The recent Wiesbaden agreement between France and Germany for the
supply of materials for the reconstruction of the ruined departments has seriously affected the rights of the other Allies to a share in the reparation to be made by Germany. Sir John Bradbury, the British delegate on the Reparation Commission, in a report published on Wednesday, pointed out that the deliveries in kind to France could hardly be regarded as an additional burden voluntarily undertaken by Germany. As the Reparation Commission in May last fixed the maximum amount that Germany could be expected to pay in reparation, any further obligations incurred by Germany would almost certainly have to be deducted from that total. Thus, " an alteration in favour of France and to the detriment of the other Allies would have been brought about in the distribution as between the Allies of the available reparation receipts over a very considerable period." Sir John Bradbury, with the approval of his Italian and Belgian colleagues, therefore proposed that the Wiesbaden agreement should be limited to seven years, and should involve a sum not exceeding £200,000,000. We entertain no serious hope of obtaining any substantial reparation from Germany. But it seems a pity that France in this matter could not have acted with her Allies in making a bargain which, in itself, seemed advantageous to both parties.
Previous page
