OCR Text |
Show RESISTANCE SHOWN BELIEVED GERMANY PLANS TO TEST ALLIED POWERS AT SPA MEET. The Probability of Reaching an Agreement Upon the Total Sum of Reparations Germany is to Pay Appears Slight. Spa. Belgium. The allied and German Ger-man prime ministers are here to meet each other for direct negotiations for the first time since the Versailles treaty was signed. The probability of reaching an agreement on the total sum of reparations Germany is lo pay appears slight. The allied premiers will communicate their collective decisions de-cisions to Konstantin Fehreubach. the German chancellor. lie and his associates as-sociates affirm they are prepared lo refuse demands which they consider beyond Germany's strength to meet. llerr Fehrenlmch said Sunday that he had nothing to add to bis contemplated contem-plated declarations to the German parliament until after he bad met the allied ministers. Germany's resources and capacity to pay, he declared, were set forth In Ihe memorandum given to each of the principal allied governments. govern-ments. The conviction of the German Ger-man delegation as derived from another an-other German source is thai, Inking the minimum unofficial reports of the equivalent of $20,lXHI,000,lKRI with interest, in-terest, Germany will not agree to pay veu half the lowest sum. The allied prime ministers, the correspondents cor-respondents Is informed, have doubts themselves of Germany engaging at this conference to pay anything like what the allies must Insist upon. Nor can the prime ministers reduce, iu the present state of opinions of their own parliaments and peoples, the high figures arrived at tentatively. Each side will feel the other out on this question without a reasonable prospect pro-spect of agreeing, but with the view of being In a position to renew ihe discussion at another conference. Conclusions, reasonably satisfactory, on every other important question may he reached, sufficient In themselves them-selves to make the conference well worth while. The spirit of both sides does not promise much for a compromise compro-mise of the allied ministers' determination deter-mination to impose their will. The other side is expected to remain passively pass-ively resistant until it tests what further fur-ther means of pressure the allies can apply. |