Charlevoix county herald. (East Jordan, Mich.) 189?-1953, 1919-08-15

step toward tne rendDliitdtlon VI
France and the re-establishment Of It's
credit.
Bismarck had insisted that the in
demnity payments should be made
only in the main commercial cities of
Germany, and exclusively in gold, or
in silver, or In banknotes Of the banks
of England, Prussia, the Netherlands,
or Belgium. or in bills of exchange
approved by German experts. To do
this ii was necessary to carry out
exchange operations on scale never
| witnessed before.
Nevertheless, the payment Of the
two first billions was completed be-
tween June, 1871, and March, 1872,
somewhat In advance of the stipulated
dates.
Germany Amazed.
Owing to the continual complaints
coming from the occupied territories,
and encouraged by the favorable re-
suits already obtained, the government
decided to appeal at once to the ma
tion with the hope of raising the
whole of the three billions still needed
| for the liberation of the eastern de-
partments, which were still occupied.
The loan was voted in July, 1872. 1t
was covered more than thirteen times.
| The number of subscribers was 934,-
276 and the subscriptions amounted
to 1852 900, 900 francs of rente, or in
capital, 43,90O,000000 francs. This
result caused universal JOY, and gave
France fresh start with firm conf
dence in her future.
Finally, in March, 1873, the treaty
Of evacuation was signed, by which
| Germany was to move out of the east
ern departments still occupied by her.
and France undertook to pay and paid
the last billion in several payments
from May to September, 1873, that is
to say, two years in advance Of the
terms of the peace treaty.
Theirs was hailed as the "Liberator
Of the Territory" and France, at last
free of German occupation, could de-
vote herself to her material recon-
struction, which had begun the very
| day after her defeat.
France was gradually recovering, to
the great astonishment of the enemy.
The Germans were wondering how
they could check such remarkable
progress. From the end Of 1871 the
industrial and commercial activity,
which had been suspended for more
than year, began to show an extra
ordinary development. Orders flowed
| into France from home and from for
eign traders. All those who had been
directly struck by war showed a con-
fdence, a joy, and an instructive need
to repair their losses and fill up all the
| gaps. Faith In the future was upper
most, and all the signs Of rapid res
direction were clearly visible; so
much so that Bismarck was fright
ened by the rapid progress Of "this
conquered and disjointed power, which
had never submitted and whose vital
ity appeared to him to be permanent
threat, which was for him both stim-
ulus and a remorse."
Renewed Prosperity.
In November, 1872, at the meeting
of the assembly, M. Theirs made a
detailed statement of the situation of
the country; he drew attention to the
wonderful progress of foreign trade,
which amounted to 7,014 millions, as
against 6,227 millions in 1869, which
had been the most prosperous Of all
the years Of the empire.
From 1872 to 1880, France enjoyed
an ever-growing economic prosperity.
The agricultural figures In some years
were such as had never been seen be-
fore, even when France had two more
rich provinces. Industrial farming
was greatly developed In the north
east, and the yields were so remark
able that for a time II was thought
the soil alone could heal all the
wounds the nation had received.
In spite of the loss Of AlsaceLOr-
raine the output Of the coal mines,
which had been 156,000O00 In 1869,
reached the following figures:
In 1871. 1874 900 900
In 1872. .....212,UOOOO
IL 1873. 3................... .29O,OOO,OOO
The production Of pig iron, which
was 126,OOO,0OO in 1869, reached:
In 1872. 72................... .147 0O0, 900
In 1873. .190000,000
The output of iron and steel was
PAS 100000 In 1869. 1t reached:
In 1872. .314 600, 900
In 1873. 1862 900, 900
The Industrial production Of textiles
was increasing In the same proportion.
In 1869 1881 900 Kilograms of cot
ton goods were manufactured. In
1874 there were 1873, ,527, 900 Kilograms,
end in 1875 there were 157 $4,000.
Exports Of wooden goods were more
than 262 .OOO,0 900 in 1869 and 317,OO0,-
600 in 1876. SILK goods rose from
41O,OOO,OO0 In 1869 to 47S,000,000 In
1878.
Manufactured goods shipped out
ward rose as follows:
In loo5. .......s''.... .l,ooo'OOO,VVo
In 1871. 1..................1, .1,544OOO,OOO