Manawatu Evening Standard. TUESDAY, JUNE 13. 1922. THE REBUILDING OF BELGIUM

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIII, Issue 422, 13 June 1922, Page 4

Manawatu Evening Standard. TUESDAY, JUNE 13. 1922. THE REBUILDING OF BELGIUM

Belgium, hard hit bv ihe war, !r

since the armistice, applied itself so industriously to the work of reconstruction and rehabilitation that it is in a lair way ol repairing (ho damage to

property, trade* and industry which the war ciitaded. Except in Northern France, nowhere was there greater de-

struction of property t han in Flanders, 'i pres, recalled In mind by Lord French's assumption ol the title of the Earl of. Vpros, has rebuilt 1,.3(I0 out ol the 3,730 houses destroyed in the war.

There is some talk, moreover, of rebuilding tin* magldliceiit Cloth Mali, which was at mice the pride and gluey of that city ; whether it will lie possible io restore ii to iis lornier pri-l ine </-andeur is another mailer altogether. (!i:t of Its,(JQO former residents in the town more, than liali have returned. The town is rising from Iho ruins of its former self, I’hoenix like, and us rebuilding, we are told, is proceeding on business lines and on a definite policy, with the backin'. l ; ol the National Government. When ii cut liberated, tlie devastated regions held only one-tenth of their former population of ;!IS,-.KiG poisons, more than iNiO.OOO of whom have

since relnrned. i*p to August, 1921, the National Government had spent 1 dtI,OOI),ODD 1 nines in providin'.; housin'/ accommodation of a temporary character lor the returnin'.' relngce-;. but as brick and other material became availaide tin' policy of erect in;.; temporary houses was abandoned, and, as a writer in one oi the reviews toils ns, the Government voted 100.000.000 francs to be lent out to builders in sums not exceeding half the total cost nf their house., the loans to lie repayable in twenty years, with interest at 2 per cent., and being made conditionally on the understanding that the rent charged shall not exceed 4 per cent, of the capital spent on the house. •• in addition a great, lederntion of co-opera-tive societies was founded for expe-

(dting reconstruction, Authorised by the Government ii raised a premium loan of I .Otjt).1)00,000 francs, which it advances to individuals up to 7d per cent, of claims pending, and to ihe full value of the bonds issued by the tribunals.” A Royal dot-roe, confirmed by law, had previously promised reparation hv the State for war damage.

"Instead of payin', l ; reparations the (lovernment for a while undertook to provide owners with houses equal in value to their pre-war property, and tin* State purchased immense quantities of building material to avoid the rise in price that would have resulted from private buyers bidding against each other, and erected the houses itself. The plan proved both rapid and elUcaeious. but it was so costly that it v.as abandoned, except in the case of the Luxemburg Province, where the work - nt reconstruction was nearing completion. "Twelve months ago,” wo are told, "the country around Vpre.s was a desolate waste and rehabilitation seemed a task for years and years oi toil, but to-day, ihom.di the Mark remains of once lovely avenue'- bear witness to the past, field alter held is under cultivation, and, in the middle ■it 11)2L. only 7 per cent, of the area rendered useless for cultivation remained unredeemed. Shells have been lug out of the riddled ground at the ■ost of many lives. The debris lias been raked up and piled into neat heaps. The holes have been tilled in, uloughed and sowed, and this year brings a harvest." The results oi Belgium's activity are. ibis writer says, astonishing. "Everything a visitor sees in the little country loaves the nipression that, while the rest of the world has been struggling feebly with post-war depression, Belgium has been

ceaselessly toiling. There-is a Belgian saying that 'work makes a man strong, am! only Urn lazy are weak.’ They certainly toil. In Yores 1 saw this sturdy stock in wooden shoes at task ailer task There was no loafing on the j oh or pausing to eye an occasional visitor. Individually, or in groups, they plod on, seemingly without tiring. . . . The last glimmers of twilight line! men unloading hrieks at stations and women working on the farms. Belgium is coming hack.”