LOOKING FOR SHELTER

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 83, 2 January 1919, Page 5

LOOKING FOR SHELTER

i '' • ' GERMANY AND THE LEAGUE OF ; ' NATIONS

HUN SCHEMES "TO MAKE USE OF IT

The Germans are terribly afraid of an economic war. : Their ecoriomio future looks to them desperate, both as regards supplies of raw materials' and the securing of markets for their manufactures. The belief ■ that tb.ey could bargain for raw materials by means of "compensation products" lias broken down;-and the accepted solution of all difficulties, a victorious peace treaty, has-broken down also Few ever really believed' that the Neat- East could supply the. loss of oversea materials and markets; and anyhow, the .East is fast slipping, from their grasp. Consequently tney liave clutched . at the suggestion of a new way of salvation as a .drowning man clutches at a straw; and. all the .peace-by-agreement parties, and one . most important section of the Jingoes, are now falling over each : other in an affusive welcome to fhe League of Nations, as the only real solution of their ecorioinio troubles. According to this, solution, the .-League, . the greatest thing the world has ever plari- . Ned, is. to.be degraded into., a relief society for distressed. Germans. . Two lines of thought coalesce in the new. German 'plan:- the political league and an international solution • of -;:G©rmany's economic problems. The' history of the latter, is interesting. It began apparently with "an article by the Progressive deputy, Herr Georg Gothein, in the "Deutscher Aussenhandel" of .September 20, 1917, explaining that the way. to •oarrjr out the Reichstag resolution of no economic war, (July 19,1017) was to create a®: international tribunal which? should guarantee", to everyone in every country complete .'freedom of economic activity. , Gothein suggested many questions .to which •. his ''solution 6bould apply, but . did . not include the provision of raw . materials; . Tliia idea was,.mooted■;at the Hamburg Shipping Conference , of Novepiber 15 and 16, 1917, when Herr Huldermann, of the' Famburg-Amerika Line, suggested * that . an international pool for. the control- of. raw materials, would be vnluable, and Dr. Kovacs,' director of the Adriatic Line, said, that . the,idea-of international control and distribution of the raw material still available' Rafter the:, war'.deserved considera-. tion. The next suggestion .came ,from Professor von Schulze-Gaovernitz. ..Speaking in the Reichstag at the beginning of May, lie said it would be to the interest of 4 Germans.to declare their' readiness to. 'organise an international authority, that . would be charged, with; securing, honest of .the most-favoured-nation rule, ha assuming, 'in common with most Germans, that . the'„socurihg of general : most-favpured-nation treatment : was one of, Germany's most, important war.aims, : and that she would.! thanks to ■ the military position, be able-to isec'tire it. That lie had recently been advocating the fullest Mittel Europa customs union did not -trouble the professor. The way was now prepared . for Dr. Dernburg's- proposal, made on May 19 in the Vienna "None Freie Presse,'' for an "International Distribution which should, put ,the whole world on ratiet's of raw materials,. every 'country being induced, or if necessary -compelled, to .deliver large -quantities of raw materials for distribuby tlio commission to' all countries according to .quotas to be fixed; he called it "a league oi nations for supplying the world «w;ith the'. raw. material it needs." How the' commission was to coerce recalcitrants he did not explain; presumably a victorious Germany was to :arrauge that in the . peace treaty. Dernburg. himself,, v in the "Berliner Tagoblatf of June 16, inclined to abandon his own scheme and range himself' with-tbose who .believed that .salvation would come from the East, ilia plentiful supply of peace 'treaties on' the model of those of Brest and-Bucharest. But his scheme found certain, adherents among the few who,still supported the Reichstag resolution; notably Hen- Arthur ■Feiler, of,the editorial,:board. :'of..