Premiers' Conference

The deadlock, which the delegates to the Premiers' Conference in London managed to keep dead and locked for a considerable time, was at length vivified and unlocked: full agreement was reached by the Conference on all points on the program for operating the Experts' Reparations Plan.*

After the plenary session of the Conference was over, Premier Mac-Donald of Britain rose, grasped the hand of Premier Herriot of France, and with a smile said: "Now we are all agreed, Satan alone can separate us. Now, if you will allow me, I am going to send the invitation to the Germans."

Then followed an orgy of handshakes and congratulations. British official circles regarded the day as "the most satisfactory since the opening of the Conference." James A. Logan Jr., U. S. unofficial observer in the Reparations Commission, present at the Conference, went one better. Said he: "The Conference is the biggest success of all Allied gatherings since Versailles."

After 18 days of work, the agreement reached was, in its main points, substantially as follows:

Defaults. The question of a possible German default under the Experts' Plan was one of the great stumbling blocks to the proceedings of the Conference. Bankers who were concerned with the floating of an international loan of $200,000,000 for Germany, as provided for in the Experts' Plan, expressed the opinion that there was no tangible security for the loan (TIME, Aug. 4). Premier Herriot was obdurate in claiming France's right under the Treaty of Versailles to independent action in case of default.

The conference agreed to a compromise designed to satisfy everyone. It was agreed: 1) To empower the Reparations Commission to declare Germany in default and to permit it to make such recommendations as to the actions to be taken that it thinks the circumstances necessitate.

2) To allow any member of the Reparations Commission to lodge an appeal from a majority decision of the Commission within eight days to an Arbitral Commission (see under), whose decision shall be final.

3) To empower the Reparations Commission to appoint unanimously the members of the Arbitral Commission for a period of five years. Failing such unanimity, the power of appointment is to be vested in the President of the Permanent Court of International Justice. The President of the Arbitral Commission must be a citizen of the U. S.

4) That all Powers signatory to the agreement must pledge themselves not to take sanctions (seizure penalties) in Germany unless default has been declared under paragraphs 1 and 2 above.

5) That the signatory Powers will confer upon the nature of the sanctions to be inflicted and the method of rapidly and effectively applying them.

6) That, to safeguard the investors of the $200,000,000 loan to Germany, the Powers will engage themselves not to take sanctions that will in any way imperil securities pledged to the service of the loan. And that the Powers will consider the loan entitled to absolute priority on any German resources.

7) That unless otherwise expressly stipulated in the above paragraphs all the existing rights of signatory Powers under the Treaty of Versailles are reserved. Transfer Committee. The second batch of problems which nearly wrecked the Conference was concerned with the transfer of reparations by debtor Germany to creditor Allies. These problems were only accepted by the Conference at one minute before the twelfth hour and took the form of resolutions which were highly technical in composition. Summed up, they laid down rules for the regulation of relations between the Transfer Committee, which is to act as receiver of reparations, and the German Government, which is to facilitate the delivery of reparations, as provided for in the Experts' Plan, or which may be provided for by mutual agreement.

It was also decided to add a U. S. citizen to the Reparations Commission with power to vote, his appointment to be made by the unanimous vote of the Commission, or, failing such accord, by the President of the Permanent Court of International Justice.

Germans. Premier MacDonald's invitation was received and immediately accepted by the German Government. The chief delegates chosen to attend the Conference: Chancellor Wilhelm Marx, Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann, Minister of Finance Dr. Luther. It will be the first conference that Germany has attended on an equal footing with the Allied and Associated Powers since the conclusion of hostilities in 1918.

Significance. With the Germans in London, the last stage of the Premiers' Conference will have begun. France at present is willing to evacuate the Ruhr progressively in a two-year period starting from the time that the Experts' Plan is put into effect, which is expected on Oct. 15. The Germans will probably demand immediate and outright evacuation of the Ruhr, but they were expected to agree with little difficulty to the main provisions of the Allied Concord as above detailed. Even when final agreement in the Conference has been reached, much will depend upon the attitude of the Parliaments of the various countries represented. They will have the power to undo all that has been done.

*The Experts' Plan can best be summarized by stating that it is a method of encouraging Germany to pay the reparations bill for the War by admitting her on equal terms into an international business compact, under which the creditor nations hold mortgages on Germany's wealth.