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About The Omaha morning bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 1922-1927 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 1923)
Bad Faith Cause of Ruhr Invasion, Sullivan Asserts French Refusal to Accept 14 Points Fixed Penalty at Point Germany Could Not Pay. (( on tin end From Fag* Out.) points*, and the principles of settle ment enunciated in the subsequent addresses" (Ineluding the address from which the limitation quoted above is taken ) This correspondence between Ger many and Wilson had. as soon as both sides assented to it, clearly the nature of a contract. And in this contract the definition and limitation of reparations quoted above was an integral and essential part. Turns Correspondence Orrr to Allies. Up to this point President Wilson had been acting for the United Slates only. He now turned the correspond ence over to the allies and their mili tary advisers. These made two, and only two, changes. One, whiph is not i elevant here, was a reservation about that one of the 14 points which refer led to freedom of the seas. The other, which is not merely relevant, but is the very heart of the whole question of reparations, read as follows: "In the conditions of peace laid down in his address to congress on ihe 8th of January, 1918. the presi dent declared that invaded territories must be restored as well as evacuated and made free. The allied govern ments feel that no doubt ought to be allowed to exist as to what this pro vision Implies. By It they understand ihat compensation will be made by Germany for all damage done to the civilian population of the allies and to their property by the aggression of Germany by land, by sea and from the air." Formal SI a lenient Constituted Contract. Let me repeat again, and empha size, these last ?6 words from the formal statement made by the allies of what they would demand from Ger many, which statement the Germans accepted and on the basis of which they laid down their arms: ", . . ail damage done to the civilian popula tion of tlie allit-s and their property by the aggression of Germany by land by sea and from the air.” These words are given the empha sis of repetition because, in the judg ment of the writer, it is incontrovert ible that these words constituted a contract of tlie most sacred kind be tween the allies and Germany, and that once Germany had accepted this condition and in reliance upon it had laid down her arm* the allies could not thereafter change the condition without clear violation of their honor, ('barge* Violation By I.loyd George. So far the course of events is clear. But immediately thereafter the prem ier of Great Britain. I.loyd George, took a step which was the beginning of all our present troubles, a step which was, on his part, a plain viola tion of the armistice contract to which he Was a. party. I.loyd George immediately after the armistice called an election in Great Britain and, having called it, set out to win it for himself. While the cam paign was on there arose through out (treat Britain two demands on the part of the people, then exulting in their recent victory. One was that the kaiser should be hung (This was the popular way of expressing it. Some time it was put in the words. "Shall he be put on trial for hi* life before an impartial court?”) The other de mand was that Germany should be required to "pay the entire cost of the war. including the pensions for British soldiers." Xow, as to both of these demand*. T.iovd George well knew they were impossible. ITe knew’ that tlie kaiser could not be hung nor put on trial for hi* life, for the eufficent reason that the kalaer, a* it waa been stated facetiously by on# English writer, "was in the position of the Justly celebrated hare." The kaiser had first to fee caught. The kaieer had taken sAhctuary in Holland and Lloyd George knew, ns well as every other person with knowledge of interna tional law and of ail the circum stances knew, that Holland would not surrender him to the allies and could not be made to surrender him, except hy military force involving a viola tion of international law such as the allies would not commit. n*mand Would Exhaust Wealth of Germany. A* to the second of these demands requiring Germany to pay the whole cost of the war, including pensions for soldiers, Lloyd George know that this also was Impossible. He knew It was Impossible becAuse the aggre gate would be very much more than all the wealth of Germany, lie knew it to be impossible—or certainly he ought to have known It to he im possible—for another reason. He knew that this demand could not he made on Germany with honor on the part