The Columbia evening Missourian. [volume] (Columbia, Mo.) 1920-1923, 1921-10-03
BUSINESS OF
FRANCE SHOWS
VARS EFFECT
General Economic Depression
Shown in Importation
and Expectation
Statistics.
FARMING IN GOOD SHAPE
Country Has No Unemployed
OF Labor Unrest-Three
Fourth of Ruined
Area Rebuilt.
By WEsB MiLLEB


Wnifed Press Staff Correspondent
PAhs. tBy MsiLD-In common with
moe; of the world. France Is bit severe.
}. by the general depression Of business
and economic conditions.
Thai usually accurate barometer oi
astionsl prosperiiy-the importation and
expectation sistis;ics-sh0xs storm clouds
in heavy decreases in the vital liens.
But in reading any satisfies regarding
Frances economic status. figures Of her
terrible var losses and wonderful recon
siructiOnsl eff0n mus be considered
simultaneously. To cite only few
l.36s!OJO men killed. 4l57l.D0O acres Of
arabic land devastated. the great indus
iriai and coal basin Of the North ruined.
These figures serve 10 partially nulliiy
the statistics usually relied upon b. econ
ornisis
Agsinsr these figures stand $4,000
acres cleared and put under cultivation.
3.645 factories resumed work out Of 400
ruined. 8.s26 miles Of roads rebuilt 2-2o2
miles 81 railways reconstructed.
On the opposite SIDE Of The ledger are
the figures Of importation and eIportz-
zion. After rising BY leaps since the
srnisiice. the exports show q marked
setback A. compared with the similar
seven months Of 1920. expectations de
creased IN value from fourteen billion
francs TO r~eire billion francs.
The mos; disquieting feature Of the
statistics j. the unprecedented drop OF
importation oi raw materials from ih-
teen billions Of francs 10 five billions
An encouraging n0ie in the importa-
lions Is the gresi fall in imports Of food
suffs by four and one-quauer billions
Of francs. showing that France is rapidly
Tegaining her power Of feeding herself
independently.
On the other hand. France has re.
rnsrksble record OF no unemployment and
no labor unrest.
0xing 10 the fact thai her great basic
industry is agriculture. France is in a
much more favorable position than big
manufacturing nations. In general sg-
riculiure is in much better shape than
for years. and the patient industry Of the
French peasant is une1ualed in Europe.
The Ministry Of Agriculture just an
nounced. despite the drought. the wheat
crop surpasses all records with 100000
Of quintals. including 100000 from
AIsace.Lorrsine. The average yield Of
16.4 quinials per hectare also established
a record. The immediate result Was re-
duciion in the retail price Of bread which
is far greater staple ioodstuff in France
than any other country. Another result
will be the haliing Of imponations Of
wheat and heay payments in deprecated
currency.
Unherslded in the press. France Is
passing through the crisis Of a silent
buyers strike" As prices steadily
mounted, the mass Of people gradually
stopped buying anything except neces-
sites. 1t is hard blow TO the stores
that had stocked up with money bor-
rowed from the banks a, high rates.
Although the storekeepers are stubborn.
ly holding out, trying to get out even,
the prices in clothes and shoes have been
forced down about 20 per cent
Since the first Of the year the general
cost Of living has dropped about Is per
cent. Meantime, wages have followed