Evening star., 1919-03-30

the future. And while minds and
hearts are anticipating the day when
the-Ereat industrial plants of the
nation will once more hum with
activity, the rolling fields will be we'll
tllEo- and covered with livestock,
when her ports will handle a steady
stream of articles for the outside
woEId- Belgium's hands are busy as
possible under the trying circum-
stances war has imposed. Belgium
is Hei sitting back and waiting for
huge Hun indemnities. The people
everyW here are setting to work at
simple tasks with will and vim
that-fnspires the respect of all who
witness it,
Trying to Revive Industry.
While other countries of Europe
maybe dwelling upon the problems
of h01Shevism. Belgium is not worry
ing-her wits about this. Rather is
she -devoting her attention to the re-
hahiGtation of Belgium. The Belgian
! government understands full we'll
tharbusy hands and busy minds, all
employed in useful tasks. cannot
have time for the mulling over of
. bofshevist theories or the throwing
of hand grenades and bombs. Conse-
/. quently the Belgian government is
endeavoring with all it's power to
bring about speedy revival of
industry in Belgium. industry which
; once made the Belgian nation one
of the richest per capita in Europe.
Implicit confidence prevails in the
sturdiness of the Belgian workman in
no matter what category he may fall.
This trust of the government is
almost sublime. The peoples them
seIXss, peoples who oftentimes have
huHRered, and who for more than
SoT -A1r oh vic ini-
tudes have had not more than
enough to sustain life. are justifying
every confidence placed in them. One
haS=but to make trip through
Belgium to witness the spirit of the
people.
Striking out from Brussels over
roads which but recently offered path
ways for retreating enemy armies, one
caRleee this spirit of industry on every
HAND. Small villages, which, but re-
cehN housed Hun hordes, are busily
scrnhbing themselves as if to remove
the-taint of those who so long placed
theif yoke of repression upon them.
Many of these were literally sacked by
the Germans during their forward ad-
vaHees in 1914 and 1915, when, after
tearing to scraps all paper obliga-
tionS- TO civilization, they, in frantic
ea1sFness, swept toward the chan
nefports and into France. One would
think that they today would still be
in ruins They are not. The once
smuked walls are now fairly clean.
NeXwindows and new doors carefully
painted have been placed. Wherever
Z possible whitewash has been used
freely. A glance at the interior of
these modest homes which stretch
along the roadside all the way from
Brussels to Antwerp shows them
neat clean and orderly. Possibly
woman in wooden shoes and with one Of
th6Ee long peculiar brooms SO fre=
be&een upon the cobbled sidewalks.
upoEa- her knees. diligently cleaning
away the dirt that accumulated dur
ing1 long Hun occupation. She may
be-wearing patches upon her dress
aHdFhe may be slightly hungry, but
she5s working and eager for the
task
People Show Energy.
In-some of these Belgian villages
German cannon wrought terrible dam
.age.rhough the Huns could not have
had any military object in doing so.
beautiful old stone walls about mod
, est little estates may still bear
ghasfly holes; walls of outbuildings
max have crumbled under the i'm
pact of steel: beautiful trees which
line-tbe roadsides of practically all
European nations may have been
ruthlessly cut and left lying along the
highway; fences may have been OBJ
: literated: the farms themselves may
be-Ritted with yawning she'll holes;
heEe-and there little industries may
he Silent, as they have been for years
thrdugh the theft of machinery or
destruction of plants: there may ap-
peaF utter devastation in places and
theheopleS themselves may have been
unable to maintain the one-time proud
appearance of the average Belgian
couHtTslde, but today in spite of all,
= win the Germans gone and with the
dawn of everlasting peace at hand,
the Industrious spirit of these people
IS bEing shown. Men and women are
bending to the task and with such
cfiicfency that many of the scars left
upUT Belgium early in 1914 today are
hardly recognizable from their physi-
cal-nspects.
Belgium likes to be clean and Bel
GUM likes to be busy. In the absence
of -peh bilitation of the greater indus
triesthese simple folk in the smaller
towns of the country are bending their
energies toward more simple tasks.
The Belgian knows that mere indem-
nity-or financial recompense for dam
age done by the German will not re-
move The debris of the struggle He
knows that there must be muscle
RoWer and that he must furnish it.
Ss-ehe Belgian in a small town said to
me-
!, We are not waiting for the time to
get-eNr money from Germany to start
work. We would rather work now,
even though we may not receive pay
and get our country ready for the time
when we. with money which we shall
receive, can start instantly our in
dustFies and revive our farms Then
there will be no delay. Belgium will
prosper again"
This seems to be the theory that
dominates practically the whole of the
country.
- Need Work to Do.
Notwithstanding the fact that the
people of Belgium desire to work, bar
ring possibly certain groups of lazy
ones with which every country is af-
ficteA, Belgfums situation is trying.
there being more than 100000 per-
sonswho have exhausted the more
simple tasks about them and who are
awnfting the day when organized in
.custrfes resume. The majority of
these peoples are in the more populous
centers. there being more than 60. 900
unemployed in Brussels alone.
More than 500. 900 families in Bel
giums today are Still dependent upon
Succor from other parts of the world
and possibly will be until material as
sistance has been lent in the revivifica-
rioH-of Belgian Industrial and eco
Iorrfc life.
The state pays a small pension to
the--Anemployed. and through the in
S~trffnentality of the American COM
1nSSion for the relief of Belgium. and
Jrilsh organizations that have assist
b ID materially, there is sufficient to sus-
raJd1hiS iGl" population in health until
-" on ""d industry is
More lAAa 1aa.aoo persons who xsrs