We must now take up our chronicle where we left
it last week, and record the bare facts of the negotiations. On Thursday, August 15th, the delegations, who had at first refused to consider any alteration of the Young Plan, were busily passing round the hat, trying to collect enough money to remove Mr. Snowden's well-justified objeetioas to the alteration of the Spa percentages. Unfortunately, there was no tendency on the part of France to disburse any of her own percentage (which remains practically as it was fixed at Spa), or on the part of Italy to disburse any of her increased percentage. Italy, above all other countries, might have been expected to concede some- thing, in recognition of the remarkable terms granted to her under the Italian War Debt Agreement. Her debt was thereby reduced from £560,000,000 to £78,00,000. On Friday, August 16th, the French, Italian, Belgian, and Japanese delegates handed a Memorandum to Mr. Snowden. in which they indicated various sums—mostly to be taken from smaller countrie —which might be placed at the disposal of Great Britain.
