v LEGALITY OF CLAIM FOR PENSIONS 143

very secret documents) bearing on the discussion ofthis problem during the Peace Conference, we arein a better position than before to assess the valueof the Allies ' case.

The pronouncements by the President which wereto form the basis of Peace provided that there shouldbe " no contributions " and " no punitive damages,"but the invaded territories of Belgium, France ,Rumania , Serbia, and Montenegro were to be restored.This did not cover losses from submarines or from airraids. Accordingly the Allied Governments, whenthey accepted the President's formulas, embodied areservation, on the point as to what " restoration"covered, in the following sentence: " By it (i.e.restoration of invaded territory) they understand thatcompensation will be made by Germany for alldamage done to the civilian population of the Allies and to their property by the aggression of Germany by land, by sea, and from the air."

The natural meaning and object of these words,which, the reader must remember, are introduced asan interpretation of the phrase " restoration ofinvaded territory," is to assimilate submarine andcruiser aggression by sea and aeroplane and airshipaggression by air to military aggression by land,which, in all the circumstances, was a reasonableextension of the phrase, provided it was duly notifiedbeforehand. The Allies rightly apprehended that, ifthey accepted the phrase as it stood, " restoration