of the allies. He new the terms of the armistice, and knew that those terms, as already quoted here, defined what Germany was to pay. and that this definition excluded anything like pensions for British soldiers. Lloyd George was conscious of all this and was uneasy about it. Know ing this, he held off from assenting to these demands on the part of the British public until two weeks before the election was held. But the two demands, put Into the form of popular slogans, kept resounding all through Kngland. The exploiting of them waj augmented by the newspapers be longing to T/ord Northcliffe, because Korthellffe was at that time a political enemy of Lloyd George and was not unwilling to embarrass him. While Lloyd George personally was hedging and avoiding yielding to these demands, the less important members *>f his party, who were candidates for the house of commons, did not have his restraint. They made freely the promises which the British public de manded. Finally, just two weeks before the election took place. Lloyd George him self yielded to the pressure and made the promises on his own behalf. First Step in Bad Faith Tangle. Here. then, was the first step in all that tangle of bad faith and equiv ocation which has bedeviled the world for the past four years. The root of P Santrey Band to Play at Benefit Dance ' :=™=-!-■-C -.. 1 ... ■ Henry Santrey and his Symphonic orchestra, headliners at the Orpheum theater this week, who will play for the benefit dance and entertainment for the National Vaudeville Artists' sick and health fund, in the gold room at Hotel Fontenelle, Thursday night from 10 to 5. Other performers who are appearing at various playhouses in Omaha will assist at this entertainment. it all lies in the fact that Lloyd George came to the peace conference committed to two inconsistent prom ises. On the one hand he was com mitted by formal promise to the sup port of Wilson's 14 points and to the statement embodied In the armistice that the measure of what Germany should pay would he merely actual "damage done to the civilian popula tion of the allies and their property.” On the other hand, he was bound by a subsequent promise to the Brit ish people to make Germany pay the entire cost of the war, including the military cost, and including partlcu Iai4y the pensions to be paid to sol diera. I .loyal George Brings I p Krparations. When finally the peace conference got under way this subject of repara ttons came up. (It happens, by a somber coincidence, that it is exactly four years ago on Monday. January 22, that the subject of reparations was first brought up in the peace conference.) it was Lloyd George made uneasy either by his conscience or by his sense of impending embar rassment to himself—who. brought it up. He said it was time to speak of "reparations and Indemnity.'' At this instant President Wilson re. plied, according to the notes, in a way which shows that he understood Mr. Lloyd George's- embarrassment. The notes at this point read: "Presi dent Wilson suggested it might be well to omit tlie word 'indemnity.' " There, at that minute, was the birth of 'the word “reparations," as the term describing the amount Germany should be required to pay. They avoided the word “Indemnity" because that word implies punitive damages and they knew that Germany had been promised by the allies that there should be "no punitive damages." And the truth was that Lloyd George, | if he were going to live up to the sec ond of his promises by breaking the first, was going to make Germany pay ] more than "reparations.” Wilson un-! derstoon the distinction and limited ' the phrase "reparations," which de scribes merely the repair of actual ' damage done. However, while tlie others assented to the word, they die! ] not give up the substance. One is reminded of s phrase from Tallvrand: "The chief business of ! statesmen is to invent new terms for institutions which under their old names have become odious to the pub lic.” Wilson Holds Out for Reparations Only The subsequent debate withia the 1 peace conference is too long to re j peat here in any detail. It is suf ' fioient to say that tVilson, as well as i Ml ids American advisers including i Norman Davis. Bernard SI. Baruch | and Vance McCormick, took the j ground that the phrase in the arml-i sties contract, "all damage done to ! the civilian population of the allies \ and their property.” could not be in j terpreted to include a demand on the j Germans to pay the whole cost of the war. nor the soldiers' pensions. I.loyd George, with one watchful eve shifted backward toward the Kr.g lish people, insisted that pensions should be included. The controversy came to a head