24 MAY 1919, Page 2

In view of the opinions held in some quarters that

the condi- tions imposed on Germany with regard to her mineral products are unnecessarily harsh, it is interesting to read an article by Mr. H. Louis in Nature of May 15th. Mr. Louis maintains- that the terms, far from impoverishing Germany, err on the side of liberality. " Even were the whole of the Silesian coalfields to pass into Polish hands," instead of the "considerable propor- tion " suggested, " Germany would still have an output equal to three-fourths of its pre-war output in bituminous coal alone, whilst if lignite is included in the calculation, as it really should be, the annual output of Germany will only be diminished by about 18 per cent."