Report discussing the Greek war debt to England.

productive element - However I cannot very well see the point of this argument. If the refugee loan had been concluded simply for the purpose of developing the productive powers of the country, the argument would hold good. But this loan was raised by us for the purpose of establishing the refugees and relieving the Treasury from the burden of their upkeep and freeing the State from the social and political dangers which would exist while this question remained unsolved. On the other hand with the assistance granted to the refugees, a whole generation will hardly suffice for these to recover the standard of life which was theirs before they were compelled to flee from their homes as a result of the disastrous issue of the war. Contrary to this Bulgaria never sustained such a catastrophe as a result of the war as to have to heal so serious a wound. Of course she too has a refugee problem but the number of her refugees does not reach 1/10th of the refugees in Greece:- Moreover in order to appreciate the financial position of the two countries the following should also be borne in mind. Bulgaria remained at war only 27 months (August 1915 to September 1916,) when she demobilized and although defeated did not have to face any foreign invasion. Moreover, being an essentially agricultural country, her national economy did not suffer severely from the war, while on the other hand she benefited during the war by the rise in price of agricultural products. -15-