Evening Star Newspaper, November 4, 1923, Page 7

" ALLES FARAPAR * NPARLEYSTAND Tardieu Sees Little Hope for New Move to Fix Ger- man Capacity. BY ANDRE TARDIEU. By Cable to The Star. PARIS, November 3, —Once again it has been proposed that a committee of experts study Germany's capacity to pay. That has been done many times since 1919, but &till not everybody agrees just what such a study means. It is an old story, now continued, and to understand this new chapter we must freshen eur memo- ries concerning earlier ones. At the peace conference all agreed that, considering the total of the Ger- man debt and the necessity for spread- ing the payments over a long period, any examination of Germany's paying capacity was useless. Even those who, like the Americans, wanted a definite figure named in the treaty, did not suggest that such a figure could be sclentifically established. Consequently it was decided that the reparations commission should, befare May 1, 1921, fix the amount of Germany's debt at the total of dam- s/ incurred. When, in April, 1931, fhiy amount was fixed at 132.000,000, 000 3z0ld marks the gbvernments re- a it more than half by adopting London schedule of payment by devising the famous which neither b of maturity, and could scarcely be estimated at movre than fifteen billions in actual value, as compared with their face -value of eighty-five bil- lions. This operation was only an in- direct wa of reducing Germany's lebt appeal to the principle of “capacity to pay. France and Britain Differ. Since then the guarantees commit- tee of the reparations ssion, then the re self, acting moratorium: pittes the gove cannes in Ja in Augus r uary, , have re-examined this problem_without ever reaching a so- lution, England using the supposed capacity for payment as an excuse for fyrther reductions and France maintaining that this amount was fixed' once for all and could be d minished only in proportion as the | Interallied debts were diminished. | The situation today remains the| same as ever. And as all seem agreed to form a ommitte of experts, named by the reparations commis. slon, to examine again into what Germany can pay, the old divergence between France and England appears as wide as befor Prime Minister Baldwin speaks of a 'settlemen meaning a final fixing of Germany's obli; fon. It seems that Sccretary Hughes had the s some months ago when he proposed the coonference of experts toe . wi Lord Curzon referred in his a of October 11. On the contrar: n Poincare rejects this ite: general- settlement. He maintains that since the German debt Is fixed definitely the new committee can only study German pr ng ca- . pacity—t make a schedule of Germany’s payments for a briet period, ag the reparations commission has often done in the p Limits Hurt Conferemce. Under such conditions, bond nferences at at London speak | frankly, we may well ask what good purpose such a conference can serve, | and whether, indeed, its work will not have to be suspended on the very day it meets. This means, as the writer has constantly maintained, that Amerlca’s intervention, in any | form whatever, risks being entirely useless so long as prior agreements have not been reached among Ger- s European creditors, v stipulating that the proposed nference be purely advidor: tary Hughes refused to make the American government &n umpire be- tween London and Paris. It is only too obvious that between ¢the extreme views expressed by Lord Curzon last spring, and by Gen. Smuts and Pre- mier Baldwin, more recently, on the one hand, and the attitude afirmed | by Premfer Poincare every Sunday | on the other, there is not, at least for the time being, any posible com- promise, | Saying this may disappoint cestain hopes founded on' the British pro-| posals and their acceptance with res- | ervations by France. But why d My Victrola and | r interest nor date ! imm commission put the Ruhi Geyser in Sea Spurts Oil and + Flames 2 Hours BAKU, Azerbajan, November 3. Due probably to shifting strata in the Caspian sea, an ‘unusual phenomenon in oil wells was no- ticed recently near hege. ‘A gey- ser suddenly began erupting from the sea, twos miles oft the coast, and during two hours of activit§ spurted at a height of seventy feet, throwing off “stones as well as oil. The eruption was accom- panied by flames. On the spot a small island formed after the “gusher” died down WIDE-OPEN BREWERY ~ SEIZED BY DRY FORCES By the Associated Press. TOLEDO, Ohio, November 3.