- That the Committee in Paris has got down to bedrock
is, we fear, the only encouraging thing that can be said of the progress with regard to Reparations. The method by which each of the Allied representatives made out his own nation's bill separately has resulted in a total claim exceeding the amount of the present annuities under the Dawes plan. Dr. Schacht, very naturally, will have nothing to do with this, and has intimated that his Government could only consider some such figure as was mentioned in Mr. Owen Young's " minimum " proposals. We have to focus our attention therefore upon the several Allied claims, namely, France's demand for 50 milliard francs for reconstruction costs in the devastated areas, Great Britain's title to some £200,000,000 to cover British payments to America before any payment of inter-Ally debts was made, the Belgian claim to compensation for worthless German currency, and the Italian demand for a larger share in the total Reparations amount * * *
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