Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1915-03-09
ARE CONCENTRATING THEIR
EFFORTS TO BRING REEVE
NUES FROM PORTIONS OF
BELGIUM AND FRANCE.
LABOR OFFERS. A PROBLEM
Scarcity of f Ti}lers Of tie Soil
Often Causes German Soldiers
to Take Up Task.

. General Field Hea0TnarieTE OF the
German Armies, Mar. S--"Wa" is Jns
mess" and the Germans with char.
actcrislic system and thorOnshncis
are proceeding to apply business prin-
cipIes not only to the running II their
armies but to the administration OF
the occupied parts of France and Bel.
gium in order to keep a~griLulluia'
and manufacturing entnrDrs alive,
and to make The occupied territory
contribute to the support Of the al
mics.
Commissions Organized.
business commissions have bech
organized at various points. The
duty Of these is to IrOvidc for the
continuance Of work in field and fac
tory and to gather up slc'1 supplies
as may be required for tie use Of
the armies or may be available for
shipment to Germany. Within a
week or two after the Germans had
occupied Li"3c. the great arms FAC.
tories there wcrc turning out I'M
munitiOn and arms for the German ar
mics; coal mines in southern Belgium
SUUu IcStlIlcu VJCi StllOlIS ~ thC Nv
count Of .Me German gov rnment:
and the commissions have new. open
ed a wide field OF activity in the rich
industrial region Of northern France
The problems for the commissions
in Telgium and France were widely
similar. In Belgium they were con.
fronted with a superabundance Of Ia.
Dor and few Jaw materials; in north
ern France great masses of raw ma
terial have been found but the lab )r
to work them up is lacking. Much
OF the Belgian raw material in peace
time, except iron and coal. was i'm.
ported from abroad, The markets. for
the finished products We're also
abroad and cannot be reached owing
to the war. afrhe problem is Belgium
is therefore to find work for the SUI
p%erabundant labor supply.
Would Import Laborers.
In France, on the other hand. the
mobilization took practically every
a6le-bodied man into the army and
there is q great scarcity of native la
Dor in the regions occupied. What
ave. work is undertaken there mast
ibe. done by women, children and the
aged and inirm, sometimes even bv
German soldiers. Some of the bus'.'
ness. commissions there are even dis
cussing plans for bringing in farm la
'5orers from Germany. ~ r.,
The occupied region is the richest
mart of France. While it contains
81 per cent Of the total area. it has
onc-siXth Of the population and
wealth. Embraced in it are 80 per
cent Of the iron and 70 ner cent Of
tina coal industries Of France, and
there are also very large wooden and
cotton industries here. Large sup.
plies Of raw materials for these and
other industries We're on hand. while
tories. These materials we're there.
fore largely taken over by the Ger
mans and sent to Germany. From
Lille and its vicinity, it is said. :hout
1925, C00,0 GO of raw wool and WOODEN
yarn was thus confiscated and ship
ped to Cermany---an amount enna' to
p" full years CONSUMPTION Of ill the
German wooden mills. Rubber in
large amount was found elsewhere.
Coal mines around Lille are now op.'
Grated ID" the Germans to produce
fuel for the railways in the occupied
region. 81
This STRIP of France is a fertile and
highly cultivated agricultural region.
One of the principal tasks of the bus.