Evening star., 1922-12-07


Frances Human Sacrifice.
Above all. We lost l.Ao0.000 of our
children and 100000 were mUtiiated
and 100000 wounded. France made
all these terrible sacrifices with one
heart because she knew that defeat
would imply destruction.
Germany had proclaimed the fact
through its emperor. through its
chancellors. through the dcclaratio
of its great industrial and agricul-
tural associations. through its intel
lectuals. that, victorious she would
annex the iron mines Of Biiey, the
coal of the north ard the Pas de
Calais. the coast line from Belgium
down to the mouth of the Somme. plus
the hinterland. in order to give to the
ports involved their fun importance
economically and strateEically; fina.
~: foul. Nerdun and is-lf"rt The
inhabitants Were to b. disp"ssessed
Nor did it suffice 10 dismember
France, to take from her tn. PROV
inces providing a third of her wealth:
she was to be left without resource
of any kind.
I'm the interests of our own exist
ence we must weaken this country
politically. II is necessary to impose
big war indemnity on France with
out exhibiting any regard for her.
recall this phraSe-taken from a
secret memorandum for wariei to the
German chancellor by the League of
1ndustrials and Agricuitcrals, the
league of the middle classes. in order
TO emphasize our own moderation
Not an inch Of German territory an
nexed, not a protesting deputy in our
parliament. no economic Servitude no
war indemnity. Nothing but repara-
ton.
Asks Only One Thing.
nation like France that has
sire to live has the right TO Obtain
from her war allies the co-operation
necessary for the execution of the
peace conditions. 1t does not suffice
to sign peace: you must realize it. So
long as the last shocks of war have
not trembled away there is no room
for an individualism putting into
question once more all the victories
so dearly won in common. To realize
the new order all must cooperate.
France Will not as much as remind
her allies Of the promises made to
anything. She declares herself proud
ly decided to keep all the engage
ments entered into by her. She asks
only one thing-that she shall not
succumb through the passiveness of
her friends. Reconstruction and Sc
curity are for France necessities If
France is not paid, if the devastated
areas are not rebuilt, there is no
chance of her economic regeneration.
II her frontier may be invaded by 4
neighbor who dreams only of revenge
there is no more national life. 1t
nounce this dual policy of reparation
and military security. The treaty of
Versailles will only have marked a
truce in the tragic history of the
world. ruined by allied discord, by al
lied negligence and Indifference, if it
smother in the ruin France. symbol of
justice, of democracy and of liberty.
Must Act Quickly on Peace.
No imperialism. but no oligarchies.
If it is intended to consolidate the
peace in allied harmony we must go
quickly.
And now let US consider the post
war French effort. Immediately from
the armistice and despite the sapping
or her strength by ffty-two months
OF war. France returned energeticallv
to work. The dimensions of and the
speed with which the work was ac-
complished deserve the worlds admi-
ration in equal measure to the praise
lavished on the allied soldiers for
their magnificent bravery. Take the
number of inhabitants brought back
to their homes. OF 4,690.062 residents
of 1914. 4.056.SS3 had been reestab-
lished in the devastated areas on July
last. Railways had been entirely
reconstructed and roads remade: 49,
900 factories had been rebuilt out of
$1,000 destroyed: so per cent of the
war-scarred countryside had been rid
of buried shells and put into cultiva-
ton; 1875 schools had been reopened
out of S.301 in existence previously.
Finally, out of 100000 houses de-
stroyed or damaged. 100000 had been
repaired either Professionally or def
int al 10 q dOnat
Huge Taxes Are Paid.
How did we manage to afford all
this expenditure BY means of the
heaviest taxation imaginable and.
simultaneously, by raising money
through internal loans as exactins as
history can record. No parliament
has voted such new taxation as the
French chamber did in 1920. We
We're paving barely four mllilards OF
francs in taxes the year preceding
the war. We have paid twenty-one
milliards this year. and next year we
shall pay twenty-five milliards. An
income tax habitually of per cent
was successively raised to 10. IL, 70
and even to so per cent. Taxation per
capita IS about 25 per cent heavier IN
France than in the United States.
The conquered Germans pay the
equivalent of $13 per capita in tax
alton; the conquering French pay $40.
sums lent the state by subscribers to
loans between 1914 and 1921 amount
ed to 1870, 900 milliards of francs. The
total internal debt is 232 millfaTds or
francs: the foreign debt at the pres
ent rate of exchange totals about
30 milliards. Payment of interest and
amortization of debt will take up II
milliards in our next budget, or 81
Der cent of our total expenditure. We
paid back 1871 milliards Of the debts
incurred by US, IL milliards of this
sum having been paid out abroad. We
have been compelled to consolidate
our credit by reducing our fiduciary
circulation Of 81 milliards 800 mil
lions in 1920 to SO milliards 400 mil
lions in 1921. Meantime we are re-.
ACQUIRING the gold that we had placed
in the. Bank of England during the
war.
Cites Budget Cut.
In another field we have not only
siRnalized our desire for peace by re-
ducing our duration of military serv-
ice from three years to eighteen
months. and by the suppression Of
many ORGANIZATIONS: we have written
these naval and military notifications
into our budget as follows: In 1919
naval and military expenditures stood
at 18 milliards: in 1921 1t totaled 6
milliards 800 million francs. This year
there has been a further reduction to
4 milliards 800 millions. Compared
with 1918 and taking into considera-
ton the divergence in the cost Of liv-
ing then and now these last figures
show reduction of per cent.