Daily capital journal. (Salem, Oregon) 1903-1919, 1916-07-31
Wars Effects in France
By Henry Wood

| oiie' "uiy 10y mail - Hdnhs
largely to the historical "wooen sock
bank of the thrifty French, France
today is financially and economically
supporting the war without any seri
Gus strain on her national life while
y new elements the war has injected in
to industrial and economic life assure
France industrial expansion without
precedent when peace comes.
| At the close of the war in 1870
when Germany imposed an indemnity
of one billion dollars, it was the same
woolen sock bank that saved
France. To date, the war mas cost
France some $4,000, 100000. 73 per cent
for military expense.
To meet this gigantic financial bur
den, the people have loaned the gov.
ernment nearly $3,000,000, 900. They
have also paid nearly 81 100000, 1000 in
war taxes, making total of $4,50O,-
100000, over half the cost of the wal
to date.
! The French government has left
I with its people all the ready capital
necessary for the full resumption of
her industrial, commercial and agricul-
tural activities the moment war ends.
by not imposing on her people tae
financial burdens of the war faster
than their earning capacity will bear,
France is able financially to continue
the war now costing her over $1S,-
, 0O0,0O0 day, for an indefinite period,
without crippling either her financial
, economic Or industrial lifo
Cut Out the Absinthe
The influx of female labor into all
branches Of French industrial life
since the war began, the suppression
of absinthe and the restriction gener-
ally of alcoholic consumption, and
above all the great lesson of industrial
efficiency and maximum production
which the war has taught France, hold
out for her roseate prospects of the
future that promise to compensate the
loss in everything but human life the
war has entailed on her.
Of the three great elements men
toned above that in two short years
have revolutiOnized French industrial
life, the greatest perhaps is industrial
efficiency and maximum productive
ness. Previous to the war, industrial
efficiency was almost unknown out.
side the United -.ates and Germany.
But today France is industrially eff
cient. 1t was the necessity of saving
the nation by incredible increases in
the production of munitions and mill
tary supplies that taught France the
lesson.
France s output of powder today is
~ times greater than before the war,
her output of rifles 237 times greater
machine guns 9S times greater, can
non % times greater, 75.shells "a times
greater, heavy artillery % times grea..
er.
This increase in productiveness, due
in part to an increased number of fac
tories, is due principally to perfected
efficiency.
Only Half the Story
Munitions, however, tell only half
the story. All supplies necessary for
equipping and maintaining millions of
men in the field tell the other nalf.
The chemical industry in France
which before the war was monopolized
by Germany, has triEed in southern
France, in the vicinity of Limoges and
Dijon, doubled; while in the vicinity
of Lyons it has taken the form of new
lines, entirely unknown in France be-
fore the war.
When peace comes, this lesson of eff.
ficiency will be applied to every in
dustry in France with an increase in
the national productiveness and wealth
calculated to startle the world.
Other lessons o. efficiency and max
imum productiveness have been taught
to the French by the Germans at heavy
cost. The French iron fields of the
Basin of Briey, held by the Germans
since the beginning of hostilties, pro
duced for the French in 1913, $4,000,
600 tons of iron and steel. The Ger.
mans, since they got possession OF
them, have made them produce 2l,
100000. When France gets them back
she proposes to make them produce as
much for her as they did for the Ger.
mans.
Efficiency in agriculture also has
come to France through the nard nee.
essity of Prussian occupation. Since
the beginning of hostilities the Ger.
mans have occupied 100000 acres
the 53,000000 acres, 100000 acres
| that are the most productive in
France. Before the war they produc
ed $l,00,000,000 annually or one tenth
of the national production and wealth
Enforced Efficiency
Unfortunately with their passing in
to the hands OF the enemy, France did
not experience n corresponding de.
crease in her population. She has with
in her borders today, 100000 wal
efugees-Belgians, Serbians, French
Alsatians-so that 100000 acres less
Of territory, she is still obliged to main
tain her normal population Of about
100000. Enforced agricultural eff
| cheney is enabling her TO do it, Her
wheat acreage for 19l is 5,034, SIC
acres as against 6,57l $50 for 1914
when she had 100000 more acres of
territory; her 1916 rye acreage is 920,-
975 as against /, pol $50 Of 1914.
With the close of the war this agri-
cultural efficiency and intensity will
increase.
France has been unable to complete
stacistics on the miracles being
wrought in her national productive.
ness by the suppression of absinthe
and the restriction of alcoholic con.
sumption. Minister OF Finances Ribot
however, states that the results arc
amazingly apparent and insure even
greater restriction with the return of
peace.
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