with excellent maps, edited by Sidney Osborne), various pamphlets by Professor Schulz–Gavernitz, and documents circulated by the Breslau Chamber of Commerce. 3. My observations on Germany’s capacity to deliver reparation coal have been criticized in some quarters[27] on the ground that I made insufficient allowance for the compensation which is available to her by the more intensive exploitation of her deposits of lignite or brown coal. This criticism is scarcely fair, because I was the first in popular controversy to call attention to the factor of lignite, and because I was careful from the outset to disclaim expert knowledge of the subject.[28] I still find it difficult, in the face of conflicting expert opinions, to know how much importance to attach to this material. Since the Armistice there has been a substantial increase in output, which was 36 per cent higher in the first half of 1921 than in 1913.[29] In view of the acute shortage of coal this output must have been of material assistance towards meeting the situation. The deposits are near the surface, and no great amount of capital or machinery is needed for its production. But lignite briquette is a substitute for coal for certain purposes only, and the evidence is conflicting as to whether any further material expansion is economically practicable.[30] The process of briquetting the rough lignite is probably a wasteful one, and it is doubtful whether it would be worth while to set up _new_ plant with a view to production on a larger scale. Some authorities hold that the real future of lignite and its value as an element in the future wealth of Germany lie in improved methods of _distillation_ (the chief obstacle to which, as also to other uses, lies in its high water content), by which the various oils, ammonia and benzine, latent in it can be released for commercial uses. It is certainly the case that the future possibilities of lignite should not be overlooked. But there is a tendency at present, just as was the case with potash some little time ago, to exaggerate its importance greatly as a decisive factor in the wealth–producing capacity of Germany. EXCURSUS II THE LEGALITY OF OCCUPYING GERMANY EAST OF THE RHINE