148 THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF THE PEACE ch.
Million £
British Empire . . . .1400
Total . . 5000
I feel much more confidence in the approximateaccuracy of the total figure 2 than in its divisionbetween the different claimants. The reader willobserve that in any case the addition of Pensionsand Allowances enormously increases the aggregateclaim, raising it indeed by nearly double. Addingthis figure to the estimate under other heads, we havea total claim against Germany of £8,000,000,000. 3I believe that this figure is fully high enough, andthat the actual result may fall somewhat short of
1 M, Klotz has estimated the French claims on this head at£3,000,000,000 (75 milliard francs, made up of 13 milliard for allowances,60 for pensions, and 2 for widows). If this figure is correct, the othersshould probably be scaled up also.
2 That is to say, I claim for the aggregate figure an accuracy within25 per cent.
3 In his speech of September 5, 1919, addressed to the French Chamber,M. Klotz estimated the total Allied claims against Germany under the Treaty at £15,000,000,000, which would accumulate at interest until 1921, andbe paid off thereafter by 34 annual instalments of about £1,000,000,000each, of which France would receive about £550,000,000 annual]}-. "Thegeneral effect of the statement (that France would receive from German}^this annual payment) proved," it is reported, "appreciably encouraging tothe country as a whole, and was immediately reflected in the improvedtone on the Bourse and throughout the business world in France ." Solong as such statements can be accepted in Paris without protest, therecan be no financial or economic future for France , and a catastrophe of dis-illusion is not far distant.