I

THE TREATY OF PEACE

69

George raised the matter again with PresidentWilson in August 1920. Finally, in August1922, in the famous Note written by LordBalfour, the considered British view, fromwhich we have never gone back, was set forth.In this Note the British Government declaredtheir willingness to cancel the whole of whattheir Allies owed them, and also to forgo theirown claims on Germany in favour of the otherAllies, if the United States in turn wouldrelieve them of their debt. By such anarrangement Great Britain would have beengiving up on paper more than twice what shegained. The offer still holds good.

This policy was not accepted by the UnitedStates , and a separate settlement has beenmade between each pair of countries in turn.The settlement made with Great Britain isequivalent to charging a rate of interest of3-3 per cent on the whole amount due. TheAmerican settlement with France is equivalentto repayment at i-6 per cent interest, and thatwith Italy to repayment at 0-4 per cent interest.Thus, the American settlement with GreatBritain is twice as onerous as that with France and eight times as onerous as that with Italy .Great Britain , in her turn, has made arrange-ments with France and Italy , and has in bothcases let them off lighter even than has theUnited States—the British settlement withFrance being 10 per cent easier and that withItaly 33 per cent easier than the correspondingAmerican settlements. Thus, whilst the other