"The Supreme Council of the Allies, sitting at Paris in January, placed the amount to be paid by Germany at a present value of $21,000,000,000, which when paid with interest and in installments covering forty-two years, would amount to about $55,000,000,000; and in addition, the Council called upon Germany to pay a sum equal to 12 percent of her exports for the same period. Germany, protesting her inability to pay any such sum, countered with proposals that were promptly rejected by the Allies as ridiculous and dishonest, and for months the newspapers of this country, with those of other nations of the world, have been discussing the baffling question of the extent to which it lies in Germany's power to make reparation for the evil she wrought...Many experts, including some Americans, believe that Germany can pay $56,000,000,000 in forty-two years, which represents a present or capital value of $21,000,000,000. At least their evidence is as good as that presented by the champions of the Germans and by the Germans themselves."
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