Gilpin observer., 1919-01-30
SHIPS FIRST IN
FRANCES NEEDS
Must Have Aid in Restoring Mer-
chant Marine.
VAST LOSSES SUMMED UP


missioner Of the French Republic to
the United States, Gives Statement
Of country's Needs-2,50o, Of
Her Young Men Killed or Manned,
? $4,000 Factories Ruined.
With 2.5OO,OOO Of her youngest,
ablest, and most spirited men killed or
maimed, 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
for 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 Tevitalizing 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
trcts 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 slnkings and enforced curtail-
ment in production, was 67000O tons.
and that the money cost of the con-
fict, in appropriations and public debt
aggregated 15s,OOO,00O,O0O francs. or
S31 100000.
"Our 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 We're
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 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 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
plumber of our prisoners who came
back in such 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 2,50O,OO0 men, who
we're mostly among the youngest.
/ablest, and strongest, as well as the
most spirited Of our people-a terri
BILE loss for country Of less than
100000 Inhabitants.
sour agriculture has perhaps suf-
fered more heavily If possible than
any other branch of our economic ac-
dvity. The number Of cattle, which
In England increased by 4 per cent,
has In France decreased by IA per
cent. The production Of milk has de-
creased by 90 per cent. The number
Of sheep has decreased in France by
s8 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
fifths Of our woolens and included 80
per cent Of our weaving industry. Dur
Ing the four years of their occupation
the Germans willfully, and methodi-
cnily destroyed all that was in their
power to destroy. They not only
requisitioned as at Roubaix and Tour.
Going. where they commandeered
stocks of, wool worth. 300,0OO,0OO