France has once more jumped on the prostrate form of Germany, and the sabots have come down with a thud that will sicken the hearts of multitudes on both sides of the Atlantic whose friendship for France stood the losses and griefs of a four years' war.  
Germany having been overthrown and disarmed after a prodigious effort, involving a strain upon the combined strength of America, Italy, and the whole British Empire, as well as France, and her arms bound with the thongs of a stern treaty, the process of dancing upon her while she is down can at any time now be performed with complete impunity by any one of these powers alone.
 
The spectacle every time it is repeated, provides much satisfaction to those who indulge in the barren delights of revenging the memory of past wrongs. There is no doubt some joy for the [Pg 157]unsportsmanlike mind in kicking a helpless giant who once maltreated you and who, but for the assistance of powerful neighbours, would have done so a second time.
 
But what good will it bring devastated France or her overtaxed Allies? The additional coal and timber that will be wrung out of Germany will barely cover the direct cost of collection. Although Germany bears the extra cost, the expense of these punitive measures must all in the end diminish the means of reparation, and therefore fall on the victor.
 
How many students of the problem of reparations have ever taken the trouble to ascertain the extent to which the maintenance of Allied armies of occupation has already drained the resources of Germany? Between direct cash payments, the cost of supplies, and outlay in labour and material for building huge barracks, these armies have already cost Germany 6,000,000,000 gold marks—roughly 1,200,000,000 dollars, or over ￡300,000,000.
 
How much better it would have been if most of this money had gone towards rebuilding the devastated area!
 
It is not without significance, now that war is[Pg 158] being waged against Germany for what the American representative in Paris termed her technical default, to recollect that, between the expense of the army of occupation and contributions already made towards reparations, Germany has already paid to the Allies over three times the amount of the total indemnity exacted by Bismarck in 1871.
 
This is without making any allowance for the vast and highly developed colonies which she surrendered. Let, therefore, no one approach this problem as if he were dealing with a recalcitrant country that is deliberately refusing to acknowledge any of her obligations under a treaty which she has signed.
 
The costs of the last war are acknowledged to be irrecoverable. It is difficult enough to find the means for payment of damages. Who will pay the growing cost of this new war?
 
So far I have referred only to the direct outlay upon these aggressive measures. The indirect cost to victor and vanquished alike will be crushing.
 
It is already accumulating. The mere threat has depreciated the value of the franc, and thus reduced its purchasing capacity abroad. This loss must be borne by the French consumer. There may be a[Pg 159] rally; but I shall be surprised if the improvement is more than temporary.
 
All that is obvious for the moment to the untrained eye is the way in which the mark is dragging the French and Belgian franc slowly along its own downward course.
 
As the distance between them lengthens and the invisible cord which ties them together becomes more and more attenuated, it may ultimately snap and the franc be released from this dangerous association. That I doubt, for a bankrupt Germany means a country to which even the most hopeful cannot look as a means of redeeming French deficits.
 
Once that is clear to the French peasant he will not so readily part with his savings, and the real difficulties of French finance will begin at that stage. A policy, therefore, which demoralises the German currency is one which is also fatal to the solvency of French finance.
 
Let us follow the probable sequence of events. The terrified German mark is rushing headlong to the bottom of the pit where the Austrian krone is already lost beyond rescue.
 
As long as reparation coal is dug out by bayonets,[Pg 160] and reparation timber is cut down by swords, it is idle to talk of restoring the mark by putting German finance in order.
 
No tariff, however nimble, can keep pace with the runaway mark. It would baffle the most resourceful finance minister to adapt his budget to a currency which disappears beyond the horizon while he is sitting at his desk to pen his proposals.
 
If the mere threat of force has produced such a panic, what will be the effect of the actual measures? It is safe to predict that the advance of French troops into Germany will not restore the composure of the frightened mark and arrest its flight.
 
What, then, becomes of the hope of renewed payments of the annuity? At best Germany could only be expected to pay when her foreign trade was so improved that she could provide a margin out of her exports with which to pay her annuities. Her foreign trade is largely dependent upon her foreign exchanges. These are now destroyed beyond prospect of recovery for years.
 
Britain proposed a voluntary moratorium for a short term of years in order to place Germany in a position where she could at the end of that term pay a reasonable annuity. The French [Pg 161]government have in effect substituted a compulsory moratorium for an indefinite period with no prospect of payment in sight.
 
The only chance of securing an early instalment of reparation payments was by pressing Germany to put her finances in order and giving her fair time in which to do so. The only chance of ............