The Daily News. MONDAY, MARCH 26, 1917. PAYING THE BILL

Taranaki Daily News, 26 March 1917, Page 4

The Daily News. MONDAY, MARCH 26, 1917. PAYING THE BILL

So far, although there has been wide speculations as to the terms of peace which will be .dictated by the Allies, there has been no aefinate statement on the subject, although.the French Premier, M. Briand, and -Mr Asquith have both explained the broad principles upon which peace must be based. These have been summed up by Viscount Esher, in a paper published in the December issue ot the National Review, in the phrase "Reparation and Preparation—Reparation for the injury done to the States, great and small, that were forced into I the war; Preparation, by means of territorial regroupment, of financial security and international sanction against the possibility of a recurrence, for some generations, of a war forced upon Europe by the megalomania of one people." Reparation, Viscount Eslier explains, in his very interesting paper, "includes not. only reparation for damages inflicted in every invaded land, but the repayment of all expenses incurred by the Alliies on account of the war." To obviate delay and ensure against premature competition by Germany in the markets of the world, it is suggested that repayment Bhould, as, far as possible, be made in kind. Thus, the French say that, immediately on the cessation of hostilities, all plant and furniture and works of nrt, destroyed or stolen, should be replaced by plant and furniture sent from the towns, villages and art galleries of Germany. Where as in Northern France, mineral production is for the time suspended, an equivalent amount of minerals should be handed over from German mines. Every ton of shipping, and. every ton of frsight destroyed* Bhould be made good, the former from. German shipping now laid up in home and neutral ports. The first object, with the Allied nations, 6hould be to reestablish their means of production and export, from the day that an armistice i 9 declared. "If not," says Viscount Esher, "the German plans, long laid, are bound to fructify, and German' goods, accumulated in large stocks for the purpofse, will be dumped down on the martSt of the World, while tko gold so'badly

needed, will flow straightway into Gorman coffers. Damage that cannot be made good in kind will have to be paid for in cash, and the amount; added to the cost of the war, for French sentiment and French logic demand that the debts of the Allies, and the cost of the war, 'shall be liquidated at the expense of those nations who forced it upon Europe." That is the French view, and to ensure the reparation thus out-lined, Viscount Eshcr adds that French financial authorities insist, '"first, upon complete accord between the Allies; and secondly a unification of all claims and liabilities." ( Viscount Eslier does not pretend to do mere than give expression to the views of the distinguished Frenchmen who have looked into the financial side of the war, and the possibility of obtaining from the Central Powers financiers, who, he says, "argue that all losses and expense caused by the war in the Allied countries plus the sums demanded from the Central Powers in reparation, should I form one grand unified total, which should take the form of a, single loan or stock. Any attempt, they assert, to act otherwise would inevitably bring about in the majority of the Allied counilries a I financial crisis, the effect of which cannot be estimated. .... Even if the sum total of the cost of the war and the damages caused by the enemy amount to the figure that renders payment by Germany impossible during many years, Europe, will find compensation in the inability of Germany to recover strength for revenge or aggression. A Caisse de la Dette, composed "of representatives of the Allied Powers, would receive every penny of the annuities chargeable to Germany, and its functions would be to divide the sums received in proportion to the various claims of the Allied nations, \ancl to credit each Ally with such amounts as were due but not | forthcoming. These annuities would, the. French authorities maintain, form part of a security upon which each allied country could raise, pro rata, a loan that would also receive the collective separate and proportional guarantee of all. It is assumed," Viscount Eslier says, "that the value of such a security "based on (1) the German /annuities, (2) the signature of an allied country, (3) the common and proportional guarantee of the Allies, would be such a high character, so gilt-edged, that it would be sought after and readily exchanged for other ■securities with less substantial backing, provided that the rate of interest was not below 6 per cent. More reartirj would this paper be sought after if the State banks were authorised to lend up to SO per cent, of the security in question. Such a loan would also facilitate, say its advocates, paying off creditors, neutrals and allies, where territories have changed hands." If Germany failed to fulfil her financial obligations' during the earlier years of slow recovery from the disaster of war, she would (Viscount Esher adds) remain the longer in bondage, for the annuities due and not paid would be added to the total of indebtedness, and thus postpone the day of her final liberty. . . •■ The German people would have to work in order to live and pay their debts and work hard and long, and many years would pass before Germany would be able to re-establish a financial and military position that would enable her to threaten once more European peace. Germany would, of course, have to find guarantees and security to satisfy Ivor creditors, but that is regarded as "a by no means impossible task." But, whether she makes reparation in this way, Viscount Esher says, "depends wholly upon the unity of objectives and the cordial co-operation of the Allied nations."