§ Sir E. BARTLEY-DENNISSasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer the total sum represented in the claims received to date for compensation under each of the heads (1) to (10) of Annex I to Section 1 of Part VIII (Reparation) of the Treaty of Versailles; what the British Government has received to date under the Treaty by way of money on account of reparations, the value of deliveries in kind, and the proceeds of the sale of enemy property; and what is the manner and method of the allocation of such receipts?
§ Sir R. HORNEIn reply to the first part of the question, I would refer the hon. Member to the statement published by the Reparation Commission on 28th February, 1921, of which I am sending him a copy. In reply to the second part of the question, the charges prior to Reparation upon the cash and the value of the deliveries in kind received by the British Government under1524W Parts VIII and IX of the Treaty. of Versailles are, before they are available for Reparation, subject to prior charges in respect of the re-imbursement of the Advances under the Spa Coal Deliveries Agreement and the cost of the British Army of Occupation. The Reparation Commission have not yet been able to draw up a final account of the amounts received by the British Government, as certain questions regarding the valuation of deliveries in kind, etc., are not yet settled. In the meantime, it is not possible to state by what amount, if any, the receipts of the British Government are more than sufficient to cover the prior charges referred to, or, in other words, what amount, if any, has been received on account of Reparation. It is, however, estimated that the prior charges in question have not yet been fully covered. The proceeds of the sale of ex-enemy property are subject to a charge in favour of claims by British nationals with regard to their property in Germany and other ex-enemy countries and debts owing to them by German nationals, and it is not at present possible to say whether there will ultimately be a credit balance in favour of Germany which can be made available on account of Reparation.
The amounts received by the Treasury up to 31st ultimo from cash payments by the Reparation Commission and the proceeds of the sale of ships and dyestuffs and the levies under the Germany Reparation (Recovery) Act amounted to£57,189,206 6s.9d., which had been allocated as follows:
£ s. d. Paid to the Exchequer as miscellaneous revenue 47,893,380 6 10 Paid to the Dominions on account of their claim for cost of Occupation of Germany by Dominion troops in 1919 2,639500 0 0 Appropriated in aid of the votes for advances under the Spa Coal Deliveries Agreement 5,499619 13 2 Held by the Treasury pending allocatioin 1,156706 6 9 £57189206 6 9