REPARATIONS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18746, 27 December 1922, Page 5

REPARATIONS

RHINELAND AND THE RUHR FRANCE’S PROPOSAL. ESTABLISHMENT OF CUSTOMS BARRIER. Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyright PARIS, December 25. It is learned that France renounced her intention of occupying the Ruhr at an extraordinary session of Cabinet, over which M. Poincare presided. According to a high authority alternatively the French will propose the establishment of a Customs barrier between the Rhineland and the Ruhr and Germany without annexation, thus reserving military intervention for the protection of Customs controllers, who will be representatives of the other Allies. The correspondent understands that such a Customs levy is the only manner by which France can hope to be paid. The Matin’s Toulon correspondent says that orders have been received directing a number of engineers to prepare to proceed to the Ruhr Valley to supervise the coal production should France decide upon occupation.—A. and N.Z. Cable. AN ECONOMIC CONFERENCE SENATOR BORAH’S EXPLANATION. WASHINGTON, December 25. Senator Borah, in a statement explaining the reasons for his resolution suggesting an economic conference and showing how radically he had changed since 1919, when he declared that under no circumstances must America enter European entangling alliances, says: “We are interested in the reparations question, because we are interested in the payment of what Europe owes us, and because we want the European markets open for our farm products. Millions are hungering, and dying in Europe for products which are rotting on our farms. Shall we say that these matters do not concern us?’’ The statement concludes with this warning; “If we do not go to Europe now we perhaps may be compelled to go to Europe later, but in the manner of 1917.”—A. and N.Z. Cable. THE BORAH RESOLUTIONS. OPPOSITION BY SENATORS. NEW YORK, December 25. (Received Dec. ( 26, at 8.50 p.m.) The New York Times’s Washington correspondent states that other senators, including Senators Smoot and M'Cormick, have come out against the Borah resolutions. The correspondent understands that there will be a conference of Republican senators, including Senator Borah, with President Harding, this week, at which the situation will be discussed and Senator Borah urged to modify his iesolution to a point where it will merely suggest to the Administration that th : s country should aid Europe, but that the specific policy be left to the President. There is every Reason to believe that unless Senator Borah accedes to this request the resolution will be defeated, since under the Senate rules It will require a two-thirds majority to ensure its passage. Senator Smoot said: “We know in advance what the European nations want, ..and if we called a conference and then turned down the requests the situation would nob be improved, and the United States would be placed in a false position.” Senator M'Cormick said that more important to the rehabilitation of Eurone than any conference was the exorcism • of the spirit of hate which animated the Governments and peoples. There could be no real peace for Europe unless the peoples were moved by the Christian will to peace and Christian comity.—A. and N.Z. Cable. GERMANY’S INDEBTEDNESS. AN AMERICAN PROPOSAL. NEW YORK, December 25. The national secretary of a league which during the war aided the Government extensively in the maintenance of the national morale, has submitted to President Harding and Congress a plan prepared by members of the league with experience in international affairs, for the settlement of the reparations question. The chief provisions of the plan are the creation of a federal reserve in the foreign banks of the United States with branches in Berlin, with authority to issue gold secured on the dollar currency in Germany, which would be available for transactions in gold of internal and external commerce, and the acceptance of Germany’s proposal to pay 12,500,000,000 dollars reparation to the Allies, Germany at the same time to pay the Allied debt to the United States, which now totals another 12,500,000 dollars.—A. and N.Z. Cable.