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A REVISION OF THE TREATY

CHAP.

the time for a more realistic policy is at hand; hemay even regard his interviews with Herr Rathenauas a foretaste of more intimate relationships betweenbusiness interests on the two sides of the Rhine .But these considerations, if we were to pursue them,would lead us to a different plane of argument.

Sir John Bradbury in his Report 1 on the Agree-ment to the British Government has proposed certainmodifications which would have the effect of preservingthe advantages of the first set of provisions, but ofnullifying the latter so far as they could operate tothe detriment of France's Allies.

I consider, however, that exaggerated importancehas been attached to this topic, since the actualdeliveries of goods made under the Wiesbaden orsimilar agreements are not likely to be worth suchlarge sums of money as are spoken of. Deliveriesof coal, dyestuffs, and ships, dealt with in theAnnexes to Part VIII. of the Treaty, are specificallyexcluded from the operation of the WiesbadenAgreement, which is expressly limited to deliveriesof plant and material, and these France undertakesto apply solely to the reconstitution of the de-vastated regions. The quantities of goods, whichFrench firms and individuals will be ready to orderfrom Germany at the full market price, and whichGermany can supply, for this Umited purpose (sogreat a part of the cost of which is necessarily

1 See Appendix No. VIII.