- tho "Frankfurter Zeitung." ' .. Jn a iseries •. of articles' in ' that journal. in Jiinb, Feile/ • argued that the whole economic, question was too big. to be solved otherwise than internationally, and'.relied for support on reasonable people" in Britain—the ordinary German phrase for pacifists; he quota! a statement by Herr Ballin of the Hamburg-Amerika: Line, that .-n andispensable .peace" condition must be that, immediately after the war, the supplies of raw. materials: aiid food available in foreign countries for export should be «iatributo<l on equal terms in'proportion to the amounts which-each conntrv imported in .1913, and he added the important suggestion that the idea of an economic league was:bound up with the idea of a political league;, ' There, prior to -September,. the matter, stood; international distribution of raw materials and internation guarantees most-favonred-nation treatment, were beiiw.-ad-vocated unofficially, but only .'by a few. "Mittel Europa." . Th oi Government meanwhile, secure in its belief, m. victory, was. following quite other lines. In tho treaties with the Ukraine, Russia,: and Rumania it had not merely imposed upon those countries the obligation to Supply-Germany with oertam materials; it.had oompelled them to fall m with, a scheme its had long' cherished, and to exempt-Germany's economic relations, with Austria-Hungary from the operation of any future'most-favoured-nation arrangement. In July the Mittel Europa negotiations '.with Austria-Hungary began at Salzburg; and though it was soon evident that tho idea of a complete. Customs union between the two. empires was, abandoned, a mixed system partly of preferential tariffs and partly of free trade seems to have been under discussion. . The German Government hoped-at this time to be able at the peace to • impose on the Western Powers terms somewhat similar to those of the Eastern treaties, that, is, to make, it- a condition that they -should give Germany most-favoured-natio'n treatment whilo. Germany should exclude her relations' with Austria-Hungary, from the most-favoured-nation. : clause, thus enabling Germany both to maintain Mittel ' Europa (in its modified form), hnd to secure her world-trade: outside Mittel Europa. Obviously nothing but complete victory could. carry siich a -'.plan through; .and it was with'confidence in victory that at'various: times various Peonle .in office—von Knblmann: Dr. Helfferich,, von Korner, of the Foreign Office—had' referred to the Russian and Rumanian _ treaties as valuable pre : cedents, which it was honed to extend to future'peace treaties. : Then, with'almost dramatic suddenness, it dawned upon Germans that before them lay, not victory, but defeat. .. . Up to the i moment when they had to faoe defeat Germans, had thought little about the League of Nations.' If alluded to it was in,the spirit of Count Hertling, "with a sceptical smile," Occaindividuals, like' HeiT Theo.dor Wolff, of tho "Berliner Tageblatt," or ..Count Montgelas, .. might ; discuss it; otljerwise it was treated merely as a .British tnok for camouflaging a futuire economic war. Even the . article with . Tr ? "-^ r ° r( l Deutsche - Zeitung'' i •if rather startled Germany by admitting that the league 1. ad become °f, the great world ideas," also insisted that Britain was linking the idea of the league witb the idea of economic war. oi'. as, Dr Hoetzsch put it in tho 'Kreuz.Zeitung ' (August H), attempting to make it a holy alliance for the economic oppression, of Germany." But atthe. beginning of September," when defeat could, no longer be disguised Germans suddenly found 6alvat.ion. ' Thev discovered'that the league really did bear on tho question of economic war, though not as a. British trick; it,wouldexclude economic .war between its members. It was vital for Germany not to have an economic war, and no way out had appeared,, if Britain and America chose. Now a way offered The league forbade economic war; therefore, join the league and escape, Britain and America would be bound by their own. declarations. It .was so simple, and so naive. A Rush for Shelter. On Septembej- 1 two important pronouncements appeared. Count Montgelas, in the third- article of his series in the "Berliner - Tageblatt," said that Germany should endeavour to joii the League of Nations, otherwise .the dreaded economic

