The Tomahawk., 1920-02-26
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
Call for Aid From America
Must Be Needed.
Article Y.
By FRANK coMERFoRD.

BY FRANK COMERFORD.
The signing Of the armistice ended
the fighting. The signing Of the peace
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 france, Belgium,
Italy, Poland and Russia. Gigantic
and important as this task is. neces-
sary as it is, it is only 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 plow have for the
past four years been titled by high ex-
| plosives.
Belgium was literally looted, pill
LACED and ravished. Almost the en-
| tire state was violated. Nearly one
| eighth Of France, her Industrial Sec
ton, was crushed. Buildings were de-
| stroyed, factories dismantled. Sixty
thousand square miles in Poland were
| laid waste. Italy suffered terribly.
The ground is filed with high expio-
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.
Billions of feet of barbed wire and
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 Quilted 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 materl-
al. I should have thought nature had
entered into a mad conspiracy, COM
bining and concentrating all of the
powers of a cyclone, a tornado end
an earthquake, and spilled their fury
on these mangled, dead villages.
siahts 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.
have seen them picking their way over
piles of stone and brick through great
openings made in the broken walls. I
saw in their eyes inconsistencies, a hurt
of heart 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 it almost sfckened 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 sup
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 II 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 we'll and
! good, but intelligent, economical, eff
| cient and speedy reconstruction de-
mands general plan and an organ1za'
ton big enough to put it over. The
doing of this work requires vision and
capacity for doing big things we'll. 1t
the physical reconstruction Is left to
Europe it will not be finished in 50
wears. Here Is q chance for America.
We have faculty Of doing things on
a big scale and in q 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 the rebuilding Is 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
rupt today, the money must and Will
come. The barbed wire will be rolled
mn. 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 reconstrue'