It is certain, at any rate, that the capital value of these natural supplies is much greater than the total war debts of all the Allied States.

Why should not some portion of this wealth be diverted for a sufficient period from its present owners and assigned to the peoples whom Germany has assailed, deported, and injured?
The Allied Governments might justly require Germany to surrender to them the use of such of her mines, and mineral deposits as would yield, say, from $500,000,000 to $1,000,000,000 annually for the next 30, 40, or 50 years.

By this means we could obtain sufficient compensation from Germany without unduly stimulating her manufactures and export trade to our detriment." It is not clear why, if Germany has wealth exceeding $1,250,000,000,000.

Sir Sidney Low is content with the trifling sum of $500,000,000 to $1,000,000,000 annually.

But his letter is an admirable _reductio ad absurdum_ of a certain line of thought.