The Dominion THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1929. A PORTENTOUS MEETING

Dominion, Volume 22, Issue 120, 14 February 1929, Page 10

The Dominion THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1929. A PORTENTOUS MEETING

It is probably well within the mark to say that the discussions now proceeding in Paris between representative international financial experts on the subject of the German Reparations . may produce results of profound significance to the general economic situation both in Europe and beyond it. This Committee of Experts has/been instructed to draw up proposals for “a complete and final settlement of the reparation problem.” Its findings will be largely based on the facts set out in the Report of the Agent-General for Reparations (Mr. Parker Gilbert) for the fourth year of the Dawes Plan, which ended on August 31 last. . . , . The Dawes Plan was a transitional arrangement, designed to enable Germany to recover front the financial collapse, precipitated uy enormous currency inflation after the War, to facilitate the reconstruction of her finances and. industrial resources, and to meet easily and punctually the annuities fixed under the scheme of reparation payments. When the Plan was adopted there were , many who doubted its practicability. Actually,, it has more than justified the anticipations of those who believed in it, and converted the sceptics. The scheme provided that the amount of the payments shouk increase annually for four years, when they would reach the full standard total of £125,000,000. The position was then to be reviewed. No-definite total for the . actual liability was fixed, but at present it stands nominally at £6, 600,000,000, the amount adopted by the Reparations Commission in 1921. - . During the four years of its transitional operation, nnportan. political and economic changes have developed in Europe. The States have stabilised their currencies, the Inter-Allied War Departments have been funded, Germany has become a. full member of the League of Nations, and is a signatory to the Locarno Agreement and the Kellogg Peace Pact.- All these are contributory factors to a reorientation of views concerning a final determination of the amount Germany is to be asked to pay in full settlement of the Reparations Indemnity, and the method of repayment. - “ On the purely financial side it is pointed out that Germany ■during the four years of the Dawes Plan has raised foreign loans aggregating £350,000,000, mostly borrowed in the United States. She is now finding increasing difficulty in attracting foreign Investors, who are inclined to hold back until the whole situation has been clarified by the Report of the Committee of Experts. It is now the general opinion that the determination of this question is the last serious obstacle to the definite stabilisation of the political and economic situation in Europe. z Germany, naturally, is anxious- to obtain the most favourable terms of settlement, and has been pleading that her ability to pay the annuities under the Dawes Plan has been largely due to the indulgence of the foreign money-lenders. On the other hand, Mr. Parker. Gilbert in his report says quite distinctly that “no question can fairly arise, in the light of practical experience sb far, as to the ability of the Budget of the Reich to provide the full amount of the standard contribution (£125.000,000), under the Plan.” . '. . Much -will depend upon the attitude of France as to whether Germany’s application for easier terms will be granted. The British view is that reparations are not desired as such, but merely that they, will suffice, together .with the payments received from.our Wai Allies,, to meet our American War indebtedness. France, on the other hand, expects in. addition to the sums required to liquidate her War debts to Britain and America, substantial payments in respect of the cost of reconstructing her' war-devastated areas. That is the kernel of the problem which' the Committee of Experts is now discussing.