I

THE TREATY OF PEACE

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be, in one way or another, a party. But—let me add—any concession she may make willgo entirely to the relief of Germany and theEuropean Allies, Great Britain adhering toher principle of receiving nothing on balance.

If all, or nearly all, of what Germany paysfor Reparations has to be used, not to repairthe damage done, but to repay the UnitedStates for the financial part which she playedin the common struggle, many will feel thatthis is not an outcome tolerable to the senti-ments of mankind or in reasonable accord withthe spoken professions of Americans when theyentered the war or afterwards. Yet it is adelicate matter, however keenly the publicmay feel, for any Englishman in authority totake the initiative in saying such things in anofficial way. Obviously, we must pay whatwe have covenanted to pay, and any proposal,if there is to be one, must come from theUnited States . It fell to my lot during thewar to be the official draftsman in the BritishTreasury of all the financial agreements withthe Allies and with the United States outof which this situation has arisen. I wasintimately familiar, day by day, with thereasons and motives which governed thecharacter of the financial arrangements whichwere made. In the light of the memories ofthose days, I continue to hope that in duecourse, and in her own time, America will tellus that she has not spoken her last word.