He then comes to the hard question of finance and
asks that the Allies should credit France in A and B Bonds with /1,300,000,000 and reserve for her in C Bonds any sums that may be claimed from France under the head of inter-Allied debts. It is necessary at this point to remind our readers, who have probably become bewildered by the long discussions on reparations, of the nature of the A, B and C Bonds. These Bonds were the base of the Allied demands on Germany drawn up at the London Conference in May, 1921. The total amount of reparations at that time was fixed at £6,600,000,000 which was to be covered by German 5 per cent. Bonds, plus a 1 per cent, sinking fund for redemption. A and B Bonds covered £2,500,000,000, and C Bonds covered the remaining £4,100,000,000. Of course, the A and B Bonds were the only ones which level-headed people regarded as having any value. They represent probably the highest amount that can possibly be exacted from Germany. It was proposed in 1921 that the A and B Bonds should be financed in that year but that the C Bonds should be financed only when Germany's capacity to pay more was demonstrated.
