The public ledger. [volume] (Maysville, Ky.) 1913-1968, 1918-11-06
HUGE BILL FOR
BELGIUM; RUIN
GOES TO BOCHE
Allies May Take Over German Ports
70 Pay Cost.

Washington,k d. C.-Reparation for
the devastation of peaceful countries
wrought by the Huns looms large in
the peace terms that will be imposed
upon Germany by the allies.
President Wilson and the heads of
the allied governments are in COM
plete accord on the question or exact
ing reparation from Germany. The
president in his fourteen peace terms
said that there must be restoration"
of Belgium, northern France, Serbia,
Montenegro, Roumania, and Russia,
and he has construed restoration" as
inclusive of reparation.
The bill for repairs submitted to
Germany on the point of a bayonet,
so to speak, will be huge one, even
If 1t covers only physical restoration
of the properties destroyed in the in
vaded countries. The Huns will find
peace quite as expensive as war, If
not more so.
The biggest item in the bill will be
for the devastation of Belgium and
nearly the third of France overrun by
the German armies. Some idea of the
day by Prof P. Van DEn Ven of the
University of Louvain, who has just
returned from Havre, where he con-
ferred with the Belgian cabinet on
questions concerning the damage done
by the Huns.
much has been written about the
needed reconstruction but the world
does not comprehend the devastation
wrough by the Germans and probably
never will" said Van Den Ven. BE
fore the present drive more than 49,
600 buildings had been destroyed. In
the fighting along the Belgian front
large numbers of ruined buildings are
being added daily to the previous to-
tai. Even that part of Belgium which
remained free has been shelled time
and again, and so will have to be in
cluded in the damaged area.
practically all the important fac
tories have been robbed of their ma
chinery and in many cases not only
the walls razed to the ground but the
very foundations of the buildings de-
stroyed. 1t must be remembered as
clearly established by German docu-
ments that the aim was to cripple Bel
| GUM permanently as a commercial
rival to Germany. The machinery was,
of course, shipped to Germany.
From looting on this large scale 1t
extended down to such small things as
door knobs, knockers, curtain rods,
for the metal they contained. Miles
of interurban railroads were torn up
and shipped to Germany. Towns and
villages have been wrecked. Farms
have been robbed, to their last animal,
of live stock to supply the need of
Germany. This will give an idea, but
on an incomplete one, of the prob
lem of reconstruction that faces Bel
GUM.
"In confronting this problem one
reassuring fact stands out. Belgian
labor and Belgian spirit still exist;
the human material is still there
which, after all, in the reconstruction
of ruined country, is the main thing.
The quality of our skilled labor has
been recognized by both France and
England as of the best; Germany
thought it so good that she resorted
to deportation on a large scale.
what is needed, then, for the res
toration of Belgium is not a question
of depleted man power and ways to
overcome that, but is one of money,
To place material in the hands of the
Belgian to work with, and to supply
also the necessary machinery, money
is needed, and that brings forward the
financial side of the problem.
How is it proposed to solve that?"
was asked.
"rhe extent of our war losses due
to the invasion" said Prof. Van Den