The Prime Minister spoke at Birmingham on Saturday last about
the reparation to be made by Germany. The Treaty of Versailles, he said, must be respected. The German military machine must be " not merely broken up, but broken beyond repair." Germany still had too many soldiers and too many guns. In fixing the terms of reparation, the Allies had borne in mind her moral responsibility for the war, her ability to pay, and the method by which she should render payment. " Ger- many must not be allowed to pay in a way which would inflict greater damage upon the country receiving the payment than not to pay at all." She must not pay in " cheap goods" and deprive Allied workmen of employment. The Allies had put forward their bill, -and Germany did not like it. But the bill had been scaled according to German prosperity. " If Germany is not prosperous. she cannot pay. If Germany is prosperous, she can pay, and she must pay." For the first few years she was asked to pay a minimum, because she was in difficulties.
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