266 THE ECONOMIC CONSEQUENCES OF THE PEACE ch.

The chief objections to all the varieties of thisspecies of project are, I suppose, the following. TheUnited States is disinclined to entangle herself further(after recent experiences) in the affairs of Europe ,and, anyhow, has for the time being no more capitalto spare for export on a large scale. There is noguarantee that Europe will put financial assistanceto proper use, or that she will not squander it andbe in just as bad case two or three years hence asshe is in now ;—M. Klotz will use the money to putoff the day of taxation a little longer, Italy and Jugo-slavia will fight one another on the proceeds, Poland will devote it to fulfilling towards all her neighboursthe military role which France has designed for her,the governing classes of Roumania will divide upthe booty amongst themselves. In short, America would have postponed her own capital developmentsand raised her own cost of living in order thatEurope might continue for another year or two thepractices, the policy, and the men of the past ninemonths. And as for assistance to Germany , is itreasonable or at all tolerable that the European Allies,having stripped Germany of her last vestige of workingcapital, in opposition to the arguments and appealsof the American financial representatives at Paris ,should then turn to the United States for funds torehabilitate the victim in sufficient measure to allowthe spoliation to recommence in a year or two ?

There is no answer to these objections as matters