Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1920-08-28
FRANCE EMERC|NE1
FROM WARS CHA0Y
Country Has Learned to p,,,,..
Proflteers by Publicity !
They Pay For "a
H. c. OF l. is ON DECRr,s,

France has learned to punish n,..
teers by publicity. p'0n'
J. A. NJ. de SANCHEZ. of tho r.. !,
High Commission. who has bo,. 'u,'
Philadelphia, related how ons =. !. y
was fairly laughed out of Paris Nfn
He was fined 10000 francs f.. i,
otense'' said Mr.. de Sanchez ".
ms part of his sentence the iudvo o., ana
MIN to pay for the publication =,
portion OF the decision in all III. De-,
newspapers three times n now. w
six months. All Paris was lou., .o'
at him" He did not repeat the oroo.. Us !
France is rapidly recovcrn, -
the effects of the war, Mr.. do Sal, "un
SAID. though at a high cost in NV ~
outlay and consequently with Loney
burden of taxation PRESSING neavy
people. 1t is made to press soui,. VI. ths
however, and the industrious lady
men are getting ahead at ranid dnvn .aI
~, Ihere has even been decroaa's .a's
the cost Of living. The people gonSs. ,@oSe N
nave CO. operated to bring tbis oby
lt mas been assisted, however hr hVu' .u
strict French laws on luxuries y Nm'| m'|
chants pay a monthly tax on their .msI sr
over, a tax that is computed m ,',a u,
total or the money they have mia ~. ~.
and the money they have taken in Vl' ~
some cases this is as high as ~ ~.
cent. " 81 pef
An interesting feature Of tho Ero,,
system of taxation since the war h.a
to do with the income tax Of mo,,i.s ~
persons. The tax is SO adjusted NV
1t imposes a penalty on bacbeo,,
whether they be bachelor men or BAH
elor girls. And the married counL
more than thirty years of age and ma,'
ried longer than two years. must M,
an added tax if they are childless, N
has had the effect of helping Franz
boom her birthrate.
Rebuild Devastated Areas
France has almost completely rebuit
the areas devastated by the war. said
Mr.. de Sanchez. In the war torn uS, |
tricts 1S5, 900 houses have been N.
built; $4,000 temporary homes have
been constructed and 1900 new stop,
dwellings have been built. The popui
tion of this part of the country, nor
mally four millions, but reduced Il
100000 at the end of the war,
back at it's former total.
The war made 9,700,00 acres d
soil unfit for cultivation. This spriH
4,5O0,0O of these devastated acrts
were sewn, and the years crops are
expected to be sufficient to feed tht
people of the area without additional
help.
"a great deal of work had to be don,
with the railroads to make it possible
to restore the land to usefulness" said
Mr.. de Sanchez. 'Everything De.
pended on transportation. The Gg4
mans had destroyed 1915 miles 81
double track railroad. Every mile II
this has been rebuilt.
Part OF our task of reconstructed
was to restore communal life in 4On
villages and hamlets where the peops
had been dispersed and the tows
largely destroyed. They are all golf
their accustomed way again. We fousd
that 6445 schoolhouscs had been burned
or so badly damaged that they wer
unfit for use. The children are back Il
their books.
l"All of the machinery stolen from
France has been returned and much a
it is once more at work.
Our great present difficulty is to gI
coal. We are forced to pay 200, 0,0O0,0WI
francs a month to Germany to feed ths
people of the Ruhr section. so that thd
can get us out coal.
'Our own coal production is increas
ing, however. Our Pas de Calais see
tion produced Ala 900 tons of coal ID
May in June, 10000 tons, and have
just received a cablegram saying that y
July the production went up to 156,W
tons. The mines in the north, which
produced only 2000 tons of coal in Jan
uary, gave us 10000 tons in July'
However, before the war these two sec.
tions were yielding a total of 20, ,O0OOW
tons annually"
Mr.. de Sanchez sees bright prospects
for the future. He says the FrencA
people are bearing their burdens sen
sibly and cheerfully, and are not only
living comfortably at home, but have
money to invest abroad