—Thou- sands of gallons of 4 per cent beer in half and quarter kegs were seized by federal prohibition agents under H. A. Dykeman, who raided the General Prod- ucts and Storage Company, formerly the Old Home Brewery, here early to- day. 4 Federal men s ing operated the s Volstead days. The federal men the brewery was be- me as it was in pre- ay the brewery was being operated by ominent Michigan brewery, which is also making beer in Dykeman says the same brew- was arrested in Detroit the officials s were made. e ourselves with illusions and hold out hopes of a settlement when everything indjetes it is hopeless? Parley Will Be Futile, If the committee of experts meets it will encounter the same obstacles 8 the bankers' committge of 1922, and will end, like -the -latter, in a resolution of impuissance. To take only one example: How-can we con- celve that the French government. Which declared it occupled the Ruhr by virtue of a reparations commis- sion decision that Germany had fatled to meet her obligations, will consént to have a committee delegated by oceu- stion? It is certain that S soon as paying capac: ply “Ruhr. tion in q me expert ity is mentioned, will All of the British policy during re- cent months indicates this Nobody can think that France, as a preliminary to examination of Ger- many’s paving capacity, will allow the evacuation of the Ruhr to be discussed. After ten months of pas- sive occupation the seem at last on the right track, as is shown by the agreement with the Wolff. Krupp and Stinnes groups. Thes payment, and we cannot consent to abandon’ them. For years we have been vainly dis- cussing capacity of payment without discovering a means of payment. would be folly to abandon this means, {at last obtained, on the pretext of discussing a new hypothesis of capac- ity to pay. pa Al the Kiddieslove '| Barber Bills Shop No other place like it inWashington BB 25, TME Aot aToonTs in Makes It Easy g Pioneers of Small Payments | Style 215 ............. 3 10-inch 75c Records .. | 3 10-inch Red Seal double face record i < $2.25 +-.$4.50 2 12-inch Red Seal double face records. . .. .$4.00 You can make your: select $160.75 ion or combination of records amounting to $10.75. You pay $10.00 cash, balance to suit gour convenience. Other styles. of machines in similar com- ination. Franco-Belgians | agreements create a method of | 1t | 5 ) - THE SUNDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, Tory Defeat in Britain Seen In Age-Old Free-Trade Issue Lloyd George Expected to Make New Bid for Premiership When Baldwin Goes to Country on Tariff. SRR E e PR A The announcement has taken the liberals by surprise. They did not bvelieve tRat the comcervatives would Lloyd George's return to Englana |dare offer them this most favaroble after his spectacular tour of Amer- | battle Issue. It is true the condition lca assumes new interest in view of | Of trade and unemployment seem to Prime Minister Baldwin's announce- | provide & favorable atmosphere for ment at Plymouth that the govern-|reviving the tariff controversy. But ment intends to go to the country|the liberals are confident that, de- ith a protectionist polic: spite unfavorable conditions,” the BY A. G. By Cable to The Star. LONDON, November 3—David GARDINER. Ghe Economy Corner 7th.and H.Sts. NV D. C, NOVEMBER 4 1923—_PART 1 country will stand firm for free trade. Where Joseph Chamberlain falled, Stanley Baldwin is not likely to succeed. Critics are astonished that the pre- mier, with a sound majority and the prospect of three or four vears of life for his government, should risk | all on a gamble for protection, whic has been a losing horse for the torles on every occasion it has been run, Liberals Are Elated. i The liberals naturally are elated. ‘They see the prospect of a great re- vival of the party under the stimulus of_its favorite tonic. But what about Lloyd George? Officials of the liberal party are hostile to the idea of recelving him | back as leader. They regard him as the chief author of the misfortunes | of the party, which he broke up in| order to set up a coalition and rule with the ald of tory votes. With the dissolution of the coalition and the repudiation of Lloyd George by the | couservative party, he aimed fo re-, cover his status of influence in the | beral ranks. So far he has failed. He hak Been cold-shouldered by the Asquithian liberals, That was his popition When he safled for America. But he sails back under qulte a different sky. Premier Baldwin has given him a chance fer new life.’ The premier has raised an issue which obliterates all domestic quarrels in the liberal camp, and it is expected Lloyd George will seize the oppor- tunity with boti hands, There is some doubt whether he has ever been a convinced free trader, and he notoriously flirted with the idea of imperial preference, which means a tax on food. But he is a man of versatile principles, and every one expects that on lanaing he will make & great bid for the leadership in_an attack on the Baldwin policy. Such a proceeding will make it aifficult for official liberals to refuse assoclation with him. They will be stampeded by the party in the coun- try, which will demand that minor issues be dropped to face Stanley Baldwin's attack on the ark of the liberal covenang. Lloyd George's political luck Vs proverblal, and Premier Baldwin has raised a flag | separatist movement which wlil send him singing all the way across the Atlantic. Denounejng Polueare Popula Moreover, another factor works in his favor. His denunclation of Pre-| mier Poincare brings him into line with the overwhelming liberal opin- fon and, indeed, the opinion of the country as_a whole. Gen. Smuts speech on France has given an enor. mous _impulse to the hostility to M. Poincare. The news coming through about the infamies of the in the Rhine- ! land amd the appalling conditions in the Ruhr are creating a profound feeling of Indignation throughout the country. The government's formal in- timation to France that it will not recognize the Rhincland republic is the first decisive step of antagonism yet taken. Premier Poincare so far has disclaimed responsibility for the separatist movement, but it is no- torious that the movement was en-| gineered and financed by France. Will France stop the infam: or adopt it? 1t she does the latter, the situation of the British troops in Cologne will | become critical, for Cologne must be | the key position of a Rhineland re-! public, and the inevitable squeeze on the British zone will raise immediate issues of a vital character between the two countries. Meantime M. Poincare has put tl proposed _operations inquiry .into straight jacket. Nevertheless the di<- position here is to proceed with it, | the hope that American participatios | will make it worth while. (Copyright, 1923.) POLISH GENERAL DENIES INSTIGATING POGROM NDIANAPOLIS, Ind., November lling attention to reports which said had been circulated in this coun that he is gnti-Semitic and that once had been the “instigator of a po grom” in Polund, Gen. Josef Haller of Poland issued a statement here foda making a ‘“‘categorical denial of all such —C issued Army tatement was luncheon given by U Club In honor of the Polish gener. who came to the United States guest of the American Legion 4 now on a tour of the United at 1 and Nav TThe’ Storefi of Big Savings | Our policy of buying for cash and selling for cash means that we always i sell for less—and as in the case of the present big purchas_e—we went cash in hand—bringing away the prize values of the season. —we buy and give you this remarkable e of High-grade Dresses remember this occasion as offering the most astounding valués'in Dresses of exclusive authorship— at From $15.00 to $25.00 They’ve been developed along T most effective lines—smart girlish models for the 135 Included are— Canton Crepes Canton-back Satins Velvets Satin Crepes Tricoknits Poirets Tricotines Crepe de Chines young lady—and matronly effects for those of more conservative taste. But their high-grade character is emphasized in every detail of material and making. Our Bargain Basement Is a Huge Success 5 H i i i i i hich more than At the opening on' Fridsy—and again yesterday—the new Basement Salesroom was thronged with eager buyers—seeking the prominent bargains—w - met theirexpochfio:: Among the many specials for Monday are these three sensational bargains— $10 and $12 ‘Wool DresSes' . $19.75 Fur-Trimmed Coats Velours, New Plalds—rogular and extrs mizes. $12.85 New $10 Silk Dresses Canton Crepe, Crepe. de Chine, Charmense, etc.—in pleasing $4.89 new models.