V
REPARATION
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securities which have already left Germany or havebeen safely secreted within Germany itself beyonddiscovery by the most inquisitorial and powerfulmethods at £100,000,000, we are not likely to over-state it.
These various items lead, therefore, in all to adeduction of a round figure of about £1000,000,000,and leave us with an amount of £250,000,000theoretically still available. 1
To some readers this figure may seem low, butlet them remember that it purports to representthe remnant of saleable securities upon which theGerman Government might be able to lay handsfor public purposes. In my own opinion it is muchtoo high, and considering the problem by a differentmethod of attack I arrive at a lower figure. Forleaving out of account sequestered Allied securitiesand investments in Austria, Russia , etc., what blocksof securities, specified by countries and enterprises,can Germany possibly still have which could amountto as much as £250,000,000 ? I cannot answerthe question. She has some Chinese Governmentsecurities which have not been sequestered, a fewJapanese perhaps, and a more substantial value offirst-class South American properties. But there arevery few enterprises of this class still in German hands, and even their value is measured by one or