ii4 THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF THE PEACE ch.

too low (though he does not accept certain muchhigher estimates lately current), the correspondingwealth per head (to take Belgium 's immediateneighbours) being £167 for Holland, £244 forGermany, and £303 for France . 1 A total of £1500million, giving an average of about £200 per head,would, however, be fairly liberal. The official estimateof land and buildings is likely to be more accuratethan the rest. On the other hand, allowance has tobe made for the increased costs of construction.

Having regard to all these considerations, I donot put the money value of the actual physical lossof Belgian property by destruction and loot above£150,000,000 as a maximum, and while I hesitateto put yet lower an estimate which differs so widelyfrom those generally current, I shall be surprised ifit proves possible to substantiate claims even to thisamount. Claims in respect of levies, fines, requisi-tions, and so forth might possibly amount to a further£100,000,000. If the sums advanced to Belgium by her allies for the general costs of the war areto be included, a sum of about £250,000,000 hasto be added (which includes the cost of relief),bringing the total to £500,000,000.

The destruction in France was on an altogethermore significant scale, not only as regards the lengthof the battle line, but also on account of the im-

1 " The Wealth and Income of the Chief Powers," by J. C. Stamp {Journalof the Royal Statistical Society , July 1919).