and all vessels under construction as well as those afloat.[10]
Further, Germany undertakes, if required, to build for the Allies such
types of ships as they may specify up to 200,000 tons[11] annually for
five years, the value of these ships being credited to Germany against
what is due from her for Reparation.[12]

Thus the German mercantile marine is swept from the seas and cannot be
restored for many years to come on a scale adequate to meet the
requirements of her own commerce. For the present, no lines will run
from Hamburg, except such as foreign nations may find it worth while to
establish out of their surplus tonnage. Germany will have to pay to
foreigners for the carriage of her trade such charges as they may be
able to exact, and will receive only such conveniences as it may suit
them to give her. The prosperity of German ports and commerce can only
revive, it would seem, in proportion as she succeeds in bringing under
her effective influence the merchant marines of Scandinavia and of
Holland.

(2) Germany has ceded to the Allies "all her rights and titles over her
oversea possessions."[13] This cession not only applies to sovereignty
but extends on unfavorable terms to Government property, all of which,
including railways, must be surrendered without payment, while, on the
other hand, the German Government remains liable for any debt which may
have been incurred for the purchase or construction of this property, or
for the development of the colonies generally.[14]

In distinction from the practice ruling in the case of most similar
cessions in recent history, the property and persons of private German
nationals, as distinct from their Government, are also injuriously
affected. The Allied Government exercising authority in any former
German colony "may make such provisions as it thinks fit with reference
to the repatriation from them of German nationals and to the conditions
upon which German subjects of European origin shall, or shall not, be
allowed to reside, hold property, trade or exercise a profession in
them."[15] All contracts and agreements in favor of German nationals for
the construction or exploitation of public works lapse to the Allied
Governments as part of the payment due for Reparation.

But these terms are unimportant compared with the more comprehensive
provision by which "the Allied and Associated Powers reserve the right
to retain and liquidate _all_ property, rights, and interests b