FROM MARCH 23 TO APRIL 23
GERMANY AND REPARATIONS
Expert Committee Reports Published.—On April 9 the two expert committees on German finances delivered their reports to the Reparations Commission. Copies were at the same time supplied to the press and published on April 10 (For full report see N. Y. Times of that date). The two reports may be summarized as follows:
(From Time, April 21.) No. 1 Committee (Chairman Charles G. Dawes of Chicago), whose task was to stabilize German currency and balance the German budget, recommended:
- Institution of a single gold bank with central office in Berlin, which with the exception of the State banks of Bavaria, Wurttemberg, Baden, Saxony, shall be the sole bank of issue in Germany. The capital to be $100,000,000, part of which is to be raised in Germany and part abroad; the gold reserve to be at least 33 1-3 per cent of the capital; the bank to be governed by a German Managing Board and a General Board of fourteen members: seven Germans and a member from each of the following countries: Belgium, France, Great Britain, Holland, Italy, Switzerland, the U. S. The German Government to be debarred from issuing bank notes.
- Payment of reparations, costs of armies of occupation and other treaty charges to be met by Germany from taxation, railway earnings and industrial debentures. Payments to be fixed on a sliding scale, starting with $250,000,000 (cash and deliveries in kind) and rising to a standard payment of $625,000,000. A system of supplementary payments, based on an “index of prosperity,” to augment the sum of $312,500,000 for the financial years of 1929-30 to 1933-34; thereafter the supplementary payment shall be added to the standard payment of $625,000,000. (In December, 1922, the Conference of London fixed the total of reparations at $33,000,000,000. No. 1 Committee of Experts made no recommendations concerning the total amount of the Reparations Bill, nor were they required to; it was presumed, therefore, that- the above total still stands. Under the experts’ plan it will take Germany at a rough estimation, about seventeen years to pay off her $33,000,000,000 bill.)
- An international loan of $200,000,000 to ensure the successful establishment of the gold bank and to cover internal payments on account of reparations for the financial year 1924-25.
- German railway system (about 33,000 miles) to be controlled by a specially created corporation, capitalized at $6,500,000,000 by the issue of mortgage bonds. The corporation to be governed by a board of directors of eighteen members, half appointed by the German Government and the public, and half by an Allied “Railway Commissioner,” who is to be “a person accepted in the railway world as being in the front rank,” whose duties are to be fixed “in considerable detail.” The net revenue from the
railway is expected to surpass $250,000,000 per annum the whole of which is applicable to reparations payments.
- German Government to mortgage German industry and provide guaranteed debentures to the capital value of $1,250,000,000, the debenture stock to be handed over to a trustee to be appointed by the Reparations Commission, who shall apply the proceeds to reparations payments to the Allies. The income from this source is expected to be $75,000,000, or six per cent interest.
No. 2 Committee (Chairman Reginald McKenna, head of the London Joint City and Midland Bank, previously Chancellor of the Exchequer under Premier Herbert H. Asquith), had as its purpose to compute the value of German capital exported abroad and report on the means of “repatriating” such funds. The main findings of No. 2 Committee were:
- Estimation (in the face of enumerated difficulties) of the total amount of German capital abroad as about $2,175,000,000. This is made up of
Mean amount of capital abroad by Germans..........................$1,500,000,000
Foreign Currency in Germany.............................................. 300,000,000
Real Estate and securities in Germany owned by foreigners .....375,000,000
Total ..............................................................................$2,175,000,000
- Inflation must be stopped permanently in order to prevent a further exodus of capital from Germany.
- No recommendations in respect to bringing back exported capital could be made, except that, in the opinion of the committee, “special terms be offered for subscription to government [German] loans made in foreign currencies” as an inducement to Germans to reinvest their foreign holdings. This committee was further of the opinion that, once a permanent financial equilibrium had been established, the return of exported capital would be hastened.
Action on Reports.—The Reparations Commission submitted the expert reports to the Allied Governments, for further action, and at the same time forwarded copies to the German Government. Germany in its reply of April 16 declared the reports “a practical basis for a rapid solution of the reparations problem. It is therefore ready to assure its collaboration in execution of the experts’ plans.”
