MARKS TEN 'A" PENNY

Evening Post, Volume CIV, Issue 49, 26 August 1922, Page 7

MARKS TEN 'A" PENNY

INDUSTRIAL KAISERS BLAMED

QUESTION, OF R&ARATIONS. A ' ■ ■ ' (FBOH Mm OWN COIMSPONBISI.) LONDON, 13th July. * The exchange value of the German mack hie dropped ,to about a tenth of a penny, and all the other European exchanges are wavering in critical- uncertainty, -which paralyses .trade transactions. '■■ - ■■' . ■''< :. - ' Much of the controversy that jages both in Germany and in England touching' the former's economic condition and her ability to p4y reparations, writes a Berlin corretpondeat, arises from a confusion of terms. To talk of Germany being bankrupt is ludicrous in face oi her vast wealth, present and prospective. She has her factories, her houses, her railways, her public works, and W agricultural lan 4, all. untouched, by the war. These are« not dead assets.' They are only too obviously aliv« and productive, ikr people ara fully employed, not only in the actual production of manufactures, food,, and other commodities, but ■ also jn the construction of great public works that wiE increase Germany's pro, dnction in the future. German economists do not dispute this fact, but they make reservations. They say, for "instance, that because Germany Is being forced to export coal for reparations her industries are hampered., But these qualifications merely emphasise Germany's growing wealth. She . cannot pkad_ bankruptcy on the ground of insufficient assets. MORATORIUM DES^RE/P. ■ The increasing gravity of Germany's financial situation hag led the German .Government to discuss with the Allied ... fnjancial' experts the possibility of obtaining a moratorium, and Treasury offi- : ci*Js have been sent to Paris fUt pave the -way for a formal move. The object is to have the reparations payments due ■in 1922 wwead ov«r a longer period, thug 'giving Germany a breathing space in

which to stabilise ha currency and economic situation. The payment due on 15th July is> however, aesured. ■ Since last week -end there bas been a slight ■ recovery of the mark. The rate touched the low-water mark of 2458 "■marks to the £ sterling, > but since it has risen to 2285.' ! ' In the meantime, M. Poincare has expressed hiß readiness to discuss with Mr. Lloyd George and other Ministers the financial crisis. It is said, however, that! he is "averse from the method of: dealiug with the question by_ a meeting bi the Supreme Council, whioh is surrounded with a flamboyant publicity. The situation is . considflreif to be such, that heroics of any kind would be particularly ill-timed. Heir Schroder and Herr Fischer are consulting with members of the Reparations Commission in Paris. They have approached these members individually and unofficially. There is no doubt that the representatives of Germany are greatly embarrassed and are not , prepared to make any suggestions until they have taken counsel with the Allied delegates. !: Nevertheless, it is' certain (saya the Paris correspondent of "The Times") that a comprehensive and complete moratorium •wall be demanded. It is held there that to do anything that will precipitate-the crash would pc unwise. This attitude,' with all its implications, reveals a somewhat different- approach towards the problem than would have beenl possible only a, few months ago. There is, in fact, acme 'sympathy with the German Government, although it is considered that the! most unpardonable imprudence has been shown, and that the ' great.German industrialists have been allowed to mock their own Government and tho Goyemmente of the Allies. , The State, it is. said, .may collapse, but certain magnates have assured their own prosperity, i ■'• •,•;... '. .. ■' i. A DELICATE PROBLEM. j The difficulty of the problem lies in putting pressure upon tie German Government in order that, in ite turn, it may put pressure upon those who have speculated on the fall of the mark, and 'have placed their holdings in securities. The nature of that pressure is not, however, defined. Much stress is laid in Paris upon the need of control, but what control is now possible is left nebulous. While a period o£ confusion and upheavals is foreseen, -the French official ■view is that given, the character, of the German,people any effective revolts are likely to come from reactionaries rather than from revolutionaries. „ The "Evening . News" quotes Dr. Bircks, Professor of Economics ; at Copenhagen University, on the subject. The professor says bluntly that these German capitalists are playing . a long game of patience,. bluffing Europe and their own people. "Who, he asks, "is j able to hold oat longer than the other fellow?" Will Stinnes and his financiers/ or the industrial groups and their financiers in the world outside bold oat the longer? When German capital has tired Europe of the reparations question.' the professor says, and hag obtained the favours she wants, then German finance j will buy back the mark and it will j climb; and meanwhile Germany's trade will have been re-established. Thai is, in brief, the. hard truth about the crisis I which the be-kind-tb-Germany party' is trying to exploit. ■ r THE OBVIOUS FACTS. '■>' 'On the face of things,',' says the "Evening Standard," "a great industrial country like Germany, with her productive powers much less impaired by war than those of France, ought to have no difficulty, in meeting the ' small paymenta she now declares impossible. German^, 'ereryI'traveller tefli'^usy is" a y hive of industry, and there is a vast deal of luxury spending.' Germany is a land of new millionaires. Germany is a land of relatively low; taxation. Germany is a land of reviving militarism. Ia it unnatural that both the British ar/8 French peoples should need a. great deal of convincing .that Germany cannot meet her jnat debts? Is there no brain capable of cool diagnosis ox of practical, •ovice as to remedial measures? It is, we, think, certainly not one for a hasty .remission of obligations. But it is decidedly one for clearer, steadier, and more unprejudiced thought on the part of the Allies than has ever been given to it.'l-. / - ■ ..■■''■'.•■■.• ''■' '