4 - THE RUHR IMPASSE, JUNE–OCTOBER 1923

Summary

The new German Note was welcomed by The Times in a leading article (11 June 1923) as the first time that the German government had made proposals for payment which could be regarded as a real basis for further negotiations. Readers were reminded incidentally that there had been a time when the French government was not alone in expecting large reparations: ‘It was Mr Lloyd George who first demanded these huge amounts.’ Lloyd George protested against this remark in a letter to the editor published 13 June 1923. Keynes's comment on Lloyd George's reaction was printed the day following.

To the Editor of The Times, 14 June 1923

Sir,

Mr Lloyd George's letter, published by you today, is probably concerned with the future rather than the past. It tells us more about what Mr Lloyd George is going to say than about what he has said. From this point of view one can only welcome it and applaud. But as a contribution to history it is subject to correction.

Mr Lloyd George writes that £2,500 million (present value) is the only figure he has ever been responsible for demanding from Germany. He forgets the following (let alone the general election of 1918)—

(1) In January 1921 he presented a Note to Germany demanding a series of annuities, the present value of which at 6 per cent was about £3,500 million plus 12 per cent of the value of Germany's exports for forty-two years. The present value of the last item cannot be exactly calculated, but it certainly brought up the total to £4,000 million.