REPARATIONS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 17030, 2 May 1923, Page 11

REPARATIONS.

FACTORS IN NEW OFFER. By Telegraph—Pre«s AsßOcintion—Copyright Australian and N.Z. Cable Association. BERLIN, May 1. Tt is now considered doubtful if the Note will be -despatched before the week-end. The Federal States’ deliberations on Tuesday may easily ex, tend over two or three days. A more .-igmfiennt factor is the eleventh-hour intervention of President Ebert. He, after giving most serious attention to Lord Ourzon’s speech, left matters largely to Herr Cuno. and during his absence from Berlin bis communications with Herr Cuno were mainly made by telephone. President Ebert’s emergence is due to the arrival in Berlin of .neutral p-orsonalities from Paris, v. lio have stated that while French opinion is desirous of an understanding, and M. Poincare was not disinclined in this direction, no settlement was possible which looked like the defeat of Kiance. President Ebert believed that by influencing the Note strongly to j ihe view which these personalities conveyed. France would be likely to accept. Herr Cuno was feverishly busy during the week-end. He held conferences with the Ambassadors, including Mr Houghton, who is said to have received . momentous communication for Washington. which will be among the recipients of the Note itself. There is reason to believe that Italy, through its Ambassador, advised the omission of the Ruhr evacuation issue from the Note entirely, or alluding to it in terms which would suggest the advisability of reaching an unclerstandBoth Berlin and Paris are indulging in a” orgy of speculation respecting the contents of the Note, but all of this i - valueless. Paris opinion, however, is firm on one point, that the Note will be unacceptable. Foreign opinion, it is said, should be prepared for the failure of the German proposal, and for a continuation of the present situation for some time to come. There is an uneasy feeling on the Bourse, attributed to the probability of this summary rejection of the offer. Financial circles contemplate another shake-up of the mark, but cherish the hope that if politicians fail, a solution may be found by French and German industrialists. The Bourse uneasiness has been increased by the Reichsbank announcement that more of its gold is being sent abroad, and that it lias already pledged for borrowing purposes a portion of its gold reserve in foreign banks, to the value of 50.000.000 gold marks. A further cause of disquietude is the publication of the fact that new paper money to the value of ‘258.000,000.000 marks was to be issued in the third week of April, bringing the face value of the notes in circulation to 6096 milliards.