Norwich bulletin., 1917-06-05
STORIES OF THE WAR
The Plight of France.

Arriving by the steamship Tour
 aine" from Bordeaux on May 24th. Dr.
 Ernest ". Bysshe of the American
 Methodist Mission in France is full of sympathy for that country. His report of conditions there is in many respects a sad one.
 His mission has been doing relief work in Southern France, maintain ing several foyers or cub rooms for soldiers, and five workrcoms for wo-
 men. He has seen the stream of re-
 fugees from the occupied sections of France that Germany is distributing several thousand a week. These, for the most part women or old men, the Germans cannot feed. and so, retain
 ing all boys above the age of four
 availablcs who would require more
 food than they desire to give.
 The Germans are trying to get the eXiles to give up their French money,
 but instead they obstinateiy bury, or hide it. They are permitted to carry
 with them only 100 francs in bank
 notes for each adult and 90 francs
 for each child, with as much of the
 deprecated bills IS they have. But even then the prosecutors try to cheat the refugees of this little amount. French bank notes are worth at pres ent one third more than their face value. The Germans ask for the money in enve.opeS to keep a s far as
 the frontier, and then they return the envelopes, after having exchanged the notes for depreciated paper. In this
 way they have accumulated possibly a
 million francs, stolen from these widows mites
 When the refugees reach France.
 they are almost penniless and have neither trade nor friends. It is then that so many women. who would die otherwise, come to some such charity
 as the Methodist work rooms and beg for enough to keep body and soul to- gether- This mission obtains mend ing and other sewing from the hospi- tais. hires the refugees to do 1t, and gives the completed work to the hos pitals.
 pr. Bysshe feels strongly about the attempts of the Germans to ruin
 France completely. Where the in Vader's horse has stepped the grass
 never grows again. The crops of the country are wholly inadequate in any case this year. as the farmers have al gone into the infantry; and the French government is facing an entire reorganization of it's agricultural sys- tenn. The entrance of so many refu- gees from the north. moreover, in
 creased the demand for food The German, army is also attempting a moral degradation of the women of France, making life much easier for the complacent woman and essaying by insidious persecution the eorrup- ton of others. But notwithstanding the genFal looseness of morals in war l time as well as the efforts of the i1- vaders, the moral situation in France, reports Dr. Bysshe is much better than one would expect. But altogether the sad fact remains that France is l being bled white Gas the French phrase runs) by the war, and the evi- dent German plan so to weaken her that even after a victorious war. she must fall into German hands within
 a decade Of its close, is all to sue cessful.
 The hope of France. according to 1 pr. Byssha, lies in it's women The French woman has advanced her cause by a whole generation. Who l would have thought five years ago that women physicians and civil ofn- cials would be recognized and de-
 manded? Ere long women, beginning with the f1ancees and widows of the soldiers, will be given full admission on equal terms in ali the professions and the civil service. And of course, | the vote: that will come earlier than some of the social gains
 Then the French women must teach l their men that they are not pIaythings but competitors. and after they have | become competitors they may be com rades. Woman has her spurs to win, and will probably have some trouble doing it. But certainly thus far the French woman has met the crisis ! sp1endidly.