The Wrangell sentinel., 1920-03-18
Shall Chaos or Reconstruction in Europe Follow the Great
 World War?
IMPERATIVE NEED FOR ACTION
Twelve Months Since the Signing of the Armistice Practically Wasted Gall for Aid From America
 Must Be Heeded.
Article V.
By FRANK coMERFoRD.

treaty brought peace, but neither of these acts restored devastated Europe. The great job ahead is the work of re- construction, and when write the word reconstruction" I have not in mind the mere rebuilding of the war stricken areas of trance, Belgium, Italy, Poland and Russia. Gigantic sary as it is, 1t is only a small part of the work of real reconstruction. Hun dreds of thousands of square miles make up the actual war zone, the ground marched over, the territory un- der shell fire. Millions of acres of land that once yielded food in response to the touch of the blow have for the past four years been titled by high ex- plosives.
 Belgium was literally footed, pill laged and ravished. Almost the en- tire state was violated. Nearly one eighth of France, her industrial sec tion, was crushed. Buildings were de stroyed, factories dismantled. Sixty thousand square miles in Poland were laid waste. Italy suffered terribly. The ground is filled with high explo- sives, undischarged mines and shells. Every day since the work of recovery and restoration began men working in this zone have been blown to pieces. millions of tons of metal make dan gerous wilderness out of what was once a highly productive area.
 Cities and villages are jungles of twisted, broken, torn wood, iron, brick and stone. I have walked through these villages and have stood stunned by the completeness of the destruc- ton. The streets are uneven and lumpy with brick and stone and plas- ter and glass, aisles of wreckage Roof less houses with walls gutted and torn, heaps and piles of broken building ma terial; jagged, ragged pinnacles, masses of debris meet the eye. Had not known of the war and come upon one of these unsightly, shapeless masses of materi- al, should have thought nature had entered into a mad conspiracy, com bining and concentrating all of the powers of cyclone, tornado rnd an earthquake, and spilled their fury on these mangled, dead villages.
 Sights to Wiring the Heart.
 Picture the refugees returning to these villages-coming back home. What the sight must have meant to them. 1 have seen them, their faces gray as the gray ruins, standing in the midst of their destroyed homes. I have seen them picking their way over piles of stone and brick through great openings made in the broken walls. saw in their eyes homesickness, hurt of heart I never shall forget. Old men and old women and little bare-legged children; now and again boy with a worn, soiled uniform, some limping on crutches. others wearing an empty sleeve. One thought surged through my mind until 1t almost sickened me War. The land of the war zone must be reclaimed. These acres are needed now more than they were be- fore the war. The worlds food SUD- ply Is low. Hundreds of miles of trenches must be filled up. Trees must be planted, the ground must be cleaned of shells, cleared of barbed wire; villages, cities, must be rebuilt; sewer systems must be installed. The mess must be moved. It Is big job.
 One great misfortune is that al- though 12 months have come and gone since the signing of the armistice, no general comprehensive plan of recon struction has been started. Here and there small sections of the devastated regions are being partly reconstructed. Temporary provision is being made for the homeless. This is all well and good. but intelligent. economical, effi- cent and speedy reconstruction de mands q general plan and an organiza- tion big enough to put 1t over. The doing of this work requires vision and capacity for doing big things well. If the physical reconstruction is left to Europe it will not be finished in 50 tcpt tiClt iS d CLdhIC toi We have Il faculty of doing things on blg scale and in a short period of time. Europe needs our help. If we are to give it eventually, why not now?
 But the clearing up of the wreckage and rhe rebuilding is a minor problem compared with the other greater and more important question of reconstruc- ton. the reconstruction of industry. the establishment of normal life.
 The reclamation of the devastated area Is. after all. only matter of plan. time and money. and notwith- standing the fact that Europe Is bank rup. today. the money must and will come. The barbed wire will be rolled up. the mines and shells will be dug from the fields. the villages will be re- built: everything that has been de- stroyed will be replaced. Physical re construction is the least of EurOpe's problems.
 The great problem is the reconstruc-