Every evening, Wilmington daily commercial., 1919-01-02
NORTHERN FRANCE
RUINS, HOOVER SAYS
Germans Paralyzcd Industrial Lie
and Wantonly Laid Waste
Whole Region.

cahlcgram received here uaN W w"
ago. Herbert Hoover, Food Adhihis'ra-
tor and Chairman of the COMMISSION
for Relief IN Belgium. tells at the wan
ton destruction wrought by German
Armies IN parts of northern France
which they occupied, and states that the
work oG rehabilitation has been made 50
difficult hy these outrages that u VIII
bc impoSsihlc for the commission, as "
had hopcd to turn over the TASK ~ thiS
time Ia the French Government
"The entire industrial hie oi the io-
pion has been destroyed by the Ger
n,,ns " Mr. Hoover states There ls
scarcely n single factory that can b.
operated without u very large portion OF
new rquipmen, Thc coal mines are
totally destroyed and the network ot
railways IN this region has been rem
dered almost hopeless of reconstruction
for many months.
Tho German method oi destruction
was to brnd every single raIl bv exploding
n hand grenade under It. rendering
il useless for all time The Grand Canal
,lu Nord which connects tins section ot
France with the Belgium canal system and
Is the natural ontIepot for goods Tor
Antwerp ur Rotterdam, was itself prac-
tlcallv the fighting line for months and
i - badly DESTROYED that IT VIII take
fully year for its complete crcconstrucu"n
pFSTITtTioN WIDESPREAD.
Discussing general conditions, Mr.
Hoover states that the relief Is based
upon the allowance oi to thc Nalu
of about 35 cents a day 20 the destitute,
those having any resources or employ
mrnt being required % pay The whole
extent al tlcstItutIOn u not Vet known.
he asserts. but appears To- include tullv
80 per cent of the people Ills cable
adds these details
The Commission for Rcliei IN tcl-
gum had hoped 90 surrender the task OF
rehct ol Northern France t. the French
Government immediately upon the Ger
man retreat II has been found impossible
however. tor th, French Government
to undertake the food supply uf this
area for some months t. come. and upon
the urgent request of that government
the commission has decided 20 continue
After The fo,Ir-vear paralysis 81 whole
salc and retail business with the de
struction 81 the principal towns and
shops. these trades have disappeared, and
the people are TODAY dependent upon =
ration ISSUED dlrcct, ~ them Just -
before the German evacuation Until
transport ana trsdc can he rchahihtatcd
the present system must 20 on, for the
French tl,trlbut on Is done by the trades
These arrangements ncccsSitate some re-
organization of the rphCi work and ITS
entire scparat ION from Belgium
Twenty members of the Commission
for Edlci lii Belgium who !oincd the
american Army as officers have been re-
leased by General pcrshng 10 undertake
this WORK
ARMY rErCks REINt, T~SFn
"TransportatIui. 7ectIonS With the
region are maintained ti.-ough Dunkirk
and through ono Belaun canal still
operating supp cmcntcd hS motor trucks
originally installed ~ the armies and
nov being gradually taken over by tho
Commission for Rcl.cf Belgium
The popuhilou 81 his AREA U the
moment vt hc retreat was about 500
uu0 ihcr, hcing also about &n 600
refugees III Belgium Who are returning
and some ,501WN refugees IN France AT
~ whom are ANXIOUS 10 return 20 thCrr
native soIi
The destruction ol some - pr ncipsl
towns ana Itcrallv hundreds 81 villages
renders the return OF these refugees
stupcndouS problem. Every effort Is
being made 10 restrain them from gong
hack until some systematic provision for
shelter can bc completed but they evsde
IL official urglngs and the roads are
continuous procession of these pitIahlc
bodies Thousands of them reach their
llagcS 10 find every vcstIge of shelter
destroyed. and finally wander into the
villages further back from the acute
battle area, which are themselves over
crowded 20 s hcart-breaking degree
'ln order 70 remedy this situation
10 some extent the Commission for Re-
lief IN Belgium has obtained the serv-
ices of $50 volunteer, from the Ameri-
can Navy and i taking over a large
amount OF secondhand hsrrack material
from the navy and army Those barracks
are IN course OF erection adjacent 20 the
destroyed villages under the supcrlnten-
dencc OF the navy volunteer
ARMY CLOTHING DISTRIBUTED.
A large amount Of boots and shoes
and warm clothing ha~ been taken over
from thw Qusrtermsster supplies and
these are being distributed % the peupl,
The French Governments j. efdeav-
orlng TO obtain some cattle from ~WItz-
erland and horses from the various ar
mics. which. together with thc mcagr,
supply oi agricultural implements may
enable the population a. get In some
portion OF next year crops IA such of
these areas a. are not too badly destroyed
by battle
Since January / 1915, the Commission
for Rehet IN Belgium has Transported
food and clothing To the occupied territory
oi Northern France. These supplies
were distributed through French agency