The Daily News. THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 1919. GERMANY'S LIABILITY.

Taranaki Daily News, 5 June 1919, Page 4

The Daily News. THURSDAY, JUNE 5, 1919. GERMANY'S LIABILITY.

Paced with the inevitable Day of Reckoning, the Germans are violently squirming and protesting against footing the bill. They waged war on what they considered was a certainty of victory and huge spoils, but the gamble went j against them and they must abide by the consequences. At the re- ' cent general elections in Britain the Government went to the country with a pledge to make Germany pay. Their return to power ■ by an overwhelming majority nel cessitates the fulfilment of the f pledge, in which the whole of the . Empire has a direct interest. The i ends of right and justice will not be attained unless Germany is made to defray war damages as a 5 matter of necessity, and war expenses as a proper punishment. Nj matter whether the German authorities are obdurate or not ov:r 3 signing the peace terms and carry ing them out, nothing but obeying the will of the victors will sufficj, otherwise the great moral lesson of ( the Allies' victory will be of no ef • peat, as the still olaim ;

I they are undefeated and invincible. There has been a lot of frothy ravng about slavery, but those Germans who adopt this tone are apt to lose sight of the fact that if the Allies are compelled to occupy Germany owing to the defiance of the authorities, and to take possession of Germany's resources, the people will be compelled to work or starve, while the Allies' expenses will mount up by leaps and bounds; therefore, to resist the present terms will be suicidal policy. The Allies have a painful but imperative duty to per form on their own account, for posterity and for the safety of world-wide democracy. That is why there must be disarmament, reparation and restoration, added to which the Allies have every right to be relieved of the heavy war taxation caused by German criminality. No indemnity that Germany could pay would compensate for the loss of man-power, which may roughly be stated as follows: Death roll of British Empire, 872,000; France, 1,061,000; Italy, 460.000; Russia, 1,700,000; Serbia (killed and wounded), 322,000; Eoumania, 100.000; United States (estimated) 28,000. The war has probably cost Great Britain one fifteenth of her men of from twenty to forty-five years of age, actually dead, apart from those permanently disabled and maimed—a drain that can only be replaced gradually. The Reparation Commission set up by the Peace Conference estimated the bill against Germany at £24,000,000,000, which is practically the cost of the war to the Allies, to which may be added the £2,000,000,000 necessary for defraying the cost of repairing the wanton destruction wrought in Belgium, France, Italy, Servia and Roumania. As to Germany's ability to pay without becoming bankrupt there is not the slightest question. Her gold reserve may be as much as £150,000,000, wherefrom immediate initial payments can be oade, while, after allowing for de preciation, her foreign securities may be assessed at £500,000,000. The Allies are unwilling to bleed Germany financially to death, bul are ready to spread the liability (with interest) over a period of years, whereby iwo objects will be attained—Germany can recuperate on sane, peaceful lines, but thera will be no margin for military expansion. This process would leave something between fifteen and tweity thousand millions to be accounted for in other ways, which are indicated to be the control of coal, potash and other resources. The loss of Lorraine will seriously restrict Germany's iron, and the loss of Alsace will break down her virtual monopoly of potash, but she will still have the potash of Saxony and the richest coal deposits in Europe. It should also be remembered that Germany helped herself liberally to the coal of Belgium and France, and left the seized mines flooded and wrecked, hence the justice of making her deliver large quantities bf coal to the Allies as quickly as it ean be mined. It is only right that Germany should remain poor until her war debts are paid, and it is but justice that New Zealand and the other Dominions should be relieved from the weight of their war expenditure, the money being urgently required for development purposes. Under the terms imposed on Germany one-third of her coal, seventy per cent of her iron ore and twenty per cent of her potash are to pass to the Allies, principally to France, but partly to a reconstituted Poland. Germany's coal resources are estimated at 422»356jDQ4(X)Q tcui& Md

her iron ore reserves at 1,2t0,000,000 tons. Not the least significant:, feature of the restoration of Lorraine to Prance is that it draws the teeth of German militarism more effectually than any other single term of the.treaty, as the remaining iron fields are quite incapable of serving Germany's munition factories during' another great war, and that is why it became necessary for Britain, and America to undertake the safeguarding of the French frontier. Germany can pay and should be compelled to pay. President -Wilson's fourteen points may, be ruled out as a factor in the settlement of peace terms. It suits Germany's object—escape from punishment for her crimes—to continually wave these points before the Allies, but it does not alter the justice of the terms one iota. Germany still claims to be a law unto herself, and hopes to begin her trade where she left off. In this she is doomed to disappointment. When she has discharged her liabilities and become a reliable democratic nation matters will be different, but even then there should exist a repugnance to trade with a nation that has outraged all the canons of civilisation and humanity. The duty of the moment is to make Germany pay, and there should be no swerving from the obvious path in this direction.