§ Mr. CLOUGHasked the Prime Minister if he can give the present value of Germany's foreign investments; and whether the Entente Powers considered the transfer to the Allies of these investments as a means by which part of the War indemnity could be paid without injury to any Allied industry?
Mr. CHAMBERLAINThere are no data on which any satisfactory estimate can be made of the value of such investments. Provision is made in the Treaty of Versailles (Article 260) for enabling the Reparation Commission to acquire possession of any rights or interests of German nationals in public utility undertakings and concessions in Russia, China, Turkey, Hungary, Bulgaria, &c., and this question is being dealt with by the Reparation Commission. Furthermore, under Article 297 all Allied securities held by German nationals are deliverable to the Allied and Associated Powers, and are not available primarily for Reparation. The general question as to the extent to which Germany can make payment on account of Reparation in the form of foreign securities held by her nationals is, of course, one of the points to be discussed in reaching a settlement.