Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1919-01-30
SHIPS FIRST IN
FRANCES NEEDS
Must Have Aid in Restoring Mer-
chant Marine.
VAST LOSSES SUMMED UP
Edward de Billy, Deputy High CON-
missioner of the French Republic to
the United States, Gives Statement
of country's Needs-2,5o0,ooo OF
Her Young Men Killed or Manned,
10000 Factories Ruined.

10000 Factories Ruined.
With 100000 Of her Youngest,
nblest, 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 ana
farms which the Germans wrecked ana
for assistance in constructing or puH
chasing ships, said Edward de Billy,
deputy high commissioner OF the
French republic.
Admitting his country's gain by the
conflict, in the revitalizing or 'he
French spirit Of self-contidence, sub
,Iued Ivy the defeat of 1871, and in re-
ginning Alsace and Lorraine, with their
agricultural districts, Mr.. de Billy Sald
the wars losses were far greater. lie
denied that France was "bled White,'
hut said the handicap imposed as Il
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 dlS'
tricts occupied by the Germans We're
destroyed or stripped Of their ma
chinery: that almost 12,OO0,ooo 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 curtali
ment in production. was 6Io,ooo TONS
and that the money cost OF the con
fict, in appropriations and public deb'
aggregated 15S,OOOO00,000 francs, or
$31 ,0OO.0O0,000.
"Our army had to stand he said,
"the first rush of the invasion, Whlle
the other armies We're being prepared
And however wonderful was the Ell
fort of the British. some months later
and aftcrward that Of the American
army. the front held by the Frcncb
had never been less than two-thirdS OF
the total line from the North Sea 10
the Swiss border. Thus our losses were
greater than those of any other army
4 mart Of our country has been In
yadrd, its population treated as slaves,
their houses looted, their factories de-
sircvcd; while on the fighting line the
soil of France has been ploWed so deep
hy shells that no agriculture is posi-
bic. Some sentimental people nave
been lamenting over France as bl"d
white. Nonsense. France is not bled
cd
newed and splendid energy. But here
she stands, facing the problem OF re-
gaining her place in the economic
markets of the world, with a part of
her Industrial and agricultural power
destroyed, and with her men killed
and MANNED to number that exceeds
imagination. May give you some fig
ures on these subjects?
100000 Men Killed.
"BeSides 100000 of our young mon
who were killed or died of wounds or
Illness in this war we have Il great
number whose physical ability has been
seriously impaired Add to these the
number Of our prisoners who came
back in such a terrible physical con-
ditiOn as to render them unfit for any
sustained effort, and we come to to-
tai cost. for the work to he started
in France. of about 100000 men, who
were mostly among the youngest,
nhlest, and strongest, as well as the
most spirited of our people-a terri
bic loss for a country of less than
30 100000 inhabitants.
"Our agriculture has perhaps suf-
frrcd more heavily if possible than
any other branch of our economic ac-
hv'ty. The number of cattle, which
in Enc$lnd increased by 4 per cent,
has in France decreased by II per
cent. The production of milk has de-
creased by SO per cent. The number
Of sheep has decreased in France by
SO per cent. The number of pigs has
decreased by 40 per cent. The soil
of France is also in an impoverished
having been, for four years,
mostly titled by very young and elder
~ men, below or above the age of
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
ffths of our woolens and included so
per cent of our weaving industry. Dur
ing the four years of their occupation
the Germans willfully and methodi-
cally destroyed all that was in their
power to destroy. They not only
as at Roubaix and Tour
Going, where they Communicated
stocks of wool worth 3O0OO0,000
francs. Requisition is one of the
rights Of war. and of that we cannot
But what is against all
right, "nl against all international law
and n"a.. .ninnt, is the destruction and
stealth" # property; and this is what
d. GcrinHnS did.
- tu our cotton industry in the
rrr' ''o German invasion has cost
~ = a @pindlrs and 1900 looms,
;IH il u@t, l25 600 spindles and
g. I.. The robbery was not
&. r. p. In - n and wool factories
81 49,. n"l =. machine works
Also were looted. the useful equip
ment, engines, rolling mills, machine
tools, even structural steel, having
been melhodicalfy taken away and set
to work again in the iron works In
Germany. Mines were flooded, the
surface plants dynamited, the work.
mems dwellings destroyed.