V

REPARATION

and industry of Germany for a period of five or tenyears, supplying her with large loans, and with ampleshipping, food, and raw materials during that period,building up markets for her, and deliberately apply-ing all their resources and goodwill to making herthe greatest industrial nation in Europe , if not inthe wor]d, a substantially larger sum could probablybe extracted thereafter; for Germany is capable ofvery great productivity.

Second: whilst I estimate in terms of money, Iassume that there is no revolutionary change in thepurchasing power of our unit of value. If the valueof gold were to sink to a half or a tenth of its presentvalue, the real burden of a payment fixed in termsof gold would be reduced proportionately. If a goldsovereign comes to be worth what a shilling is worthnow, then, of course, Germany can pay a larger sumthan I have named, measured in gold sovereigns.

Third : I assume that there is no revolutionarychange in the yield of Nature and material to man'slabour. It is not impossible that the progress ofscience should bring within our reach methods anddevices by which the whole standard of life would beraised immeasurably, and a given volume of productswould represent but a portion of the human effortwhich it represents now. In this case all standardsof " capacity " would be changed everywhere. Butthe fact that all things are possible is no excuse fortalking foolishly.