GERMANY'S BILL.

Auckland Star, Volume LII, Issue 26, 31 January 1921, Page 5

GERMANY'S BILL.

£1 U3G0..000,000 WANTED. PAYMENTS SPREAD OVER 42 YEARS. I j SUCCESS OF THE CONFERENCE. j (By i.atue.- I'ress Association. —Copyright.) PARIS. January 2V j The inter-Ulied Conference ended today in an agreement regarding < ler.manys reparation. The new formula adopted is as follows:-- ■ ! Germany shall make forty-two an-! i nual payments dating from May, 19:21, j I totalling £11,300.000,000. The first: | two payments will be of £100,000.000 leach; the next three will be of £150,000.000 each: then will follow three | payments of £200J 100,000 each, three of j £250,000,000 each, and 31 of £300.000,000 | each. The Allies will also receive 12J per cent of aJI Corn—n exports. There will be no lixed sum which Germany! shall finally pay. Britain's share will be -2 per cent, amounting in the aggregate Ito —.4Sti,uoo,ooo. The penalties proI vided for non-fultilmont of the rcparaj tion terms include seizure by the Allies iof the German customs, i The situation was critical on Friday | afternoon. Mr. Lloyd George threatening I to leave immediately for London, but! Lord d'Abcrncn intervened and secured I J certain amendments to the French plans. ! j The agreement will be transmitted ] j direct to the German Government with-j | out discussion with the German dele-' j gates in Paris. A conference will be held | in Ixjndon on February 2S, to which Ger- | -man representatives will be invited. j The Allied delegates before dispersing | | expressed by resolution their conviction | I that close union is as necessary for the! j preservation of peace as it was for the i winning of the war. and their determination to allow nothing to impair it. 1 M. Briand expressed, on behalf of I j France, great appreciation of the success |of the conference, which, he said, had I succeeded by mutual concessions. Mr. Lloyd George said: "We have I indeed good reason to* congratulate ourselves upon a remarkable achievement,! which has been largely due to the ad- j mirable way in which if. Briand has pre-' I sided. Although he assumed office only I j a fortnight ago he has shown the great- | est skill, knowledge, and ability in quid- ! | ing the deliberations. It has been my j | painful duty to criticise what he said on ' • several occasions, but I did it for his; good, and because of my affection for him. with what good results we now see." The "Temps," commenting on the result of the conference, says: "Germany ] needs peace. We hope she will recognise the necessity of fulfilling her obligations voluntarily, and that she will also have : the courage to grasp her responsibility.'' The "Debats" says: "The principal cause for rejoicing at the results of the • conference is the maintenance of Allied • unity, which no living statesman dare • disturb." The "Intransigeant" hails to-day as a i good day for France, adding: "It is a step forward on the real road to peace." The "Liberte" comments: "Mr. Lloyd j George with profound political wisdom brought about concrete decisions, while M. Briand achieved a grand success." British Press correspondents, claim that the result is a triumph for Mr. Lloyd George, as the formula general!y corresponds with the Boulogne agreement.—(A. and N.Z. Cable.) THREATENED TO PACK UP. (Received 11.30 a.m.) i LONDON, January 30. It is freely rumoured that Mr. Lloyd • George told M. Briand that unless he disavowed the proposals of M. Doumer, 1 the French Minister of Finance, the ' British Delegates would pack up and go - home. Mr. Lloyd G-eorge repeatedly declared in the course of Thursday's pro- ■ ceedings that it would be impossible to 1 continue the negotiations on the basis' of M. Doumer's speech. He insisted that < the Boulogne agreement must form the . foundation for the settlement of the reparations question, and declined to admit that the new French Cabinet was not bound by the preceding Cabinet's engagements.— ("Times.") DISARMING GERMANT. PARIS. January 30. _ The military experts have furnished . reports to the Supreme Council on Ger- ) man disarmament. Jt is understood r that they recommend that Germany shall . be given until July to disband and disr arm her civil troops, and shall immedit ately surrender a large quantity of war _ material. i The inter-Allied conference decided i that the penalty for non-fulfilment of ) the disarmament conditions shall be 7 Allied occupation of the Ruhr region, , extension of the period of occupation of ? the Rhine territory. and refusal to aßow 1 Germany to join the League of Nations. » A further conference will be held at -j Trieste shortly, to which the small t nations of Central Europe will be invited r for the purpose of reaching an agreei ment reeardinp Austrian affairs.— fA. 3 and KZ.Cable.) M. Doumer, in his speech last Wednesday, sugge= + ed that Germany should pay nearly douole the amount agreed upon at the Boulogne conference last June. He urged that Germany should be compelled to increase her postal, telegraph, and railway rates, and thus make good the deficit. The German taxpayer should | pay the same amount in taxation as the French taxpayer, and regular taxes - should be imposed for the payment of i, the indemnity.