Evening star., 1925-05-10
WAR OCRES LIE BENEATH
ANY EUROPEAN ADVANCE
All Nations Progress Economically,
E. But Political Trends Continue
sss ~, to Menace.

pated in the World War, France haa
| economically made the quickest re
| covery, which Is phenomenon
frequently noted in past history. The
war gave France Alsace- Lorraine
with its vast iron deposits. its potash
| beds, It's rich agricultural regions. To
be sure the war created a vast dew
astated area in northern France and
| for the moment wiped out the richest
| Industrial area of the republic. But
the French have not only recon
structed this area, but have replaced
an antiquated and patchwork In
dustrial plant by magnificent
modern establishment.
This reconstruction was done at
enormous cost. and the cost has tenn
porarily strained the resources Of the
nation But the solid fact Is that
France has regained her lost prov
inces with their vast potential wealth,
replaced her ancient plant, doubled
her productive capacity in many
manufacturing lines. in fact. become
to a certain degree an industrial
nation, whose competition Is felt
heavily across the channel. The
Lens coal area, for instance. Is pro-
ducing more coal than before the war.
producing 1t more cheaply. and is
equipped with machinery surprising
anything in any British coal mine.
Completely at Work.
You have a measure of the French
economic situation if you note that
although 100000 working men have
immigrated into France since the
war, the maximum of unemployment
in France in this time has been
$4,000 as against more than 1900, 900
in Great Britain and that for months
it has fallen as low as 1900. France,
then, is completely at work and, by
contrast with Britain, Italy, Germany,
she is exporting more than she i'm
ports, while the tourist trade brings
in something like 100000. 900 gross,
annually.
The problem for France, then, is not
economic Her troubles are of two
sorts. First, financial, due to the
strain put upon her resources to raise
IS. .OOO, ,O00, 900 for reconstructing the
devastated area and to raise revenue
to carry this and the other gigantic
burdens Of the war, and secondly,
her efforts to insure herself against
a new German attack. And of these
two problems the second is, in the
last analysis, the more important.
Nevertheless, it is plain that during
the last five years there has been a
ment with Germany. France has no
desire to hold German territory for
itself. would quit all German territory
tomorrow, could there be any new
sure guarantee that as a consequence
France would be assured against any
new German attack. And for the past
year the Herriot government has been
working for such an adjustment, was,
In fact, on the eve of reaching such
an agreement, with British co-opera.
ton, when the Hindenburg election
transformed the whole situation.
Security Chief Issue.
just as for Great Britain the pri-
mary and the all-important considera-
ton is trade, that for France is Sc
curity. The odd circumstance Is that
neither people, speaking in bulk, is
able to understand the situation Of the
other, and the British necessity is set
down in France too frequently to
greed, while the French necessity is
told of in Britain as militarism and
chauvinism: Thus in the end all
British policy will be dominated by
the vital necessity to trade abroad in
order to live at home. while all French
policy will concentrate on the neces.
sfty to be safe at home in order to
exist as people.
But within these limits there is pre-
c1sely the same desire for peace in
France and in Britain, the same i'm.
patience and horror with the very
idea of another war, the same utter
absence OF any national ambition to
pursue any foreign policy which
might lead to war. Moreover, I found
In Paris-and in unsuspected quarters
an extraordinary desire to find some
way to come to real peace with Ger.
many within the limits of French Sc
curity.
Situation in Germany.
Now when one comes to Germany,
Is the situation different? Economi.
cally Germany is better of than Brit.
ain and worse of than France. Her
vast industrial plant is far superior
to the British, viewed in the light of
modern equipment. She can produce
coal more cheaply, she can manufac.
ture iron and steel more advantageous.
ly, her labor can be had at lower
price. But Germany falls short of
Britain in the field of capital. War and
imitation have destroyed vast amounts
or capital, while her iron districts have
gone to France and Poland and a
third OF her coal fields to Poland.
Germany has little unemployment
today because her home market can
still absorb most of her production, she
is able to raise a large but not ade.
quate amount of her food supply.
whereas Britain can raise little or
none. But Germany is, importing vast
ly more than she is exporting and this
process cannot go on indefinitely.
She must have capital in large
amounts from America and Britain.
She, too, must find markets abroad,
q I><%r NJ
and France economically, being far
more se1f-contained and seIf,sufficing
than Britain, but much less so than
France.
Factors in Politics.
Now, German politics are dominated
by two factors. Germany has lost a
large area east and west. Most Ger
mans regard the Western loss as per-
manent, but will not accept the loss
of Danzig, the Polish Corridor and,
upper Silesia as more than transient.
Germany, all Germans with whom
talked, regarded the Eastern settle
ment as deliberate partition Of their
country. They believed the nation was
fatally compromised, unless these ter.
ritories were recovered. and all Ger
man policy as a result looks to the
reconstruction of the Eastern situa-
ton OF 1914, save perhaps In the mat
ter of Posen.
Then there is the question Of Aus
tria. One must see that Germany be-
fore the war was the greatest country
In Europe. economically and political
~. Now 1T counts for less in strength
than Poland. Thus, while for tho
Brfton the question is one Of markets
and for the Frenchman OF security.
for the German It is one OF national
rehabilitation. Sixty-odd millions Of
Germans are resolved that Germany
shall again be great--and greatness
for all involves the restoration Of
German rule in the lost provinces Of
the east and In the flnion OF Aust rig.