Show homes home ks ruined ruine d by war now R rebuilt rebuilt reconstruction Reconstruct i on in france Is nearly completed U S Is told wash washington ington Ac according accordia cordin g to statements in eats given out by authorities in france approximately SO 80 per cent of the houses destroyed during the war had been rebuilt by july of this year 90 per cent of the damaged canals had been reconstructed 80 per cent of tile the trenches used by the troops of both armies had been filled in and SO 80 per cent of the damaged factories had bid been put in operation oper atlon according to the european Kur division of the depart department ment of commerce agricultural land lias has been reclaimed families have been returned to their original dwellings and manufacturing fac turing and mining industries have been put into operation since that time reconstruction has gone forward at an increasingly rapid rate and with nothing intervening to interrupt the present progress it may definitely be completed before the middle of 1023 1025 population returning As an illustration of the improved conditions in the ten departments included in the devastated regions an particular r mention may be made of the figures of increase in population and of the statistics issued by official sources regarding the resumption of activity in the various branches of industry the prewar pr ew population of the he regions under consideration numbered while at the close of the war on november 11 1918 tills had been redl reduced iced to on january I 1 of this year the population amounted to or 0 only aly 4 I 1 less ess aan than at the opening of the war in out of communes the local administration has been fully reorganized and the number of public schools and post offices in these districts exceeds those of prewar years shortly before the close of tte the war as Is well known a corporation was organized known as the credit national N ta whose purpose was to facilitate the of damages caused by tile the war the company was formed by a group of the most important french banks with a capital of francs and its declared object was the payment in cash of compensation pensa tion due to those who had bad suffered damages from the lie war and to arrange tor for tile the payment of interest on such advances capital to pay for war dama damages OS wao wall raised by the issue of interest bearing obligations in the form of bonds on which interest redemption and premium charges were guaranteed by the state the money for such payments being included in the french budget up to april 30 1024 claimants had been paid francs various arlous Nr of payment were adopted damages runs into billions january I 1 of tills this year the total state liabilities definitely recognized on claims to individuals within the devastated regions amounted to francs and there was ft a further sum slim of more than francs connected with contested contest pd pil decisions it Is expected that an additional dit ional francs will be awarded bringing the total of damages up to approximately francs As will be sow seen therefore approximately still remain illa dai to sufferers of the war after deduction of the alread already y paid although the french government Is undertaking the responsibility for financing nn fin ancin reconstruction a considerable part of the direct burden of cash payment has been distributed among different agen agencies cles the r rench french treasury at the end of 1023 had furns furnished lied alenot francs nines while the credit national had provided another at the end of april the credit national had increased its cash 1 I Payen payments ts to n total of over WOW and this added to thi thal amounts furnished fly by the government and certain annuity anbult y certificates martac a total of francs paid fifty per cent of farming lands have been restored and three fourths of the coal mines tire are now operating |