s was going to
stand by a signed agreement. However, it seems to me, Mawruss, that
there should ought to be an end to this here better-luck-next-time
attitude towards the Germans' idea of honor on the part of the Allies."

"Well, what are you going to do with such people, Abe?" Morris asked.

"To me it's a business proposition, Mawruss," Abe said, "and the way I
feel about this here Peace Treaty is that it is nothing but composition
notes, signed by the Germans without indorsement by anybody. Now you
know as well as I do, Mawruss, if a bankrupt owes you money and he has
got _some_ assets, you ain't going to take composition notes for the
entire amount of debts and let the bankrupt keep the remains of his
assets, because composition notes without indorsements don't deceive
nobody, Mawruss. If I get from a bankrupt unindorsed composition notes,
I simply put them away in my safe and forget about them, which if a
bankrupt ever paid his unindorsed composition notes he would be adding
murder to his other crimes on account the holders of such composition
notes would drop dead from astonishment."

"The death-rate from such a cause among business men ain't high, Abe,"
Morris commented.

"If I was an accident-insurance company's actuary, I would take a chance
and leave such a cause of death out of my calculations," Abe agreed. "It
never happens, and so, therefore, Mawruss, if Germany lives up to the
terms of the Peace Treaty it would only be because the German signature
is guaranteed by the indorsement of a large Allied Army of Occupation,
and, therefore, if we've got to do it first as last, why monkey around
with a new German Cabinet? Why not close up the Peace Conference _sine
die_, tell Germany her composition notes ain't acceptable, y'understand,
and proceed to make a levy and sale with the combined armies of the
Allies as deputy-sheriffs, Mawruss, because not only are the Germans
bankrupts, but they are fraudulent bankrupts, and on fraudulent
bankrupts nobody should have no mercy at all?"

"But don't you think it might be just as well to give the Germans a few
days' grace and see how this here new Cabinet goes to work?" Morris
suggested.

"You don't have to know how it works, Mawruss," Abe replied. "All you
have to do is to know how it was formed and you can guess how it would
work, which I bet yer that Erzberger got together with von
Brockdorff-Rantzau and they combed over the list of candidates to get
just the right