[89] “Germany undertakes ... to make reimbursement of all sums which Belgium has borrowed from the Allies and Associated Governments up to November 11, 1918, together with interest at the rate of 5 per cent per annum on such sums.” The priority for this repayment arranged at Spa is a little different from the procedure contemplated in the Treaty, which provided for repayment not later than May 1, 1926. [90] See above, p. 135. [91] Article 1 of the Treaty of Peace between Germany and the United States, signed on August 25, 1921, and since ratified, expressly stipulates that Germany undertakes to accord to the United States all the rights, privileges, indemnities, reparations, and advantages specified in the joint resolution of Congress of July 2, 1921, “Including all the rights and advantages stipulated for the benefit of the United States under the Treaty of Versailles which the United States shall enjoy notwithstanding the fact that such Treaty has not been ratified by the United States.” [92] According to a statement published in Washington in August 1921 the Custodian had in his hands German property to the value of $314,179,463. CHAPTER V THE LEGALITY OF THE CLAIM FOR PENSIONS “The application of morals to international politics is more a thing to be desired than a thing which has been in operation. Also, when I am made a participant in crime along with many millions of other people, I more or less shrug my shoulders.”—Letter from a friendly critic to the author of _The Economic Consequences of the Peace_. We have seen in the preceding chapter that the claim for Pensions and Allowances is nearly double that for Devastation, so that its inclusion in the Allies’ demands nearly trebles the bill. It makes the difference between a demand which can be met and a demand which cannot be met. Therefore it is important. In _The Economic Consequences of the Peace_ I gave reasons for the opinion that this claim was contrary to our engagements and an act of international immorality. A good deal has been written about it since then, but I cannot admit that my conclusion has been seriously disputed. Most American writers accept it; most French writers ignore it; and most English writers try to show, not that the _balance_ of evidence is against me, but that there are a few just plausible, or just not–negligible, observations to be made on the other side. Their contention is that of the Jesuit professors of Probabilism in the seventeenth century, namely that the Allies are justified unless it is absolutely certain that they are wrong, and that any probability in their favor, however small, is enough to save them from mortal sin.