Evening journal., 1919-12-11
While America Sleeps"
BY Noble Foster Hoggson Member of the American
Commission to France

From an economic and industrial
pO'nt Of view, the war, nipple Of the
tremendous sacrifices Of men aud ma
terial and money. IS not yet won.
America and the other nations which
stopped the German hordes and dictated
the terms Of peace have entered the
era Of reconstruction with a great ad-
vantage over those nations whose rep
reseniatives "sigued on the dotted line "
but unless we and our former allies
duplicate our victories on the field Of
battle With Just as decisive victories
in the fields Of commerce. and trade,
there Is danger that some day we shall
look back on The years that followed
The war with a realization that we won
nothing but glory.
Theoretically, nearly every nation
and individual Is awake TO the oppor-
tunities of the hour. There are few
people who do not realize that the
countries which are the first TO take
advantage Of the new order Of things
and get down 10 work in earnest will
reap the. largest harvests in world
trade and domestic prosperity. But
America, which ought 10 be the most
alert Of The allies, seems to De leg
glng behind the rest Great Britain
and France and Belgium each appears
10 be making better progress than
America, not in spite OF their handlcaps
but because OF them. They realize that
hard work viii be required to brlng
their countries back to the prosperity
they enjoyed before the war. but their
realization Of the need Is more intense
than ours
In England. where nearly every fam
lily was represented on the casually list,
the average wage Garner knows that he
must help make up for his country's
great losses in man power. In France,
where the losses in men were even
greater, the people are awake to the
same need for action, and In addition
they see on every side concrete evil
dences OF the dcstructiveness OF war
along material lines. They know that
debates viii not cultivate shell-tOrn
fields nor good Intentions rebuild Pill
LACED factories. The French have start
cd work In earnest agd lave surprised
the world with the progress they have
been able tO make
Eugene Schneider chairman OF the
Frcnch Mission 90 the International
Trade Conference. recently held "a At
lanllc City. and head of The famous
Creusot works in France which sup
piled the French British and Ameri-
can armies With "seventy-nNes' and
other guns during the war, told the
at one Of Its sessions thai
'ihe reconstruction of our devastated
reg ons Is today in fun swing M
The time Of the armistice,' he contin- (
ued. 1--WE had 1900 miles OF railroad |
10 rebuild. and by September 1 OF this
year we had completed 1850 Of the TO- |
tal. We had 400 bridges. tunnels and
viaducls Of one sort and another to !
rebuild. ard by September 1 we had |
already completed 5SS or go miles OF !
nav gable waterways TO be repaired. we
had alrcay finished $50 miles at that |
same date Out Of $4,000 buildings de- !
stroyed OF dame Od by The war, we had I
repaired GO ono by the beginning OF /
september put up over &c 600 huts and |
begun the construction Of over 6OOOO /
new homes. We have cleared up shelly |
over an area OF 800 square miles and 4
have filed in nearly $1,000 600 cubic |
yards OF trenches. We have sent back 1
g91 900 refugces. Onened 5000 SCHOOLS /
and reorgcnlzed 3S72 civic committees
In this country. because The loss or !
life was comparatively small and the /
Giles and countryside were undisturbed !
by shcllnre. the majority Of the peo-
pie see no danger,in relaxing from the
strain of war. thinking that their coun
try lost almost nothing and can afford
10 rest awhile But Americas losses
in material wealth during the war were
very great. though less tangible than
some Of The losses of European ma
lions. The energies Of millions Of
men and women, normally devoted TO
The production Of plows and typewrlt-
ars and buildings and other commodi-
ties that continue 10 be Of use for
years after their manufacture-some Of
them for use in the creation Of other
useful goods-were turned during the
war 10 the production OF shells and