SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 1919. GERMANY AND REPARATION

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXVIII, Issue LXXVIII, 14 June 1919, Page 4

SATURDAY, JUNE 14, 1919. GERMANY AND REPARATION

If a pack of criminals without warning burst through the doors of a private citizen's house, maltreated the occupants, carried away by force whatever suited them, and generally turned the place upside down, leaving tEe owner and some of his family maimed and helpless; and if the unhappy citizen found a strong friend who came to his aid, at length cornering the adversaries and forcing them into the position that they would have to surrender or be exterminated —would there be any sensible person who would object to full justice being done when the time for settling up arrived? The criminals, everybody would agree, should be made to restore as fully as possible the goods which they had stolen, and to provide the means for replacing those things which they had destroyed. It is but justice, people would say, and they would feel no pity towards the guilty. So it should be with the Allies' attitude towards the Germans and their allies in crime. They "hacked" their way through Belgium, part of France, Serbia, Roumania, sparing nothing, not even the lives of women and innocent children, for they poured out upon the occupied territories all the furies of their wrath. But they were warned that there would be a day of reckoning, that they would be charged with their crimes, and be made to pay to the uttermost farthing for the ruthless damage which they were doing. Still they continued to the end of hostilities their mad policy of destruction and murder. Shall they not be thoroughly punished, if it take decades? There are unfortunately signs that the lapse of time since the deeds which shocked the world were committed is causing many people in the Allied countries to forget, and there has been a lack of unanimity among the Allied representatives at the Peace Conference on the clauses in the peace terms governing reparation. Happily they have been overcome, and. there are to be no great alterations in the treaty. The Inter-Allied Commission spent many hours in drawing up the reparation demands. It was finally decided that the amount of compensation would be determined by a commission of the Allies in two years after the signing of the treaty. Within that period Germany must surrender gold, ships, and goods to the value of £1,000,000,000, and she must issue bearer bonds to the same amount to the Allies as a

guarantee. Later, at intervals, further bearer bonds to the value of .€4,000,000,000 must be issued to the Allies; also certain demands for the supply of fixed quantities of coal must be carried out, Germany to be credited with the valuel of the coal against the compensation claims. S©me of the

demands Germany can no doubt meet without serious difficulty, but the payment of the £5,000,000,000 worth of bonds, which must be made within thirty years, is a tremendous task, for to that amount has to be added interest on the bonds and the cost of the Allied army of occupation. But the Reparation Commission, with full details of Germany's resources at hand, must have given the matter very thorough consideration, and, enormous as is the demand, we can assume that its payment is within the bounds of possibility. No doubt this is one reason why M. Clemenceau, who knows what it is to live for years under the threatening shadow of Prussianism, is so firm in his attitude. Germany demanded an indemnity of £200,000,000 in gold from France after the FrancoPrussian war, and that great sum, despite the grave internal crises through which the French passed, was paid in three years. Germany has a much greater population than France had, and her resources are very large. If her people deny themselves many of their former luxuries and the whole nation applies itself to paying for its crimes against those whom its military machine oppressed, it should be able to make the payments demanded. However, it will not do so unless it is convinced that the Allies will use force —the only method Germans appreciate —if it attempts to shirk its obligations. It is hoped that the Allies' representatives will cling firmly to tke terms they have already decided upon, for if Germany can find any sign of weakening we may be sure she will arrogantly refuse other demands until she has whittled down the terms one by one to a point far below what justice demands. Germany's newspapers are already beginning to show signs of alarm at the results which will follow a refusal to sign, and there is every reason to believe that peace will be signed if the Allies maintain a united front.