at a moment hen Wilson personally was on the ocean and the Americans sent him by wire less a long message setting forth the entire situation. Wilson responded J immediately, directing the American | delegation to stand its ground and, j if necessary, to dissent publicly from a course which was, as Wilson said, j "clearly inconsistent with what we deliberately led the enemy to expect ! and cannot now honorably alter sim-1 ply because we have the power." At this point some portion of the i blame—a very minor portion and a wholly different kind of blame, and yet something within the field of responsibility—shifts to the shoul ders of President Wilson. If Mr. Wilson had stood firmly on the po sition taken by him in the words quoted just above all the subsequent : trouble might have been avoided. In saying this it should he made clear that Wilson's responsibility is lim ited wholly to his failure to stjnd firm. The real responsibility lies on the shoulders of T-loyd George and. as will he explained in a moment, on the shoulders of the French. President \\ llson Yields to Pressure. Lloyd George and the others kept lip the fight. In the end President Wilson yielded. The reason for his yielding lay in what was, in the judgment of the writer, one of the most disquieting incident* of the peace conference. It hung around an action taken by one of the British delegates. Gen. Smuts of South Africa. Gen. Smuts was commonly held to be one of the most high minded, as well ss one of the most able, men at Pari*, tie was believed to share a good deal of the idealism of President Wilson— certainly to share it to a greater de gree than any of the other European delegates. President Wilson person ally had this view of Smuts and trusted him. Maybe it was because it wu known that Wileon trusted Smuts. What ever the motive or the reason, the fact is that Smuts was asked to write a brief on the question whether, un der the phrase "all damage done to the civilian population of the allies and their properly by the aggression of Germany by land, by aea and,.from the air." Germany could honorably he required to pay the pension* of soldiers. Smuts wrote the brief, and , wrote it to the effect that pensions should be included. On thte basis of this brief of Smuts’ Wilson yielded the point—yielded It over the energetic protests of the other Americans and of the Interna tional lawyers, headed by one of the Americans, John Foster Dulles, who objected strenuously that Smuts’ logic was fRlse and that the demand was unjustifiable under the terms of the armistice contract. French Delegates Had Similar Motire. Throughout all this the French stood with Lloyd George and shared equally with him the responsibility for the subsequent chaos. The French delegates <to the peace conference took their stand partly from a motive I I similar to Uoyd George's. They also i had led the French people to expect that Germany could pay and would be made to pay the entire cost of the war. In addition to this, the French had a second motive. They wanted to make the sum assessed against Germany as large as possible. It did not matter to them that the sum was very much greater than Germany could possibly pay. From their point of view the larger the sum charged against Germany. regardless of whether Germany could pay It, the better would France be served. For the French wanted to put Germany in a position which would he a kind of bondage to the French. They want ed the reparations to be fixed at ao large a sum that Germany would be unable to pay for many decades. Tbe French hope was that during all these decades they could, by means of this claim against Germany, keep her po | litieally and economically Impotent. This wish weighed greater with the French than the wish for actual cash. American Plan Better for France. On tit# attitude of the French it is a convincing and striking fact that France would have been tastier off. fi nancially and economically, to stand with the Americans on the letter of the armistice contract and keep the reparations down to "actual damage," For the most of the actual damage was on French and Belgian soil, and on this basis the great bulk of the reparations received would have gone to France and Belgium. The inclu sion of pensions, on the other hand, would permit Great Britain to come in for a considerable share of the rep arations and would to that extent low er the sunt that France would get. But the thing that France wanted more than she wanted reparations was the opportunity to keep Germany dcwn for many years to come. President Wilson and his advisers passed days and weeks vainly en deavoring to convince the British and French that it waa to the