NORTHERN ADVOCATE DAILY With which is incorporated the NORTHERN MAIL DAILY Registered for transmission through the post as a newspaper. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1921. GERMANY PROTESTS.

Northern Advocate, 3 February 1921, Page 2

NORTHERN ADVOCATE DAILY With which is incorporated the NORTHERN MAIL DAILY Registered for transmission through the post as a newspaper. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 3, 1921. GERMANY PROTESTS.

Tlie German outburst of protest against the terms of reparation fixed by the Allies' Council is exactly the kind of thing that everyone must have expected. Ever since the Allies began to discuss peace terms Germany has seized every possible occasion to whine and complain, and up to the present she has not fulfilled her obligations in the way of disarmament, the transfer of live stock to the neighbours whose flocks and herds she lestroyed and the surrender of coal and ships. Now that the amounts of the money payments required have been finally ascertained the chorus of protest has been promptly raised again, and the cablegrams during the past Few days have shown that the newspapers and public men have at once begun the peculiarly German task of seeking pretexts for the evasion of the national obligations, Apparently the first criticism f i:i Berlin of the Allies' decisions was nngry and defiant, then the newspapers dragged out once more the story of Germany's inability to pay, and finally they began to raise points of order, accusing the Allies of failure to observe the terms of the Versailles Treaty, On Tuesday, for instance, we were told that German financiers and economists questioned the validity of the Allies' decision on the ground that the Ger. man Government hud not been given an opportunity to be heard regarding the reparations, as provided by Article 233 of the Treaty. This, of course, is a 3nere quibble. It ia provided in Article 233, which is an important part of the section dealing with repara- ; tions, that the total obligation of Ger- j many to pay is to be determined and . notified to her, flftev ft fajr hearing, not later than May 1, an IniorAllied Separation Commission, which will concurrently draw up a schedule for securing the of the entire obligation within a period of thirty years irom the date mentioned. If Germany has failed to discharge the debt within thai perio.l any unpaid balance may be postponed to subsequent years or arranged for in some other way. The Allj.es have anticipated Germany's failure to pay within the^

thirtv-ycar period; that is to say, they have decided tit the outset to oxtond j the period of payment. The German i complaint, however, is t! al the German ! Government has not been heard. Undoubtedly it has been heard, for the ii:iancial experts who wore appointed to udvise the Allied Governments made the fullest investigation of Germany' 3 position before they drew up their rerecommendations, upon which the Allies' Council acted. The Germans, no doubt, would like to 00 heard again; whatever amounts the Allies had lixed the German authorities would havo been ready to make t'.iir protest. 111 view of the claim that lhe Allies have not followed the prescribed procedure i.t is interesting to note that the Treaty provides that the proceedings of the Reparation Commission are not to be bound by any particular codes or rules of law or of evidence, but "shall be guided by justice, oquity, and good faith.'' Among the duties categorically imposed upon the Reparation Commission is that of examining the German system of taxation, "first, to the end that the sum for reparation which Germany is requned to pay shall become a charge upon all her revenues, prior to that for the service of dis- | charge of any domestic loan; and se. eondly, so as to satisfy itself that in general the German scheme of taxation is fully as heavy proportionately as that of any of the Powers represented 011 the Commission. ' This will give an indication of the nature of the duties laid upon the Reparation Commission, which had to make very searching investigations before it could assess the extent of the claims to be justly made by the Alii- s. Yesterday some of the German critics found a new ground of complaint. They propose that the Allies should Le asked for an exact statement of their losses, as Germany will not pay an arbitrary amount, without knowing how it is calculated. In the terms of the Treaty, however,

Germany has accepted the responsibility of herself and her allies for causing all the loss to which the Allies and their nationals were subjected "as a consequence of the war imposed upon them by the aggression of Germany and her Allies." This in locates clearly enough that the Germans have no

right to demand details, nor have they any light to "take pait in the decisions" of the Allies. lhis is expressly stated in the Treaty. The Germans apparently still fail to realise their position. They were .he beaten side in the war, and the Allhs had the right to make terms. They have been very considerate in their dealings with Ger. many, and the Germany still lacking the change of heart that their defeat should have brought about, have tried to take advantage of the Allies' generosity. It is to be hoped that today's statement that the Allies will simply communicate their demands to Germany, forbidding negotiations of any kind, is based on good authority. It is time to treat the Germans with a measure of severity.