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Show II DISARMAMENT AND REPARATION. I There must be an error in the announcement that the allied pre- I miers, in conference in Boulogne, France, have fixed upon three bil- H lion marks as the minimum Germany is to pay in reparation. Pi That sum would not restore the damaged towns of Belgium. :1 When Bismarck fixed the penalty France had to pay in the Franco- 1 Prussian war, he placed the amount at a billion dollars gold, and a jj billion in gold in those days was a greater reparation than five bil- J lion dollars are today, i 2 The premiers also decided to send word to German' to the effect j that disarmament must proceed to the limit and without delay. Had ij Germany won the whole of Europe would have been policed by Ger- man troops and the last semblance of military strength would have 9 been wiped out in France, Great Britain, Italy and the other allied 9 countries. There would have been nothing soft m terms of peace, rt But-it is well the world is trying to get away from the old bru- B talities which dictated the crushing of the defeated. |