New-York tribune., 1918-05-12

<<Nul ViVE!1 is the legend on the seal
~ of the French Restoration Fund, md.
words "La Marne," "La Somme,' "Verdun,"
"L'Aisne" and blank space which, presuma-
bly,, will be filled before long by the word
"Picardy."
"Picardy! Qui vive?" How many of us here
at home are asking that question as we go
about our daily rounds, our thoughts far away
with our fighting men across the seas? Qui
vive? Qui vive? For Picardy is pretty close
to us these days and it is difficult for us to
think of anything else. And yet it is selfish
to think only of our men, for there are other
sufferers on the plains of Picardy--the origi-
nal inhabitants of that desolate region, those
wretched peasants who for the second time in
four years find themselves homeless and desti-
tute amid the ruins of their homes, their very
lives in danger with this second advance of
the Hun. 1t will do us good to think about
them for change: it may serve as a counter
irritant.
These people have had two years of COM
parative quiet since their towns recapt-
ured by the French after the first German in
vasion. They had returned to their native
villages to the ruins of their houses and fields,
to their poisoned wells and blackened orchards
characteristic of the French people they had
begun, with the help of various war relief as
sociations, the work of restoration and recon-
struction, confident that the German had been
forever banished.
Miss Anne Morgan, during her recent visit
home, told US of the help which her little band
of volunteers had rendered in the town of
Blerancourt. She told of the temporary shell
tor which Ead od fort tbo ND
chickens with which the peasants had been
supplied; of the portable wooden houses in
which the peasants were being housed, and of
how the fields had been poughed and planted;
how the blacksmith's forge had been set up,
the village store reopened, and how business
as usual' was the rule And the work of Miss
Morgans unit was only sample of what has
been done throughout the devastated country;
but, alas! there was only temporary respite
for these poor SOULS for once more the German
vandals have invaded those peaceful villages,
scattering bombs and shells and lighting their
fires of destruction, and the ruin which they
have wrought in this second drive is greater
even than that of the first.
And still, returning travellers tell us, the
people not disheartened. "Cest la guerre,''
they say with smile and shrug of the
shoulders, and they set about straightway to
begin all over again.
A certain amount Of building is necessary,
ftr these people must be housed and cared for
until the Germans driven out for good and
all, and they can return to their ruined homes,
but such reconstruction is merely temporary.
The real work of the restoration and recon-
struction of France will not begin until peace
is declared, and then it will be undertaken by
the Official French Restoration Fund
The restoration of France! 1t seems a
pretty big order, doesn't it? When we realize
that there 5000 settlements ranging from
tiny hamlets and villages to cities the size of
scissors, Peronne and Rheims, absolutely in
ruins, it seems almost herculean task to
undertake their reconstruction. But when you
hear how it is to be accomplished, the plans
which have been made for raising the neces-
sary funds, maybe you won't be so skeptical
For Northern France is going to be restored
and what is more, you and I are going to help
to do it. We are going to help to restore the
France that we knew and loved before the war
We are going to help to reconstruct the little
stone houses, the marie, the village church
and the "auberge." And we are not going to
stop at this either, are going straight on
working until we have restored every cathe-
dral and monument that bears the slightest
trace of the visit of the Hun. 1t will take time
and money-much money-but we are going
to do it.
We may have been slow in getting into this