It will certainly be desirable for the Belgian and German Governments to come to some arrangement as to its disposal, though this is rendered difficult by the prior lien held by the Reparation Commission over all German assets available for such purposes.
[82] It should be added, in fairness, that the very high claims put forward on behalf of Belgium generally include not only devastation proper, but all kinds of other items, as, for example, the profits and earnings which Belgians might reasonably have expected to earn if there had been no war.
[83] "The Wealth and Income of the Chief Powers," by J.C.

Stamp (_Journal of the Royal Statistical Society_, July, 1919).
[84] Other estimates vary from $12,100,000,000 to $13,400,000,000.

See Stamp, _loc.

cit._ [85] This was clearly and courageously pointed out by M.
Charles Gide in _L'Emancipation_ for February, 1919.
[86] For details of these and other figures, see Stamp, _loc.
cit._ [87] Even when the extent of the material damage has been established, it will be exceedingly difficult to put a price on it, which must largely depend on the period over which restoration is spread, and the methods adopted.

It would be impossible to make the damage good in a year or two at any price, and an attempt to do so at a rate which was excessive in relation to the amount of labor and materials at hand might force prices up to almost any level.