Evening star., 1915-03-14
EUR0PE'S DISARMAMENT PROBLEM

products subsequently made in Gers
many"
The, sudden receipt of large suns
OF money provoked imitation of prices
and a serious injury
Elect Of the to industry. even
Indemnity. Ss1Dp.ss ws',s rr.nes of "Uat' m,,-
lions rained on Germany. Germany fell
IA prey to a grave financial crisis.
Twelve months after the payment OF
the last part of the indemnity the rate
OF exchan8e was greater at Berlin a.
TO per cent) than at Paris. where IL
was maintained uniformly at per
cent. and money circulated moro abund-
antly In France than in Germany. From
1872 to 1877 the deposits in the Ger
man savings banks decreased 20 per
cent In the winter of 1s76-ls77 the
number OF unemployed workmsn In
Germany assumed such enormous pro-
portions that 1t was found necessary
to establish communal soup houses and
government employment shops.
Bismarck in presenting his project Of
law on protection I'm 1879 declared that
Germany was slowly bleeding to death
tain" May 2. 1879. he said: I'VE sec
France arrange things in such manner
that she provides for all her CONNER
cial difficulties: her budget has aug
mented a billion and half since 1871
aside from her loans: she has more re
sources than Germany and there is
less complaint about hard times. Two
years later. November 2e. 1881, the
chancellor said: ut was toward 1877
was struck for the first time by the
general growing distress in Germany
compared with the situation in France
1 have remarked decrease OF tho gen.
era! welfare in Germany"
France was far behind England
down to is45. The invention Of steam
would naturally be advantageous to
| country where coal was in use since
veins were numerous. the extraction
| easy. the quality excellent. the trans
portation short and cheap. England
| thus became the colossal center of
/ pit coal which she could not use her
self. England's merchant marine was
perfected; II two-thirds OF the ships
were constructed in British shipyards
1t was because the labor was cheaper
and better.
This situation in England was due to
English coal, so also Germany's future
Sedan was no factor for Germany any
| more than Waterloo was for England.
France produced 100000 tons of coal
in 1880. 100000 tons in 1s4o. 21.o0o.0o
tons in 1870. The two-thirds of the
| latter was extracted from her own
| mines, the remainder was imported.
In 1879 a discovery in metallurgy
changed the current OF political events
in Germany. the de-
Revolution In phosphorization of
Iron Making. sma,t,na ,ron ore an IN the the
Rhine deposits, those OF Luxembourg
and Lorraine annexed. produced a COM
mon Iron difficult of sale because the
phosphorus it contained rendered 1t
brittle. Thomas Gilchrist. a notary's
clerk in London, who spent his off
hours in the study OF metallurgy,
found the formula. It was known that
lime mixed In the smelling absorbs the
phosphorus. but a chemical reaction
| caused the brick lining OF the recipient
| to melt or dissolve. Gilchrist replaced
the brick lining by "dolomia." a sort Of
asphalt composed of tar and magnesia,
which prevented dissolution. The revo.
luton in the iron industry in Germany
was immense.
A hundred years ago us15p Germany
| possessed twenty-three million inhabit.
ants; France had twenty-seven million.
In 1S45 the two countries possessed the
| lion. In 1870 France had thirty-seven mil.
lion and Germany possessed forty million.
The annual births in Germany In 1s4S
| were 1.233. 900: 1t passed from 1.329. 900 to
1,525. 900 in 1859. France remained sta
| tionary, about $4,000 annually. Since
forty-four years the annual births have
gradually descended to $4,000 and at the
close Of the nj nineteenth century It had
in 1908 attained two million, and in 1914
they had fallen to 100000. In this man
ner Germanys population has augmented
from 1915 to 1870 70-100 and since then
70 n he v1rn
portion.
! 1t is quite true that the millions ex-
tracted from France in 1871 in the
beginning materially aided Germany. but
the policy Of progressive armament neu-
tralized the benefit, which WAS tran
| sient. The French government. IT IL
| recalled. voted about 5000. 100000
| francs. as suggested by NJ. Freycinet.
menting the means Of communication
| by rail-, canals and rivers to increase
revenue in every possible manner. But
| the writer on this head asks: How
create with law coal veins that do not
| exist? How create an increase of pop
ulation?
And the writer adds it Is incontest.
able that the German character has
undoubtedly favored
Socialism and the econo m i cal de-
ps.: yelopment OF Germany.
1aclnclsm. And he should have
added that the one palpable error COM
mitted In France has been the license
accorded the propagation of the so-called
socialism, which developed into pacific
ism. and finally anti -militarism, which
| was nothing less than anti-patriotism and
| anarchy.
Meanwhile. France since forty-four
years has ben engaged in the ac-
quisition and exploitation OF vast ter
rftorfes. not always remunerative
France has acquired Tonkin. Tuni..
Cambodge. kongo. Dahomey, Sudan.
Madagascar and Morocco.
The destruction Of militarism is
held by many statesmen to be unrealiz-
able. They hold that none of the
groups Of nations engaged in the actual
war is capable of imposing its will on
the other, and that the actual war is
only the debut of a series of conflicts
between races. Of which our children
will not see the end. Such a situation
implies a return to primitive condi-
tions, which are intolerable.
If disarmament is the only solution
possible. it is undeniably the most diff
cult. Those who would perpetuate mill
tary power will not abandon 1t until
driven to the last extremity. Precisely
for this motive disarmament will be
the longest and most costly to obtain,
But no matter what the price, 1t is the
only solution to prevent a chronic con-