Norwich bulletin., 1919-05-23
Cleaned from Foreign Ex.
changes

SSiteAtS ~ Iile ptIlIdHlS1tS the alNGS
VIII, we hope. lead to more generous
and energetic measures to meet the
just claims of Belgium than have yet
peen taken by the peace conference
Collectively Or the allies individually.
The Germans it is true. devastated
an important part of France; but they
destroyed the industry of the whole of
Belgium. Eight hundred thousands of
her male population are unemployed.
The machinery in her once f1ourishing
factories has been removed or rendered
useless. The animals necessary for her
agriculture We're driven away Even
the seed corn needed for her. future
harvest was stolen by the Germans
before they fed A great portion of
the population is living perforce in
sheer idlenesS because there is no
means of getting, them back to work.
The paltry 100000 advanced by this
country was a drop in the bucket, and
her internal taxing resources are re
duced because she has no means of
producing wealth.
Her natural aspirations to union with
| Luxembourg are discouraged, and the
coastal strip of; territory on the south
bank of the Seheldt is ca tegorically
denied to her by Holland. Her present
demand for an immediate credit of
& 80 600, 900 is. under the circum-
stances, a modest one, and is necessary
to save her from disaster 1t is i'm
perative that public opinion should ex-
press itself and insist that the prom
ised reparation to Belgium be- made
speedily and adequately. -. =-4
The national debt proper had arisen
as under:
At outbreak of war;. 6 645,0OO,0oo
March 81. 1919 .........,- 7,435.ooo,O00
March 81. 1918 . .-e-.,..... 5,ST2.000. 900
In addition there were obligations in
respect of war bonds and war savings
certificates. The, national war bonds
were repayable at a premium which
represented Silica 900. Further. the
war savings certificates were allowed
for at 15s. Cd.
No honor, surely, in the list publish
/ cd this morning april 29th). will be
received with moro popular approval
! than the knighthood bestowed on the
| greatest of living variety artists, Har-
| ~ Lauder.
| His eighteen months tour in Amer
| lea, when he covered $1,000 miles and
| addressed meetings in $50 cities in
| support of. war aims and war funds is
| still remembered as one OF the most
wonderful ever undertaken. for the en-
thusiasm with which the Scottish, COM
edian was received. While there he
| was the greatest man in America, and
he raiseo close to E36 ,G067for his war
fund He lost his som Captain John
Lauder in the war and has told us
| in his book "A Minstrel in France -
| of his adventures among the soldiers
| whom ne Went to cheer-with song. and
| story :.
| 1t was in the wood Surrounding Fort
Ma NV 1F n n
| utilized its seclusioh for Chemical ex-
! perimenting, and shell filling, and ev-
! erywhere their light rails still pierced
i the woodland, connecting huge dumps
| Of shells and she'll. cases.
! Close by stood one of our owl larg-
| est calibre guns captured in the early
| stages of the war;. But the Germans
| had gone, and the tender green OF
newly growing grasses, with the pale
! yellow of the primrose, and the deli
| cate tinting of wood anemones, were
rapidly hiding the remnants
There, deep down in the roots of u11-
| dergrowth, almost covered with winter
waste of dry leaves 7 saw the half OF
| an S-inch shell, filed with moss and
hair and lichen. And in the VERY
I darkest depths I saw two glittering
! bead-lile eyes of a wren OF al:robin
| telling me that here. at any rate, re-
construction and home building hat
already made considerable progress.
A real grievance of the farmers ius
now arises out of a renewed shorta gt
| Of labor. The cabinet about three
weeks ago sanctioned the withdrawal
from agricultural occupations of thu
5000 men who were lent from the ar
my last year. The loss Of these mer
! has put the farmers about a good dea
in a backward season. and they ar,
making strong complaints through
their parliamentary members, to the
government. An effort is being made
to encourage the increase of the Wo:
mems Land Army by d number cor
responding to that of the re-mobilizet
soldiers, and with some success. A
the same time the normal rate of de.
mobilization of other men is proceed
ing, and the shortage ought soon K
be met.
In order to understand the meaning
Of figures Of mercantile shipping un.
der construction it is necessary 4
know what the fleets We're before tn,
war. Lloyd's Register of 1914-15 give:
the total of the worlds merchant ship.
as 49,0S9.552 tons, of which 21,045, ga!
were owned by the British Empire.
Nearly eight million tons are nov
on the stocks. and at, that rate tn,
prewar tonnage woUld be replaced il
less than seven years. Ships live
great deal longer tina. nthat. A salt
recorded at the Baltic this week re
lated to a small steamer 26 years old