The Dominion FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1917. THE INVINCIBLE SPIRIT OF FRANCE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3196, 21 September 1917, Page 4

The Dominion FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 1917. THE INVINCIBLE SPIRIT OF FRANCE

The latest political change in Franco falls in some respects short of what was oxpeoted. Though he heads a Government which is pledged to. spare no effort in tho task of delivering the national territory from the desecration of the invader, M. Painleve is denied the whole-hearted support of the Socialist Party: The Sacred Union is so far imperfect, but taking account A what France has endured and accomplished ih tho past three years it is impossible to regard this as an indication of weakening fortitude. No other belief is possible than that France, in order to he defeated, must be destroyed. The speech in which M. Painleve defined the policy of his Government rings with a high, clear note of defiant resolution, and tho heroic record of the nation gives commanding force ft) his declaration that no manoeuvres of the enemy, no individual weakness, will turn France from her unshakable determination to secure the restoration of AlsaceLorraine, reparation for damage and ruin -wrought, and a peaco containing no germ of future wars, but effective guarantees for the protection of the society of nations against all aggression on the part of one among them. What precisely is the attitude of tho French Socialists is at the. moment a matter of speculation, but it is certain that any thought of weakening or compromise is impossible to the French nation. This faot is very clearly emphasised by Captain Bean, the Australian official correspondent, in a dispatch in which he describes a visit to the devastated areas of France and to the French front. The French, ho remarks, are noticeably more bitter than the British, and in a' few simple words he gives an all-sufficient explanation of this attitude and of things which make it impossible for* the Frenoh nation to regard this war in any oth?r light than that of a struggle to tho death.

The first tiling that hits- you in this French area of war—the first obvious certain impression—is that none of the rest of us, however hard and willing tho fight, have a knowledge of war—tho real thing—in the same way as the invaded countries have. "We others can argue about the right and wrong of war; there was no argument with the French. They were not asked if they -wanted war. The German came in and left them to buy him out of their country or fight him. And now, after nearly three years, when they have fought him out of great stretches of it, the German leaved it to them with their fruit trees ringbarkod, their houses blown down with gun-cotton chaTges under the corners, their young girls and women up to middle ago carried off; and the children whom Germans have bred during their occupation hurried off into Germany to be brought up in Heaven only knows what state of orphanage to malto tho German TecTuit classes for 1935-193 G.

Instead of being paralysed and disheartened by her terrible _ wrongs and tho unspeakablo agonies that fall to the lot of a oountry invaded by tho- modern Huns, France throughout tho war has been the pillar of the Grand Alliance. As yet tho glorious part she has played is. only, dimly realised, and it -will not appear in its full majesty until it is seen in the ,perspective of history, but tho bare facts of tho war make her rccord one of incomparable constancy and_ valour. It is now recognised that in the third year of war tho Germans staked their' last hopes, so far as the land campaigns are concerned, upon an effort ,to crush France and compel her to cry a halt. The effort failed utterly, and it is unlikely that tho enemy will accomplish anything in Russia which will in any material degree modify the results of his failure. At tEe outset there was much to encourage him with hopds of success' in his last great enterprise against France. Tho magnificent vitality of tho Eepubilcan armies had been demonstrated in the conquest of the heights of the Aisne and tho redemption of a wulo belt of invaded toritorry, but the effort which dislodged the Germans from their boasted "iron front north of tho Aisne and in tho Champagne was in itself exhausting and could not be continued. At the same time events in Russia took a turn which was far more keenly felt by France than by any other Allied nation. "Can we wonder, asks an English writer, that pacifist whispers in Franco began to breathe temptation again, or that the soldiors of France, more worn and over-spent, man for man, than our troops havo • over been, now faeid the prospect of .what seemed this interminable war in a spirit of stark grimness <levoid of joy ? Tho failure of Russia, as an ally, clearly enough apparent long before tho disasters of July, undoubtedly searched tho courage of tho French nation to its depths. It wa-s with a full knowledge of the fact that the Germans hurled something like a third of their total military strength against the French lines north of tho Aisne in a battlo which lasted,

with littlo intermission, for months, and now ranks as a second Verdun. The outcome is a triumphant vindication of the tenacity and courage of France which Germany and tiie world must, as final. The French defence stood firm and unyielding against tho enemy's utmost efforts, and meantimo the nation, casting off tho depression duo to the Russian collapse, has betaken itself to methodical preparations for anpthcr winter and a fourth year of war in which France will fall upon the enemy supported on her own soil not only by ono great ally but by two.

Standing as tho bulwark of civilisation in the first year of war, she gained for her Allies time to arm and prepare. Tho result and reward of her achievement this year is an assurance of complcto victory when America is enabled to' bring her force to bear. splendid spirit in which Franco is fighting appears not only in her unfailing response to the most searching demands of tho war, but in the successful efforts she is making to restore and regain her economic organisation and resources upon which the war lias made such terrible inroads. Tho view is held in France, and is evidently just, that her economic restoration is a matter which conoorns the whole Allianoo nearly as much as herself. Nothing, it is argued, will tend more to hasten such a peace as tho Allies desire than measures of restoration which will convince the Germans that, in spito of her sacrifices and losses, Franco is fully able not only to bear tho strain of the war for an indefinite period, but to start reconstructing hor economic forcos in fac6 of fcne enemy. Great efforts are being made in this direction and rapid progress in the work of economic restoration is confidently predicted. One factor which brightens the outlook, an English correspondent in Franco points out, is that relations between Capital and Labour aro better than in any other belligerent country. I would Tefer in this matter (he remarks) to the last labour statistics published by the "Bulletin du■ Minister* du Travail'' for April and May, 1917, m which it is clearly shown that the number of men on strike for a whole year has never exceeded 41, MM (the figuro tor 1916) since the outbreak of the war, a number smaller than the corresponding one in any of the other countries at war. It is particularly instructive to find that in March and April last, when a rumour went abroad that strikes were developing, the number of strikers (lid not exceed G526 for March and 2714 for April, while only four strikes lasted for more than twenty-four days.

As in England, tho productive power of the French metal industries has been substantially augmented by the war. Some other industries have suffered terribly, but enterprising measures aro being taken to make the most of available labour, to reorganise and improve transport a,nd communications and in various other directions. Ono example of enterprise is tho preparation of plans for the extensive development of hydro-electrical power. By such measures France is giving proofs of her wonderful vitality and showing how seriously tho Germans miscalculated in hoping to exhaust and bring her to, submission. She is giving a new and wonderful demonstration of the invinciblo determination which is the inspiration and strength of tho Grand Alliance.