CH. IV THE REPARATION BILL 99

not much above the eventual assessment of theEeparation Commission ; the lowest figure to whichFrance and Great Britain would agree, namely, 180milliard gold marks, was, as it has turned out, muchabove the amount to which they were entitled evenunder their own categories of claim. 1

Between the date of the Treaty and the announce-ment of its decision by the Reparation Commission,there was much controversy as to what this amountshould be. I propose to review some of the detailsof this problem, because, if men are in any wayactuated by veracity in international affairs, a justopinion about it is still relevant to the Reparationproblem.

The main contentions of The Economic Consequencesof the Peace were these : (1) that the claims againstGermany which the Allies were contemplating wereimpossible of payment; (2) that the economic solid-arity of Europe was so close that the attempt toenforce these claims might ruin every one ; (3) thatthe money cost of the damage done by the enemy inFrance and Belgium had been exaggerated; (4) thatthe inclusion of pensions and allowances in our claimswas a breach of faith; and (5) that our legitimateclaim against Germany was within her capacityto pay.

I have made some supplementary observationsabout (1) and (2) in Chapters III. and VI. I deal

1 For these figures see Tardieu, op. cit. p. 305.