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A REVISION OF THE TREATY

CHAP.

The Wiesbaden Agreement is a complicated docu-ment. But the essence of it is easily explained. Itfalls into two distinct parts. First, it sets up a pro-cedure by which private French firms can acquirefrom private German firms materials required forreconstruction in France , without France having tomake payment in cash. Secondly, it provides that,whilst Germany is not to receive payment at once forany part of these goods, only a proportion of the sumdue is credited to her immediately in the books of theReparation Commission, the balance being advancedby her to France for the time being and only broughtinto the Reparation account at a later date.

The first set of provisions has met with unqualifiedapproval from every one. An arrangement whichmay possibly stimulate payment of Reparation in theform of actual materials for the reconstruction of thedevastated districts satisfies convenience, economics,and sentiment in a peculiarly direct way. But suchsupplies were already arranged for under the Treaty ,and the chief value of the new procedure lies in itsreplacing the machinery of the Reparation Com-mission by direct negotiation between the Frenchand German authorities. 1

1 Incidentally the Wiesbaden Agreement seta up a fairer procedure forfixing the prices of supplies in kind than that contemplated in the Treaty. According to the Treaty the prices are fixed at the sole discretion of theReparation Commission. In the Wiesbaden Agreement this duty is assignedto an Arbitral Commission consisting of a German representative, a Frenchrepresentative, and an impartial third, who are to fix the prices, broadlyspeaking, on the basis of price existing in France in each quarterly periodsubject to this price being not more than 5 per cent below the German price.