The Morgan City daily review. (Morgan City, La.) 1916-1920, 1918-10-25
What it Means
r.rk n. Simonds.

a. Frank H. Simonds.
-. 1q18-New York Tri-
Ie0p bune, Inc,)
,hould be a very naive people
We onite as stupid as Won Papen
ndesu' "a If we did not understand
isel. u, what the German campaign
dssas and explosion IN Northern
~ means. The German is get
PAN adv to make peace, and this
p q. idea of the fashion il which
y -soare for the end Of hostilities.
p : German logic the situation is
y 4, no distant time hostiIities
o.. = aver and then the business Of
f.cture and trade will begin
When this business begins
" German will once more have to
an,ste with the rest Of the world
~ ,o his competitors are the man
800 .arers Of Northern France and
psloium. This being the case, it
i duty. while the power remains
= !, hands, to abolish all chance OF
s1ture competition.
AGAINST such an eventuality he be-
n bis preparations long ago. In
= uinter Of 1914-15 he removed all
I. machinery from the great manu-
s.,uring centres Of Lille, Roubaix
i Tourcoing and transported it
- 10 Germany. He has continued
4. systematic spoilation of the in
,..+ral establishments of France
n Belgium ever since. Now ne is
,,ne one step further and destroy
!, the buildings in which the ma
.,;,srv was originally installed and
!. cities in which the industries
we're conducted.
Tho region through which the
n.rman il now retreating is one of
NJ reat industrial districts of
rurope. Lille, Tourcoing and Rou-
ajx practically constituting a single
,ty Of over 100000 inhabitants, are
H. Great industrial towns of France.
Cambria, Douai and a score of small
~ naces now in the war news are
anilarly busy centres of French
manufacture. Lens, whose complete
min has been reported, is the chief
oal mining town of France. Scat
.red about it are the smaller vii
lges which, with Lens, supply almost
Al Of the coal essential to French I
industry. Between these various
cities and towns run many canals,
Useful in the transportation of ma
enal
Now the factories, the mines, the
anak, are all being Systematically
destroyed, together with the cities
h the district. Everything of the
msllest value which could be moved
w been moved back to Germany;
what could not be moved is being
ruined or destroyed by fire and dyna-
mite
! II Is the Germans calculation that
when he has completed this work Of
! gstematic and deliberate destruction
Industrial France and industrial Bel
gum will be wiped Of the map and
that it will be matter Of years be-
fore either can be restored In these
years German manufactures will
profit by the absence Of French and
Belgian competition, and in this
Wy the burden OF the war will be
mustered from German to French
md Belgian backs.
L IS essential that this whole pro
ran, and it is a program, should
% fully appreciated by the Ameri-
ca people. When he has completed
M task Of devastation the German
Pects to make peace. He expects
oe able to explain that such ruin
nas come to France and Belgium ;;
'ae natural, if regrettable, conse-
saeace Of war. He will weep over
Wy rum, as the Kaiser wept for
l0usaln, for Rheims and for much
g out ne means to keep up his
unpalgn Of arson to the very last :
moment. II
a0fe than all this, the very best
a'sn1lse to te German industry in
siuction at the presnt hour is the
~ msistent declaration in many
.efs that there must be no re- I
80 ~ the end Of the war; no pun +,
lnent which will hurt German feel
!. ana therefore lessen the chance
= enduring league of nations to
i 1s,0n. From the very outset of
~. ueele the German has capt.
go the humanity and the civil |
nsuncts Of his foes; he is max
Iu'l use Of these sentiments now.
~ nmple truth is that tie German
ne can lay waste Northern
= /. and Belgium and get away |
! ID = unscathed, even rewarded IN )