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Show SOLDIERS IN THE VERDUN SECTOR REPAIRING A RUINED CANAL. FRENCH INDUSTRY - r IS RECOVERING Natural Thrift and Economy Promise Rapid Progress - EXPORT BUSINESS GROWING Our Great Ally Possesses Reeupcr- " atlve Powers Which Justify Belief That She Will Meet and Solve Trl- H , umphantly the Problems Which Con- H front Her After the War. ; With Tarls boulevards echoing with H "vivos" for American troops our Inter- H est In tuo wclfuru of our nlly vastly H Increases, mid tho facts are not lack- H lng to encourage the belief Unit she Is H already on the roud to recovery from , H the blow of Invasion by a ruthless en- H cmy. One of , tho most Important devel-H devel-H opnicnts Is tho announcement tlint ono of the largest banking Institutions In America concerned with foreign H trade, tho Guaranty Trust company H of New York, has opened if Purls H branch to handle tho rapidly tncreas- I lng volume of French buMniMs. H This action may surprise many per- I sons who bad thought of Franco as I boned under n calamitous Invasion. M The bank, however, gives llgures Indl- eating that France Is not only meeting I her Military and civilian problems with nld I (i stout heart and never falling cour- md I nge. but Is re-establishing her export ne I business with this country. aeyfl In 10M, the year of the outbreak of 'I tho war, Imports from France to this M country totaled $H1,H0.252. This to- 1 M tnl was reduced to 577,158,740 In 11115, j but last year tho value of French lm- M ports to tho United States roso to SIOU.OTT.OW. H "A nntlon that can achieve such a H commercial recovery whllu heiMerrl- tory Is being YuWshed by tho invader," says tho Trust" company's ht: lenient, H "possesses reeuperatlvo powevs whloh H Justify tho belief that Miu will finergo from the present conlllct prepared to H meet and fcolve triumphantly the prob- M (ems which confront her." H Tho commercial and lndustrl.il rec- H ord of France, following past wars, In- H dlcntes that fche should recover quickly H from the actual physical destruction H iHllitted In the present conlllct. Tho B recoii-tructlon of railroads, tho erection of factories to replace those destroyed, fl and the replacement of the mechanism - of Industrial activity that will bo re- H quired -nnd Hint H In part nlready H planned, off or a peculiarly lnvltlivg H Held to American capital and enter- H prise. Tentative Heps lmvu already H been taken by representatives of Amer- H lean engineer? and business men In this H work. H AMdc f . ) attractive, business H nsp . enlistment of American I liioue effort In tho great tahk of H recon- .action that will remain at' tho H end of tho war will tend to cementstill H more closely tho ties that bind tho two I great republics tosether. and will cn- H able Americans to dlwharse In part I tho debt they owe to Franco for her friendly Interest In the welfaro and I progress of tho United States from tho beginning of It life as a nation. I In judging tho Industrial status of I any nation, Its production and con-I con-I Bumptlon of coal, Iron, and steel and I the growth of Its transportation sys-I sys-I terns aro highly slgnlllcant factors. I " In 1801), French Industries consumed I 21 million tons of coal, of which lll.fi I millions were taken from home mines. I In 1012, the consumption was 01 millions, mil-lions, of which -II million tons weru taken from lioirte mines. In 1809, the French output of cast Iron was l.HSO.OOO tons, and of tit eel, 1,000.000 tons. In 101 1, Franco) produced pro-duced fi.ail.000 tons of east Iron and J.035,000 tons of fcteel. Tho Increasing nctlvlty of her railway rail-way system Is similarly demonstrnt-able. demonstrnt-able. In IhO'J, there were In France 10,74a miles of railway track; In 1012, titero were Hl.fVJO miles. Iletween 1S09 and 1012, Inland tinvl-gatlon tinvl-gatlon Increased 150 per cent; while tho traffic of her mercantile marine has amazingly expanded. The tonnage entering French ports In 1800 Is set down as 11,000,000 tons. In 1012 this had been increased to 53,000,000 tons. Leaders In American finance ascribe this solidarity of the French republic to three Influences; first, a thoroughly sound banking system, centralized In one of the greatest banking Institutions of the world, tho Hank of France; second, sec-ond, the Ingrained thrift and frugality of tho French people as a whole, to gether with n national economic vigor not elsewhere surpassed; third, wlso supervision, and patriotic co-operation by the government with banking and business Interests. The government does Its part to warrant war-rant nnd retain the confidence of tho holders of Its securities. Ono of Its wise policies Is to Impose new taxes to defray tho Interest charges on new security se-curity Issues. It began this practice after tho Franco-Prussian war, and Is today following the same rule In regard to securities Issued toflnanco tho present pres-ent conflict. This continuity of purpose, pur-pose, doubtless, will prove renssuring to nil holders of French government securities. Tho Franco-Prussian war of 1870-1871 1870-1871 taught tho French people tho meaning of thrift and economy. So well did they learn this lesson, thnt tho whole sum of the Indemnity demanded de-manded by Germany, .1, 000,000,000, was raised within the republic's confines con-fines by Its own Inhabitants nnd paid off more than one year before the time stipulated diy the Germans. The habit thus acquired has never been forgotten by the French, and today to-day the aggregate number of Investors purchasing the French war loans has leached the amazing ttal of 4,500,000 Individual subscribers. Perhaps no other oth-er country, In proportion to Its population, popula-tion, can mak'o o good a Showing. France Is particularly fortunate In that her small lnvetors prefer "safe" Investments rather than offerings which promise hlghreturns. Government Govern-ment rentes. In France aro perpetual, perpetu-al, and this characteristic seems to obtain ob-tain for thesis government bonds Increasing In-creasing favor In the eyes of the French people. Tuo points of sympathy between France and America arw too many to enumerate, but the spirit of liberty nnd Its r. sultout democracy are, today as nlwa8, the major Ideals of both nations. na-tions. Seeklng'no victories but those f peace.no territory except their owny no sovereignty except sovereignty over, themselves the Independence nnd . equnl rights of tho weakest member of tho" family of nations are to the people of tho I'nlted States and of France entitled en-titled to ns much respect as thnseot I ho mightiest empire. In defense of these principles, Franco Is engaged In n death struggle with militant nutoc-nicy nutoc-nicy and ruthlesa aggression, and It Is not surprising to learn that she has loaned to her allies and to other filendly states 7,000 000,000 francs with which to further the cause of democracy. It Is In keeping with America's traditions that since the date on which wo formally for-mally aligned ourselves with Franco nnd her allies In the great struggle, our government has lent to France ?370,000,fi00. It Is eminently fitting that America should now bo lighting on French soil to make tho world safe for democracy. The liberty Unit America has enjoved for 110 years Franco helped her to achieve. The swords of Lafayette and Itochnmbeau, olded by the guns of l)e Grusso upon the high seas, assisted In cutting the foreign ties that bound the American colonies prior to the War for Independence, and from tho private purso of King Louis himself came tho first loan to America 'unsecured nnd unconditional to flimnco that historic undertaking. It was with entire Justice Jus-tice that Washington wroto to Itoeham-beau, Itoeham-beau, "To tho generous aid of your nation na-tion and to tho bravery of Its sous Is to be aseilbed In a very great degree that independence for which wo have fought." IN THEIR RETIREMENT FROM OCCUPIED TERRITORY THE GERMAN GER-MAN ARMY DESTROYED MILLION8 OF DOLLARS OF AGRICUL-u AGRICUL-u TURAL MAJ3HINERV. . |