Mohave County miner and our mineral wealth., 1920-11-20
ECONOMIC BASIS OF FRENCH LIFE
 NOW READJUSTED

of reconstruction.
 As result of this miracle of read justment, although France was the one allied country that suffered most from the war, and the one country in which the increase in the cost of living was the greatest, she is the only one of the big Allied powers, who to- day is entirely free from any strikes or social unrest of an economic na- ture.
 Furthermore, she is the only one of the big Allied powers who in the same period of time has been able to free herself fully and definitely from the menace of Bolshevism. The death knell of the latter was sounded a month ago when in national conver- tion at Orleans the French Fedora ton of Labor almost unanimously condemned the leaders who up until eight months ago ordered and sup ported political strikes amongst the French workingmen.
 Instead of waiting, as much of the rest of the world has done, for ecor- omic life to re-establish itself on the pre-war basis, France saw at once that this would never happen ,and i'm mediately readjusted herself to the new economic life imposed by the war.
 The official statistics of the Allied countries place the increase in the cost of living in France as result of the war at 300 per cent.
 Yet, despite this astounding handi- cap, official figures of the French Ministry of Public Instruction, show that salaries generally throughout France have now been increased from 200 to 300 per cent.
 It is this quick readjustment of the whole economic basis of French life to the new standard of living created by the war, that has left France en- tirely free from industrial strikes for the past nine months and has wiped out completely the menace of Bolshe vism.
 All France is hard at work today on fairly contented basis to repair the havoc and damages wrought by the war.
 Like all other Allied nations in Flu rope, one of the greatest damages to France from the war was the increase in her importations and the decrease in her expectations resulting in the frightful decrease in the value of French money in foreign countries.
 Yet the most astounding progress is being made to remedy this by increas- ed French production and consequent ly increased exportation and decreas- ed importation.
 During the first seven months of 1919 France exported only 4,776, ,402,- 900 francs worth of merchandise and produce. For the first seven months of 1920, these expectations were in creased to 12,OO6, ,63O,OOO francs, a gain of over 7000,0O0,00O francs. Frances total importations for 1919 were 8,00O,000 francs against only 3,000O,000 francs of exporta- tions.
 For all of 1920 it is estimated that her importations will only be 37,304,- 100000 francs and her expectations 2O,582 100000 showing steady prog ress towards the reestablishment of equal importations and exportations necessary to overcome the present ruinous rate of French exchange.
 As regards commercial relations with the United States Frances inn portations for July from America, which totaled $5S,961,5 ,554 were reduc- ed for the month of August to $3S,- 321,O5O, showing how fast French in dustries are getting back on a basis where they can supply the needs of France without recourse to foreign countries.
 France has kept equal pace in the reconstruction of her devastated re- gions.
 Of the 2,712,OOO French citizens who were driven from their homes by the German invasion, 1,533,OOO are now back on the job.
 Of the 5,570 kilometer of railway destroyed during the war 4,070 kilo- meters are back in operation.
 Of the 5,76O,O00 acres of land rem dered uncultivatable because of the presence of unexploded shells and missiles, 5,220,0O0 acres have been cleaned and put back into cultivation.
 Of the 3,060,000 acres of ground that were pounded into nothing by shell fire and other war activities, g. 870,00O have been restored to produc- tivity.
 7 Of the 1,50O factories that were destroyed by the war 3,540 are already back in operation and another 3,S42 are under reconstruction.
 Of the 379,00O people who were em- ployed in these destroyed factories before the war, 1881 are back at work in them.