Further complications are the facts that the Young Plan is
designed to come into force on September 1st, and that the authors of the plan deliberately arranged for the reduced German payments to be retrospective if for any reason the operation of the plan should be delayed. This alone shows the absurdity of assuming that Germany would; tnlmly pay at the old rate if The Hague Conference should fail. On Wednesday it became clear that everything depended, as many observers had all the time foreseen, on the willingness of Italy to forgo part of her percentage. Others were ready to sacrifice something if Italy consented, but every hope in this direction was dashed when Signor Pirelli, the Italian delegate, visited Mr. Snowden and informed him that Italy would yield nothing of her percentage. Later the Italians produced a scheme for certain payments, outside the percentages, and for certain guarantees of trade, all of which Mr. Snowden regarded as practically without value. France and Italy are, no doubt, telling themselves that no harm will be done by waiting till the League Assembly meets. Mr. MacDonald, they think, will be less adamantine than Mr. Snowden. Our own reflection is that the situation has been allowed to pass on to very dangerous ground indeed when foreign countries begin to pit one member of our Cabinet against another.
