Fort Mill times. [volume] (Fort Mill, S.C.) 1892-current, 1922-08-17
THE RHINELAND
Frances Collateral for German
Debts to Private Firms.

PiNdtC plants anu pioPSitiSS Af
Rhineland and in the Ruhr dis
trict unless prompt settlement is
made by Germany Of overdue
debts to French firms again calls
attention to that province, which
has aptly been called the rich
est jewel in the. crown Of Prus-
sia."
1.-THE allied zone Of occupa-
tion virtually embraces this erst-
while power plant and factory of
the old German empire,' says u
bulletin Of the National Geo
graphic society. "The richest
deposit of coal, iron and other
minerals along Europe's busiest
waterway and the consequent con-
struction of railways i'll Rhine
land make this province the fore
most industrial area, for it's size,
anywhere in the world.
1.-The entire Rhineland, before
the peace conference, was only
little larger than the State OF
New Hampshire. Peace settle
mcnts which cut off from the
Rhine province the plebiscite area
Of the Saar basin and ceded Eu-
pen and Malmedy to Belgium
reduced Rhennish Prussia by al
most a thousand square miles.
OF the portion remaining to Ger
many by far the most important
Is that known as the Ruhr basin,
part of which basin extends be-
yond the Rhineland into West
phalia.
"A blow to the Rhineland al
ready effected, though it has at
tracted little attention, was the
decision in the spring that work
OH the strategic railways must
cease. As early as 1870 Germany
had nine railroads running to
the French frontier, and by 1914
three more had been added while
others were double tracked. At
. the risk of imposing hardship
upon German industries it was
deemed necessary, for the mill
tary protection of France, that
further railway activity of that
sort must be suspended.
Even the American, with his
knowledge of the mines of Penn
sylvania and the factories of
Massachusetts finds it hard to
conceive the concentrated indus
tlialism of the Rhineland. 1t is
the most thickly populated Sec
tion of crowded Prussia. 1t has
more towns than any comparable
region of Germany. 1t averages
10 more people to the square
nile than our own thickly set
tied Rhode Island.
"Coblenz, the headquarters of
the American army of occupa-
tion; Cologne, of the British;
Mamz and Wiesbaden, of the
French, are four of the notable
cities, while it's great market
town, Aix-la-Chappelle, its iron
city of Dusseldorf, and its minia-
tnre Pittsburgh Duisburg) are
scarcely less famed. The indus
trial shrine of the Ruhr basin is
Essen, where the wonder story
of the Krupp boom unfolded, ami
where the output of big guns and
munitions in general has been
converted into a stream Of loco
motives, farm implements and al
most every other conceivable ar
ticle of iron and steel. even to
roller skates. Only 26 miles
southeast of Mainz is venerable
Worms, the Rhome of Protestant
ism, for there it was that Luther
defied the famous Diet of Worms,
the 4O0th anniversary of which
was celebrated by Protestant
churches the world over last year.
'sI'o imagine this map spcek
which is, known as the Rnhr dis
trict one writer to the National
Geographic society suggests than
the reader think of the Pennsyl-
vania coal fields packed in this
tiny area; pour in the combined
population of Philadelphia. Bal
timore, Cleveland and st. Louis,
then take flock of the biggest
American steel mills and railroad
shops Won can recall and Set