VII

REMEDIES

253

a complete subordination of her own claims for cashcompensation that Great Britain can ask with cleanhands for a revision of the Treaty and clear her honourfrom the breach of faith for which she bears the mainresponsibility, as a result of the policy to which theGeneral Election of 1918 pledged her representatives.

With the Reparation problem thus cleared up itwould be possible to bring forward with a bettergrace and more hope of success two other financialproposals, each of which involves an appeal to thegenerosity of the United States .

The first is for the entire cancellation of Inter-Ally indebtedness (that is to say, indebtednessbetween the Governments of the Allied and Associ-ated countries) incurred for the purposes of the war.This proposal, which has been put forward alreadyin certain quarters, is one which I believe to beabsolutely essential to the future prosperity of theworld. It would be an act of far-seeing statesmanshipfor the United Kingdom and the United States , thetwo Powers chiefly concerned, to adopt it. Thesums of money which are involved are shownapproximately in the following table :— 1

1 The figures in this table are partly estimated, and are probablynot completely accurate in detail ; but they show the approximatefigures with sufficient accuracy for the purposes of the present argument.The British figures are taken from the White Paper of October 23, 1919(Cind. 377). In any actual settlement, adjustments would be required inconnection with certain loans of gold and also in other respects, and I amconcerned in what follows with the broad principle only. The sumsadvanced by the United States and France, which are in terms of dollarsand francs respectively, have been converted at approximately par rates.