That was the principle of reparations to which President Truman agreed at Potsdam. And the United States will not agree to the taking from Germany of greater reparations than was provided by the Potsdam Agreement.
The conditions which now exist in Germany make it impossible for industrial production to reach the levels which the occupying powers agreed were essential for a minimum German peacetime economy.
Provision was also made for the distribution of Germany's foreign assets among the Allies.
The American people want peace. They have long since ceased to talk of a hard or a soft peace for Germany.
Essential central German administrative departments have not been established, although they are expressly required by the Potsdam Agreement.
Power intoxicates men. When a man is intoxicated by alcohol, he can recover, but when intoxicated by power, he seldom recovers.