There is, then, the fantastic position of the public debts!  They have reached now such figures that no imagination could have forecasted.  France alone has a debt which of itself exceeds by a great deal all the debts of all the European States previous to the War:  265 milliards of francs.  And Germany, the conquered country, has in her turn a debt which exceeds 320 milliards of marks, and which is rapidly approaching 400 milliards.  The debts of many countries are only recorded by feats of memory, because there is no practical interest in knowing whether Austria, Hungary, and especially Poland, has one debt or another, since the situation of the creditors is not a situation of reality.

The whole debt of the United States of America is, after so much war, only 23,982,000,000 dollars; but the United States are creditors of the Entente for 9,500,000,000 dollars.  Also England, against a debt of L9,240,000,000 sterling, has a credit of L1,778,000,000.

These serious figures, whilst they increase the condition of discomfort rendered even more serious by the scarcity of commercial exchanges, indicate also what necessity may be superior to all in every country to preserve internal peace:  produce more, consume less, put the finances in order, and reconquer the credits.

Instead, the conquered countries are going downwards every day and the conquering countries are maintaining very big armies, exhausting their resources, whilst they are spreading the conviction that the indemnity from the enemy will compensate sufficiently, or at least partially, for the work of restoration.

In fact, the causes of discontent and diffidence are augmenting.  Nothing is more significant than the lack of conscience with which programmes of violence and of ruin are lightly accepted; nothing is more deplorable than the thoughtlessness with which the germs of new wars are cultivated.  Germany has disarmed with a swiftness which has even astonished the military circles of the Entente; but the bitter results of the struggle are not only not finished against Germany, not even to-day does she form part of the League of Nations (which is rather a sign of a state of mind than an advantage), but the attitude towards her is even more hostile.

Two years after the end of the war R. Poincare wrote that the League of Nations would lose its best possibility of lasting if, un jour, it did not reunite all the nations of Europe.  But he added that of all the conquered nations—­Austria, Hungary, Bulgaria, Turkey and Germany—­the last-mentioned, by her conduct during the War and after the peace, justified least a near right of entry.  It would be incontestablement plus naturel (of how many things does nature occupy herself!) to let Austria enter first if she will disavow the policy of reattachment—­that is, being purely German, renounce against the principle of nationality, in spite of the principle of auto-decision, when she cannot live alone, to unite herself to Germany; Bulgaria and Turkey as long as they had a loyal and courteous attitude towards Greece, Rumania and Serbia.  The turn of Germany will come, but only after Turkey, when she will have given proof of executing the treaty, which no reasonable and honest person considers any more executable in its integrity.