THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 1921. RESTORATION OF FRANCE.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVIII, Issue 17754, 13 April 1921, Page 6

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. WEDNESDAY, APRIL 13, 1921. RESTORATION OF FRANCE.

Among the indications that Germany is preparing to accept the Allies' reparation proposals or to submit serious counter-proposals the most promising are the recent references of her statesmen to the restoration of Northern .FranceThese statements have not been as explicit or as candid as might be desired, but it is something to find the German Foreign Minister treating the French claims as the core of the reparation question and hinting at early proof of Germany's sincerity. It is not only that under an agreement made- between the Allies Franc 6 will receive more than half the reparation; her moral claim to precedence is so strong that it becomes a -test of the honesty of Germany' 3 response. Belgium also suffered much, but the treaty made special provision for succouring her, and since her recuperation has been wonderfully rapid she is far less dependent than France upon the payment of reparation. The current French Budget is balanced upon the assumption that £275,000,000 will be received from Germany. Default will seriously embarrass the efforts of France to rebuild her ravaged cities, to find pensions for her soldiers and to recoup herself for separation allowances. Few Frenchmen even in Official circles would care to hazard a guess at the reparation claim which might legitimately be made against Germany. It is an interesting circumstance that the Allies have determined Germany's liability without any public statement of their full bill. They realised that the liability was so immeasurably beyond Germany's capacity to pay that it had little practical bearing on the negotiations, and they preferred to confine the issue to its simplest elements. Yet it is to be hoped that Germany's full liability will one day be proclaimed to the world if only as an historical record of her infamy, and that the French bill will be authenticated by her allies. It has, unfortunately, been the subject of some controversy, and even in England an attempt has been made to deprecate some of the items on the ground that they are exaggerated. The criticism directed against the French figures appears to be due to failure to realise the fact that though a comparatively small area of France was occupied it was an area of the most intense agricultural and industrial production. A Frenchman has justly likened it in importance and comparative area to i Lancashire and the West Riding of Yorkshire, and asked how the occupation of that territory would have affected England- Actually 7 per cent, of the soil of France was within the area of substantial devastation, and any honest calculation of the damage inflicted would produce an almost fabulous total. One of the most lucid estimates yet made of the French losses has been contributed by M. Henri Brenier, Director-General of the Marseilles Chamber of Commerce and a leading authority on, the economic position of his country. M. Brenier does not attempt to calculate the total loss, but he presents enough data under separate headings to suggest that the total would be almost incredibly great. Taking house property first he quotes official figures to show that 304,191 buildings were destroyed and 290,425 damaged, a total *of 594,616. (The number of dwellings in the whole of New Zealand is about 243,000). At present-day prices the cost of restoration is set down at £750,000,000, apart from any expenditure on streets, many of which have almost entirely disappeared, drainage, and other public services. For the deterioration of land M. Brenier considers the official estimate of £152,000,000 conservative. The 9,000,000 acres of the battle-zone include the rich plains of -French Flanders, the scarcely less valuable plains of Picardy and Artois, the Santerre, and the Soissonnais and Tardenoia districts. Nine of the ten invaded departments, though forming only 10 per cent, of the area of France, yielded over 20 per cent, of her wheat crop, 24 per cent, of her oats, 75 per cent, of her Bugar, 41 per cent, of her flax, and 70 per Cent, of her hops. Ealf-a-million acres will be unfit for cultivation,for many years, over" 4,000,000 acres are seriously damaged, and 3,000,000 acres are classed as " spoiled." Incidentally forests valued at £66,000,000 have been cut down by the Germans. One of the special objects of the German armies appeared to be the destruction of communications, and in this they succeeded only too well. About 2750 miles of railway line were wholly destroyed and 750 damaged. On the tyord system the first report showed the complete destruction of 250 stations, 860 bridges and four tunnels. So scientific were the Germans in their destruction that they invented a sort of plough to follow an engine and tear up the permanent way in its' wake. Road traffic was almost as seriously interrupted. Alter the war 33.250 miles of road were in need of repair, and in the bad: areas 65G0 miles had been damaged by heavy motor transport, while 3223 bridges had been destroyed. So formidable was this task that by the end of May only 1364 miles had been completely restored and only 11,036 sufficiently repaired to carry normal traffic. The canal system, so important to the national economy of France, suffered severely, embankments, locks and bridges being blown up and beds filled in. No fewer than 40,000 men are now engaged in the reconstruction of the 6GO miles of canal put out of action. The care with which the Germans wrecked industrial establishments has become notorious, but it is doubtful if the world yet'realises the extent of the damage. Over 23,000 industrial plants were destroyed, the factories being in some cases so completely demolished that the 'owners could not even identify the ground on ■ which they had stood. Where plants were spared vital parts were stolen

and removed to Germany, whence they have been recovered with difficulty, often in a worn-out condition. The damage wrought to the coalmines has had the effect of reducing the total French production by half. Over 200 pits have been destroyed, the pit-head structures razed, and the shafts flooded. Whole marshes were pumped into some of the mines and great care was taken to complete the destruction of each pit separately. Such is a brief outline of the main categories of French losses- To fill in details would be wearisome and unnecessary. The French people are confronted with daily evidence of their loss and of the excesses of German " frightfulness." It is small wonder that with them reparation is a burning question of practical politics, and that they are disposed to judge Britain by her attitude'toward it. If. the Allies were otherwise disposed to be lenient to Germany the economic sufferings of France would alone be a reason for placing justice before mercy and demanding that Germany should pay to the uttermost of her ability.