Foreign News: Cash

"Germany is faithfully performing her obligations and has made punctually the payments falling due during the second year of the Dawes Plan."

With this terse encouraging prelude Mr. S. Parker Gilbert, Agent General of Reparations, announced last week on the second anniversary of the inauguration of the Dawes Plan, that he has received this year 1,211,950,000 gold marks ($288,444,100) in reparations payments. For the first time a portion of the transfers were made in cash, totaling 65,000,000 gold marks, of which the U. S. received $5,904,770. This sum amounts to roughly 2½% of the total of $245,000,000 scheduled for payment to the U. S. within 20 years under the Dawes Plan.

As usual, coal, coke and lignite formed one-third of the reparations paid in kind and the most picturesque article in which payments were made continued to be lion traps. Bibliophiles rejoiced to learn that over two million gold marks of reparations were expended last year to restore the War-glutted Libary of Louvain.

Amicable Compromise. Finance Minister Reinhold was raked over many a German editorial coal, early in the week, because the heavy indirect taxes imposed during the year have swelled German tax receipts to and beyond the point at which it is provided in the Dawes Plan that the Allies shall be given a share in the tax surplus. Irate German editors bewailed "this excess of taxation, now to be wasted in reparations payments." Harassed, Finance Minister Reinhold sought Agent Gilbert. Between them they arrived at an amiable compromise whereby a portion of these surplus reparations will be remitted to Germany in consideration of her punctuality to date.