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Less than eleven weeks ago, Lord Revelstoke joined with John Pierpont Morgan, Owen D. Young and other financiers of unsurpassed prestige in a supreme effort to revise the Dawes Plan and place the reparations debts of Germany on a business not a political basis. No irony can be more keen than the fact that the death of Baron Revelstoke last week, with its consequent effect of quelling the passions of all concerned, alone preserved the most august fiscal conclave in the world from immediate and ignominious adjournment. The crisis came when (with Baron Revelstoke in the chair of the bankers' committee) the 28-billion-dollar bill for reparations which the Allies presented last fort night, was countered by a German offer to pay 15 billions. The discrepancy between this demand and offer is almost three times as great as the total value of all U. S. banknotes now in circulation. In short, creditors and debtor were absolutely no where near each other.* A distinct impression was received by U. S. representatives Owen D. Young and Thomas W. Lamont* that the German offer was made in a deliberate attempt to break up the conference. The brusque "Iron Man" of the Reich, Dr. Hjalmar Schacht, entered with glowering, ungracious mien; spoke in sharp gutturals; rustled his papers with an air of grim finality. Afterwards the U. S. delegates— while not allowing themselves to be quoted —conveyed their impressions to correspondents in the strongest terms. "They [Mr. Young and Mr. Lamont] had imagined that they were dealing with a negotiator who meant business like themselves," wrote Correspondent P. J. Philip of the painstaking New York Times. "Instead they say they have discovered that they were dealing with an obstinate man with a narrow view of his responsibilities." The French press charged that the "Iron Man" aspired to become Chancellor of Germany and thought he could achieve the necessary popularity by posing as one who dared to defy all Europe and the U. S. in defense of his Fatherland. When correspondents carried this charge to Dr. Schacht he exclaimed with great earnestness: "That is a mistake. I shall never accept any political office. You may quote me on that without reservation." "Branded with Defeat." The complex and dangerous situation which had developed can best be understood by reviewing its background. The so-called Dawes Plan (chiefly drafted by Mr. Young) fixed the annual maximum which Germany can be called upon to pay, but did not fix the total maximum. The chief purpose for which the Second Dawes Committee assembled was to try and fix this total. The much-mentioned "transfer clause" of the Dawes Plan protects Germany by providing partial and temporary relief from the necessity of meeting her annual obligations in the event of a fiscal crisis. When the Second Dawes Committee met it was hoped that Germany, in return for substantial concessions, would agree to waive the protection of the "transfer clause," at least in part, and pledge herself to pay unconditionally a large portion of her debt. Against this pledge bonds were to be issued, through a stupendous bank of international settlement, and sold to the public. Thus the political debt of Germany to the Allied Powers would be transformed into a business debt to millions of bondholders. Up to last week Wall Street was expectantly ready