Resurrection

The men of 1919 have proved the equals in industry of the men of 1871, in rebuilding the wasted fields. In the devastated areas, 7,447,297 acres have been cleared of projectiles, trenches and barbed wire, leaving less than 1,000,000 acres to be cleared; 19,920 out of 22,160 factories have been rebuilt; more than 1,235,000 acres out of 4,941,000 of devastated farmlands have been put under the plow; the main railway system has been repaired; nearly all the water ways made navigable; of 36,450 miles of ruined roads, 19,743 have been restored to traffic and 8,671 improved.

M. Le Trocquer, Minister of Public Works, announced that France is now "better off than ever" with regard to coal. The damaged mines have been restored so as to give a monthly output of 3,500,000 tons, as against 2,700,000 for 1922. Speeding up in the Saar basin gives 100,000 extra tons a month. Even marking off as a dead loss Germany's 300,000 tons a month due on the Reparations account, France has more coal than last year.

The French North African Colonies reported a bumper wheat crop. The total is expected to exceed 20,000,000 quintals,* as against 9,471,300 for last year. This crop, added to the French home crop of 65,000,000 quintals, brings the nation's crops within its needs, which are estimated at 85,000,000 quintals a year.

The French franc hit a new low record for the year, on Aug. 2, in consequence of the British Ruhr note. The franc touched 5.71, which is within one point of the low record for all time. Boulevardiers darkly hinted at "intenational bankers" bringing pressure on France to force her to recant her foreign policy.

The forecast on the vital statistics for 1922 shows an increasing danger that France will be poorer than ever in men. In 1920 the population increased by 160,000; in 1921 the increase was only 9,000; a net decrease is expected for 1922. The present shortage of living quarters, the uncertainty of modern French life, and the lowered moral standards that followed the War are alike blamed for the failure of the French nation to raise the most valuable of all crops--babies.