It is the favourite residence I of-the big Rhine magnates, i In the early hours' of the mornings I of'the Conference Marshal Foch might j have been seen entering Westminstei I Cathedral, in civilian clothes, to attend one of the services. Knowing the deepI ly religious character of the great general, one felt that he would regard this as a fitting preliminary to the serious and epoch-making deliberations of each day. General Foch has never disguised his intense faith in the ruling of Providence.

The conversations between the Savoy Hotel, where the German Delegation was quartered, and Berlin were carried on over a.wire fitted with a telewriter apparatus. Three telegraphists accompanied the delegates to London, and took it in turns to tap out or receive messages. These were printed by the apparatus in bold blue letters on white paper. The receiving station in Berlin wjls the Foreign Office, and replies to some of the questions transmitted from London were received within an hour. The wire was not deserted at any hour of the twenty-four, and messages wero sometimes received in the email hours of the morning.