V

REPARATION

121

shipbuilding may soon be too high but can be replacedby any other which better authorities 1 may prefer,the aggregate claim is £230,000,000. To this mustbe added the loss of cargoes, the value of which isalmost entirely a matter of guesswork. An estimateof £40 per ton of shipping lost may be as goodan approximation as is possible, that is to say£310,000,000, making £540,000,000 altogether.

An addition to this of £30,000,000, to cover airraids, bombardments, claims of interned civilians, andmiscellaneous items of every description, should bemore than sufficient, — making a total claim forGreat Britain of £570,000,000. It is surprising,perhaps, that the money value of our claim shouldbe so little short of that of France and actually inexcess of that of Belgium. But, measured either bypecuniary loss or real loss to the economic powerof the country, the injury to our mercantile marinewas enormous.

There remain the claims of Italy, Serbia, andRoumania for damage by invasion and of these andother countries, as for example Greece, 2 for lossesat sea. I will assume for the present argument that

1 The fact that no separate allowance is made in the above for the sink-ing of 675 fishing vessels of 71,765 tons gross, or for the 1885 vessels of8,007,967 tons damaged or molested, but not sunk, may be set off againstwhat may be an excessive figure for replacement cost.

2 The losses of the Greek mercantile marine were excessively high, as aresult of the dangers of the Mediterranean ; but they were largely incurredon the service of the other Allies, who paid for them directly or indirectly.The claims of Greece for maritime losses incurred on the service of her ownnationals would not be very considerable.