Upon receipt of Germany’s reply the Reparations Commission decided to approve the reports so far as within its power, and to call upon Germany to submit drafts of laws, name, committee representatives, and otherwise prepare to carry out the measures called for by the expert plan.
In a speech on April 19 Premier MacDonald urged that the plan be put into operation “all at once and all together.” He expressed the wish to have Germany enter the League of Nations, declared that results could be obtained only by united action on the part of the Allied Powers, and objected to delay over details. It was expected that the French Government would insist upon an exact statement of guarantees and of penalties in case of German default before consenting to surrender German railways or to evacuate the Ruhr.
UNITED STATES
Japanese Excluded in Immigration Bill.—On April 14 the United States Senate by a vote of 76-2 defeated a proposed amendment to the Johnson Immigration Bill which provided for a continuation of the “Gentlemen’s Agreement” with Japan. Two days later by a vote of 71-4 the Senate approved the clause providing for practically complete exclusion of Japanese. This clause, which had already been approved by the House, provided that “no alien ineligible to citizenship shall be admitted to the United States,” with the exception of travelers, professors, students, and their wives or minor children.
The action of both the House and the Senate was taken in spite of an urgent appeal from Secretary Hughes that the matter of Japanese immigration be left for diplomatic handling. In his correspondence Secretary Hughes submitted a protest from Mr. Hanahara, the Japanese Ambassador, dated April 10, in which the ambassador for the first time made clear the terms of the “Gentlemen’s Agreement,” insisted that Japan had observed these terms, declared that the proposed bill would seem to involve the good faith and therefore the honor of the United States Government, or at least of its executive branch,” and ended with the statement to Secretary Hughes: “I realize, as I believe you do, the grave consequences which the enactment of the measure retaining that particular provision would inevitably bring upon the otherwise happy and mutually advantageous relations between the two countries.” The phrase “grave consequences” in this passage was interpreted in the Senate as a veiled threat, and hastened action on the bill.
The Japanese ambassador was subsequently authorized by his government to make a further statement to Secretary Hughes explaining his language and declaring that no threat was thought of nor intended.
The bill passed both houses, with July 1, 1923, as the date for putting the Japanese exclusion clause into effect.
In his letter the Japanese Ambassador cited figures from the U. S. Commissioner General of Immigration showing that in the years 1903-22 the total numbers of Japanese admitted to and deported from the Continental United States were respectively 120,317 and 111,636, or an excess of only 8,681 admissions, averaging 578 a year and including all classes of Japanese, such as' merchants, tourists, students, and government officials. Japanese laborers admitted amounted to about 150 a year.
Terms of Gentlemen’s Agreement.—The terms of the “Gentlemen’s Agreement,” as stated by Mr. Hanihara and confirmed by Secretary Hughes, are as follows:
- The Japanese Government will not issue passports to the U. S. for laborers, skilled or unskilled, or for their families, unless previously domiciled in the U. S. The definition of “laborer” is accepted as given by U. S. Executive Order of April 8, 1907;
- Passports are issued by a limited number of officials, under close supervision from the Japanese Foreign Office, and then only after exhaustive investigation:
- Issuance of passports to so-called “picture-brides” has been stopped by the Japanese Government since March 1, 1920;
- Monthly statistics covering incoming and outgoing Japanese are exchanged between the American and the Japanese Governments;
- The agreement does not extend to the Hawaiian Islands, but practically identical measures restrict Japanese passports to these islands;
- The Japanese Government exercises' further control over emigration of Japanese laborers to foreign territories contiguous to the U. S. (Canada and Mexico), to prevent their surreptitious entry into the United States.
Other Features of Immigration Bill.—The Immigration Bill, as it passed the House and Senate, contained the following main provisions:
- Limit of immigrants to two per cent of the foreign-born population of this country in 1890, or about 161,000 a year, and further limitation after July 1, 1927, to 150,000.
- Change of the quota base from the census of 1910 to that of 1890, thus giving preference to west and north European stocks.