boycott' might- become a reality, On the same day Herr Stresemann spoke at Rostock. Stresemanu is leader of the National Liberal Party ; historically Bismarck's support in his wars cf conquest, and in this war a whole-hearted war party. At a party meeting on September 23, 1917, it had rejected the Reichstag resolution of July 19, and demanded nn "extension of power" both East and West, and indemnities. Now Stresemann gave his party a lead it was to follow by declaring; that economic war and the League of Nations could not go together. Soon there followed an even more important . pronouncement, from a member of the present Government. Prince Max had talked about the League of Nations in his speech of August 23, ■ but had drawn no economic deductions. That was left for Herr Erzberger, author of the Reichstag resolution, and to-day a Secretary of • State. Erzberger took up the two "theses to which reference has heire ■been made —the,, political league which will forbid economic war among its- members, and international distribution and guarantees—and.combined the two into a now set of proposals. His draft constitution for a League of Nations was given in full'from his book by the jingo "Vobsische Zeitung" on September 21 The economic clauses declare that members of the: league shall miituafly grant one another economic equality of right m all territories .under their, sovereignty, aiid universal and reciprocal most-favoured-nation treatment: ■ but the important thing is clause 23, which provides that for ten years the surplus products which each league State possesses shall be . divided between the other league States . according to a standard to be fixed by. special agreement, based upon the importation-of 1913 in' the-individual States and in accordance with the .special requirement produced by the war economies. That is, the League of Nations is to be an instrument for--supplying'"and. indemnifying Germany. Germany being now notoriously empty of raw materials. The importance attached by Erzberger to these clauses i,s 6hown by an interview published in the "Berliner Tageblatt of 'September' 6, of what be calls the four corner pillars of the league, three are economic. To the Allies, of course, the league is a political instrument , for securing, the'world's peace. Party resolutions quickly followed. On September 26 the "Nord Deutsche wrote that; delay would bo dangerous, because the Anglo-American idea was _ gaining ground; and tliero was little delay. On the .28th , the "Kolnische.. Zeitung pubI Hshed a new programme of the National Liberal Party;, while still demanding I close political and economic-union of tho Baltic-lands and Lithuania .with Germany, it professed to welcome the League 'of Nations on the ground that an econ-1 i bmio war must now he excluded as incompatible with' the • The # gxeat i importance of this volte-face lies in the fact that the National Liberal le the I party of the big industrialists, the war t profiteers; they thihlc that it -is time to ; take cover. On October, the B&Tlmer. Tageblatt" .published a new; programme of the Reichstag parties, declar--ing' their readiness to join a League of Nations whose aim (inter alia) should be to safeguard free economic; development for all peoples,, and should guarantee an open, door - for economic intercourse between all nations ;.ancL Liberals havo accepted .this programme. There, for .the.'-moment, the natter stands; but a great*, deal more wuLbe heard of the German version- of the league. For it • is; now apparently the \Government programme, the Government of that Germany which levied commercial tribute :on Russia,* Rumania, -and the . Ukraine, abolished the. international j highway-of the Danube, and tried to set J up a kind of Mittel" Eiirqpa, which was , to be exempt from the operation'of that moet-favoured-nation clause for which Germany .now doniands . international guarantees. T.ru'e, was not the present .Government.! But Prince Max-s Govern-ment-has not'.repudiated (the treaties made by, its predecessors; it. ijtill derives benefit from them, and will cling to them to the last. Meanwhile the same power which- made' - and unmade - Kuhlmann, which made and may unmake Erzberger, remains. . .. - , i ■Such is a slight sketch: of the very transparent manoeuvre ,which is going to play a big part in the German attempt to secure. peace'. How Britain. regards tho question,can be seen in .'the speeches of Viscount Grey and Lord Robert Cecil. Briefly, while the league: must ultimately include Germany, Germany lias a great many things to do before.she can be admitted. In case, there should' be trouble over doing them, Britain holds in reserve an irresistible: weapon, .the economic boycott. But within the League of Nations itself, once Germany is fit to be admitted and ;is .admitted tliero will be no economic boycott, save that wielded by tho league.