The precise measures suggested by M. Poincare have not been
made public. It seems, however, that he would have the Allies appropriate the levy on German exports, valued at £62,000,000, the revenue of the German Customs in the Rhine- land, valued at £15,000,000, a tax on German coal and the profits on the German State forests, yielding £7,500,000, and perhaps the profits on the German State railways as well as three-fifths of the shares in Rhineland factories. Whether the estimated sums could be raised without the willing and active co-operation of the German Government seems doubtful, and it is clear that the Germans are in no mood to give such assistance. According to the Times Berlin correspondent, the German Government are not raising enough tax-revenue to meet their domestic expenditure, but are living from hand to mouth on the proceeds of Treasury Bills. The French regard the Germans as wilful defaulters and, unless French suspicions can be dissipated, it does not look as if very much can come of the new Conference. The question at bottom is one not of figures but of sentiment. Mr. Lloyd George is prepared to believe that the Germans, if tactfully handled, will try to pay what they owe, whereas M. Poincare, profoundly sceptical, thinks that the Germans will not pay a mark unless they are forced to do so.
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