- Exemption of wives, children under eighteen, and parents over fifty-five, of American citizens, but these to be counted in the total allowed to enter.
President Favors Another Arms Conference.—In a speech before an Associated Press luncheon in New York on April 22, President Coolidge reiterated support of American participation in the World Court and favored calling another conference on limitation of armaments.
(From N. Y. Times, April 23) : The President declared himself in favor of frequent international conferences like the Washington Conference in order to secure permanent peace throughout the world. He particularly urged the holding of a conference, after the German Reparation problem is settled, for the limitation of armaments and the codification of international law. He pointed out that the unsettled state of affairs in Europe had made it impossible to solve the question of submarine, airplane and land armaments at the time the agreement was made to limit capital ships. America’s power and responsibility, he said, fitted her to take the lead in calling such conferences when the time comes.
Mr. Coolidge reiterated his support of (he late President Harding’s proposal for the World Court, which he said was the most practical plan yet devised for a World Court. In another part of his speech he asserted his belief that the rejection of the League of Nations covenant by the United States was final.
He characterized the Dawes report, growing out of Secretary Hughes’s suggestion, as offering “a basis for the practical solution of the reparations problem.” The President urged private American capital to participate in the loan to Germany proposed by the Dawes report and emphasized the economic advantages that would accrue to this country, especially to the agricultural regions, from the rehabilitation of Europe, as well as the humanitarian reasons' why America should help Europe.
GREAT BRITAIN
Anglo-Russian Conference.—Consequent upon the recognition of Soviet Russia by Great Britain, the conference to take up trade and financial relations between the two countries met in London on April 13. In his opening address the British Premier warned the Russian delegates against propaganda during their stay, and spoke frankly of the requirements before lams or credits could be granted. After the second session the conference adjourned pending work by subcommittees. The attitude of the Russian delegates gave little prospect of early or favorable results.
FRANCE
Franco-Rumanian Treaty.—During the visit to Paris of King Ferdinand and Queen Marie of Rumania in the second week of April, Foreign Minister Duca of Rumania and the French Foreign Office entered upon discussions of a proposed general defensive treaty between the two nations. According to President Millerand’s description, the treaty was to be a “purely defensive agreement, as provided for in the Covenant of the League of Nations,’’ and similar to the agreement between France and Czechoslovakia, with guarantees of mutual support in stated conditions.
The Vienna Conference between Rumania and Russia was broken off early in April without results. According to Russian accounts, Rumania insisted upon recognition of her Bessarabian claims as preliminary to economic or political discussions.
French Cabinet Reorganized.—Following a nominal defeat in the Chamber on March 26, Premier Poincare resigned, but on the following day consented to assume power once more. In so doing he reorganized his cabinet, dropping all but two of the former members and adding four distinguished leaders of the Moderate Left, including Louis Loucheur. The change created in reality a coalition cabinet, calculated to strengthen M. Poincare’s position for the approaching elections on May n.
ITALY AND NEAR EAST
Fascisti Win Italian Elections.—In the Italian Parliamentary elections on April 6 the Fascisti scored an overwhelming victory. A surprisingly large vote was cast, and the Fascisti candidates received approximately two thirds of the total. The result leaves Mussolini stronger than before, as a dictator supported not by force but by a large popular majority. After the Fascisti came the so-called Popular Party with about ten per cent of the vote, followed by the Socialists, and the Communists far behind.
Greece Becomes a Republic.—On March 25 the Greek Assembly definitely deposed King George II, who had previously been forced to leave the country, and on the one hundred third anniversary of Greek independence proclaimed Greece a republic, subject to confirmation by plebiscite. The plebiscite, held on April 13, was in favor of a republic by a large majority, in Athens over two thirds. Admiral Coundouriotis was made president pro tempore of Greece, with the expectation that after Easter the Assembly would be divided into Senate and Chamber of Deputies and proceed to elect a president, probably former premier Alexander Zaimis, who was favored by Venizelos. M. Venizelos did not approve the ejection of King George and washed to postpone for two or three months the plebiscite on form of government, but ill health prevented his remaining in direct control of public affairs.