The Evening Star TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 1920.

Evening Star, Issue 17367, 1 June 1920, Page 4

The Evening Star TUESDAY, JUNE 1, 1920.

&e recent announcement that the question of reparation -will be j Reparation discussed at' the projected Claims. Conference at Spa has - merely revived the desire , among the Allies for a substantial share [ of Germany's future payments. It does I not provide solid guarantees of certain f payment in full of all the Allies'. claims I -which were accepted, with many mora stiff ! penalties, by Germany's sick plenipoten- | tiaries at Versailles on Juno 28 of last year. It has to be recognised that a '. valiant faith is still the main baais of the various claims. Much of that faith -will, it i* to be feared, be dissipated in hard , facts. . Indeed, the renewal of discussion on the matter of making Germany pay, together with th-3 (significant arinounoemsnt that, as far as Britain is concerned, tho Dominions are to be consulted, is not by any means a good portent. It suggests a dilution of the original demands. Exactly a y*ar ago . the question of reparation deeply agitated the Paris Peace Conference, there being much the same conflict of opinion among the various delegations as to the ability of Germany to pay . as there has since been among the' critics of the Peace Treaty in all countries. There was, of course, 'an overwhelming pressure of political optimism—some men • even anticipated the joy of waving on an ' electioneering platform a cheque for , -£loo,ooo,ooo—bat in" the clamor there was I also the depressed note of the pessimist f who could not see any prospect at all of ■ ; substantial indemnities or reparation payj merits (for the Word indemnities was really : i ruled out by the Peace Conference). I the/ OTtimista b&thtnx jray .aa.far -an top,

viding for substantial reparation on J pape; The Eeparatiqn Section of the Treaty was endorsed by all the Allies, and a fairly definite understanding was reached as regards the distribution of Germany's' gold. It is quito clear, however, that the tenta'tive arrangemsnt must go amongst the saddest of all ' things—" it might have been." Take Canada's claim, for example, amounting in the aggregate to 1,870,000,000d01. There is no hope whatever of Canada receiving a third of £375,000,000, And if Great Britain, Australia, South Africa,. New Zealand, and India, to say nothing of smaller British dependencies, base their respective claims 1 for reparation with Canada's thoroughness ! of detail, the Empire's total bill would be out of all proportion to the full amount claimed by the Allies from Germany, whose Government, so far, have not shown eagerness to pay anything at all, though in some things (particularly as regards the provision of seeds for the devastated areas in France and Belgium) they have actually executed the terms of the Versailles Treaty. Then France is clamoring for the sum of sixty-six milliards of marks for reparation. ' Doubtless that is considered quite a modest claim, in view of the fact that the official estimate of the total damage in the North of France alone is 64,500,000,000 francs. It were futile to attempt a full estimate of the war damage suffered by all the Allies.

The British Dominions will have to face tho fact that their share of Germany's payments must be very meagre. Indeed, their statesmen will probably be very happy if their share equals the capital cost of their annual war pensions. It is extremely doubtful that even as much as that will be obtained. Before Germany ca*ft be made to pay even a moderate proportion of amounts stipulated in the Versailles Treaty she must be helped by the Allies to resuscitate her paralysed re'sources. Germany knows quite well that the great war strength of the Allies has been now weakened to the bonds of sentiment, and even these are in places partlystrained. The, Spa Conference may require to go very near to a material revision of the reparation terras of the Treaty. All things considered, the Dominions' prospects in respect to reparation are not particularly bright. How could it be otherwise? Conquerors have trifled with their victory.