The Owosso times. (Owosso, Mich.) 1897-1926, 1919-01-31
SHIPS FIRST IN
x FRANCES NEEDS
Must Have Aid in Restoring Mer-
chant Marine.
: VAST LOSSES SUMMED UP
EDWARD de Billy, Deputy High Com
missioner Of the French Republic to
J the United States, Gives Statement
OF country's Needs, 100000 Of
I Her Young Men Killed or Manned,
( 10000 Factories Ruined.

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Her Young Men Killed or Manned
10000 Factories Ruined.
With 100000 of her youngest
ablest, and most spirited men killed or
manned, and upward of half her indus
try and shipping destroyed by the
war, Frances appeal to her allies dur
Ing the period of rehabilitation will be
for help In rebuilding the factories and
farms which the Germans wrecked and
Tor assistance in constructing or pur-
chasing ships, said Edward de Billy,
deputy high commissioner Of the
French republic.
Admitting his country's gain by the
conflict, in the revitalizing Of the
French spirit of self-confidence, SUBJ
dued by the defeat of 1871, and in re-
gaining Alsace and Lorraine, with their
agricultural districts, Mr.. de Billy said
the wars losses were far greater. He
denied that France was "bled white"
but said the handicap imposed as a
result of her sacrifices in resisting the
Invader could not be overcome except
with outside aid.
Resorting to figures, he declared
that 10000 factories In the French dis
tricts occupied by the Germans were
destroyed or stripped Of their ma
chinery; that almost 100000 head
of cattle were seized; that thousands
of miles of farm land, devastated by
shells, was made unfit for cultivation;
that the net loss in ship tonnage,
through sinkings and enforced curtail-
ment in production, was 670,OOO tons,
and that the money cost of the con-
flict, in appropriations and public debt
aggregated 15S,OOO,OO0,O00 francs. or
$4,000, 100000.
sour army had to stand" he said,
"the first rush Of the invasion, while
the other armies were being prepared.
And, however wonderful was the eff
fort Of the British, some months later,
and afterward that Of the American
army, the front held by the French
had never been less than two-thirds Of
the total line from the North Sea to
the Swiss border. Thus our losses were
greater than those of any other army.
A part Of our country has been In
yaded, its population treated as slaves,
their houses looted, their factories de-
stroyed; while on the fighting line the
soil of France has been plowed so deep
by shells that no agriculture Is pOssi-
BILE. Some sentimental people have
been lamenting over France as bled
white. Nonsense! France Is not bled
white. She has men filed with re-
newed and splendid energy. But here
she stands, facing the problem of re-
gaining her place in the economic
markets of the world, with a part of
her industrial and agricultural power
destroyed, and with her men killed
and MANNED to a number that exceeds
imagination. May give you some fig-
ures on these subjects?
100000 Men Killed.
Besides ], 100000 Of our young men
who were killed or died of wounds or
Illness In this war, we have great
number whose physical ability has been
seriously impaired. Add to these the
number of our prisoners who came
back in such a terrible physical con-
dition as to render them unfit for any
sustained effort, and we come to to-
tai cost, for the work to be started
in France, of about 100000 men, who
were mostly among the youngest,
ablest, and strongest, as well as the
most spirited of our people-a terri
BILE loss for O country of less than
100000 inhabitants.
sour agriculture has perhaps suf-
fered more heavily IL possible than
any other branch Of our economic ac-
tivlty. The number of cattle, which
in England increased by per cent,
has in France decreased by IA per
cent. The production Of milk has de-
creased by 60 per cent. The number
Of sheep has decreased in France by
3S per cent. The number of pigs has
decreased by 40 per cent. The soil
of France Is also in an Impoverished
condition, having been, for four years,
mostly titled by very young and elder
ly men, below or above the age OF
military service, and by women, whose
physical strength was not equal to the
splendid spirit they have shown in this
war"
He then referred to the heavy losses
through the destruction of mills and
factories.
"The part of France occupied by the
Germans" he said, produced four
fiftbs of our woolens and included 50
per cent of our weaving industry. Dur
. ing the four years Of their occupation
the Germans willfully and methodl-
cally destroyed all that was in their
power to destroy. They not only
.reuuisitioned as at Roubaix and Tour
Going, where they Communicated
stocks Of wool worth 30O,OOO,OOO
francs. Requisition Is one of the
rights of war, and Of that we cannot
complain. But what Is against all
right, and against all international law
land agreement, is the destruction and
stealing of property; and this is what
the Germans did.
"As TO our cotton industry In the
north, the German invasion has cost