interest of the allies—even from the business point, of view, to say nothing of the point of honor raised by Wilson—to fix a reasonably definite amount that Germany could pay and that they could afford to have her pay—some such sum as $10,000,000,000 to $20, 000,000,000. In thla they were unsuc cessful. and In the end the reparations were left in the shape which has caused all the trouble. A skin suture that leaves no un sightly sears In surgical operations has been invented. Tbe new suture is called "equistene” and is made by treating silk with chemicals so that the tissue cells eannot penetrate the meshes of the silk. I C. J. Dolan Joins Union Outfitting Co. C. J. Dolan, formerly connected with the Dolan and Shield* Furnl ! turn company and a recornlred au C. J. Dolan. thorlty on fur niture, ha* Joined the ataff of the Union Outfitting com pany of Oma ha, it was an nounced yes terday by of ficials of the company. Mr. Dolan has had a wide experience in ; the furniture ; game, and is familiar not on-1 ly wlth,problems of merchandstng. but also of manufacture. He has made a special study of furniture designs, representative of all the major peri ods. and Is considered a competent authority In thia branch of the trade. He will begin his new duties imme diately. Railroad Brotherhood Officer Finds Work Plentiful Fremont. Neb., Jan. 20.—(Special.)— A. F. Whitney, vice president of the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen of America, declared today that condi tlona In railroad employment are far better this year than they were laat. "For the past year we have had thous ands of men out of employment," said Mr. Whitney," but a big increase In business has made work for all of them at the present time." Whitney arrived in Fremont to in spect local conditions. At aorne places in the union the demand for train men is greater than the supply, the union leader stated. American Legion Notes Membership campaign of Douglas county poet will open January It. A din nar will he held for campaign workers Tuesday evening The post executive committee will mast Tuesday evening. February « Disabled veterona o fthe world war will be guests of tha post at a smoker and buffet luncheon next Tuesday evening. Fruit, candy, emokea and magaitnes were distributed laat week by th«* auxiliary's hospitalisation commute# to the following service men In Omaha hos pitals : Lord I.later—Jenni# Devine, visitor; Howard Gau of Cincinnati and Edward Burdick of Omaha. Wise Memorial—Mrs. A. H. Mayer, vis itor; William Demorataky of Omaha St. Joseph—Mrs. William Mettlen, vis itor; W. A. Maxwell of Omaha, Roy F Thompson of Omaha H. J. White of Chicago, Russell Gandy of North I’latte and J. \V, Ilritton of Omaha. t'nlverakty-—NLra Carl Kraus visitor; Pimo Rpcoanor of South Omaha. M. K Rlcgal of Fuller, Neb., and Leon B. L*ezu The adjutant want* tha addressee of the following Sam Seseto, Herbert A Bunker, Mathew s Slater. Paul J. Au/.ler, Theo dore A. EMopouloa. Gustav* N. Nelson, W. IT. Epson. Edward Harry H Brown. J. Robert Gill, J. J. Htreuwlng. Oacar It Pennington, Joseph Stramek, Aaron B Austin. 11 E Amleraor.. A. J. Atkina. Louie Aubley. Ralph B Barksdale. Walter E. Beckl y. Conrad L. Buddeck**. John William Buach, f'harlea C)., Campbell. Keith M. Cavers, l.inn V. Chappell. James B. Cornelius. Morton Pegan. Adam L. Pojucltl. Milton C. Dudley, Wayne Ear bart, James D. Edwards, James T. Farmer, James B Foster. Edward S, Furay, George W. Granakes, A. V. Hlslop, Frank M. Hanson. George S. Jeneen, R. T. Kimball, W. B. Kirllcks. Charles Kucera. Raymond F Low, Floyd Mason, Frank J. MrKeon, Oliver K. Merwln, Ro land E. Moyers. Fred W. Millner, Harold Moffltt, Sam Pappas. Jamea R. Palmer, Clarence Patton, George Richardson. George J. Pet rot, A. W. Prince, A Rit tenhouae. Alfred L. Roberta, Harry F. j Roulfa, J. L Rowe. Julius C. Raltna. W. , B. Sayler F. Smldt, Frank Reeky, Harry j F Stegner,. Gustave H. Self. W. B. ; Selby, Harley J Shaw. Reu»! A Shoff. W. P. Stafford, Clyde A. Smith. Nenephon P. Smith. Joseph Stanley. Melton G. Tegor, Alex O Thomas, Lloyd Thomas, Howard 1 >. Vore. John J Wahl, Frank G. Weber, A. B. Witten. Frank H ' Wright. Steve Zamlnskv. W. H. Bengal, j r Huffman, Joseph Stanley and Joseph* Harter. Built to Master a Mountain! New Motor Has Power For Any Hill or Pull No Knock, “Ping” or Vibration at Any Speed PIKES PEAK MOTOR Touring Car *1395 F.Q. IVClrvrlind i The ultimate blend of atl that is desirable in the car at a price that is surprisingly low. Deepened seats, refreshingly long, low, graceful lines. A masterful performer on any toad. Hw h—p i Chummy Sedan *1695 F. O. B. 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