HEEL OF THE HUN

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 94, 15 January 1919, Page 6

HEEL OF THE HUN

SUFFERINGS OF FRANCE

RUTHLESS METHODS OF THE GERMANS STATEMENT BY MEMBER OF FRENCH MISSION M. Louis F. Leclercq-Motte, who is o:ie of the members of tho French Mission now in New Zealand, was interviewed in Dunedin, and made an interesting statement regarding the sufferings of Northern France under the heel of the German invaders. He is a wool manufacturer, with his home in Roubaix, one of the towns held by ■the Germans until shortly before tho signing of the armistice. Nothing that has been written, said M. Leclercq-Motte, could give an idea of the extent of the suffering of the French nation. France' had lost 2,000,000 of the pick of her manhood, cither killed or permanently disabled. For four long years they had had their richest provinces crushed under tho heel of their enemy. The Germans had never expected to find these provinces so rich, and, as they put' it themselves, they found there "a great prey." "I assure you," continued tho speaker, "they made tho best of it. All I.tell you are facts that I know personally through members _ of my family who have been repatriated. If you had a cow the milk was for the Germans; if you had hens the eggs were for the Germans—but you had to pay for the feeding of tho animals. The ' Germans counted your chickens, y:>ur tame rabbits, and oven your guinea pigs, and if one was missing you went to gaol. You had to grow potatoes and gather them, but those potatoes were for the Germans. "If it pad not been for tho American Relief Commission the whole of our northern population would have starved. You were compelled to keep your doors open, and if the Germans walked in and found you eating potatoes you went to gaol." Continuing, M. Leclercq-Motte said his father, wife, and father-in-law went to gaol. His father was sent a prisoner to Germany. Refused to Weave Shroud. x At the beginning of the war the Germans insisted that the manufacturers should weave sandbags for their Army. "My father-in-law," he said, "answered in the name of the manufacturers : 'We ■■ shall not weave the shroud of our children,' and he was sent to gaol." When the Allies bombarded the Turkish town of Alexandretta the Germans imposed a. fine on Roubaix, though he failed to see what Roubaix had to do with the matter. As Roubaix .refused to pay it, the leading citizens were sent to Gernjany. Again/ at the end of last year, the Germans took . from Northern France 1000 hostages—6oo men and 400 women. Among the latter some were ' more than 60 years of age, and some | were mothers of ten children. On Easter Monday, 1916,. 8000 girls were i taken into slavery from Lille. Boys were employed on railway works, and were worked so hard that they were 'utterly broken in, health. The people who were repatriated were in a pitiful state of health as the result of the harsh treatment to which they had been subjected. Stole Everything. ■ Added to the physical sufferings of the people wero the moral sufferings. The Germans stole everything,— £20,000,000 worth of wool, copper, and leather, tho clothing from the little children, the wool from the mattresses , of the beds. When they had done with stealing they began destroying machinery. "Realise what it means," the speaker continued, "to a man of 50 or 60 who has been working all his life in the building up of an industry to see it crumble down. The Germans hunted our families out of the best rooms of the houses and introduced women of ill-repute into' our homes. When children asked who those women were mothers were hard put to it to keep from bursting into tears. If a wife eoniplained sh6 was sent to gaol for insulting the German Army."'Now those sufferings had come to an end, and they were rejoicing in victory, for which they thanked Almighty God. The punishment had come, and the time for justice. They did not seek revenge. That right belonged to God alone, but it was tho drity of man-to see that full justice was obtained. For that they trusted their leaders, who had been chosen by free people. They needed the support of tho Allies more than ever. It was the union between the Allies which saved _ civilisation. But the work was not finished; they must now recover, and they could not do this unless every citizen was united and had only one object—the welfare of his country. Demand for Wool. Continuing, M. Leclercq-Motte said that France was extremely anxious to outer iiito trade, again. His special object in the mission was to endeavour to establish better trade relations between France and this country' in connection with wool. In addition to seeing the sheep flocks in New Zealand, he wished to.come in contact with as many commercial men and woolbrokers as his stay in the Dominion would permit, as primarily his interest was with those who handled the wool. A great deal of,the machinery used in the wool industry was in Northern France. Thus, iir- connection with worsted work there were 2,300,000 'spindles in France, about a million of which were contained in Roubaix and a million in'the Cambrai districts. With regard to Cambrai, the machinery had been badly damaged by the Germans, but ho had no information as to the position at Roubaix. But during the war only 6 per cent, of the spindles in connection with worsteds had been in operation by the French. The. woollen machinery, outside of worsteds, was fairly well distributed over Franco, so that it had not suffered to the same extent. In addition to damage to machinery, the Germans had taken from Franco £20,000,000 worth of wool products. Franco, therefore, needed help from her Allies to reconstruct her industries. Preference in Trade. "To achieve this," continued M. Lrclcrcq-Motte, "we want preference in trade in some form or another. Then wo want to be customers for your wool, and we want you to take our woollen goods." He added that it was expected that in a year's time the industries would begin to get into working order, and possibly in three or four yVars they would lie in full swing. The speaker stated that Germany had in pre-war days been a customer of Franco for certain piece woollen goods. The bulk of these consisted of tops (combed wool), whilst a fair quantity of yarns also went to Germany. Hut Germany did not require these for her own use, but for the Hamburg export trade. Germany would not he supplied with these in tho future, and other markets would hare to be found by France. Trado With Germany Ended. Asked if thero was any possibility in the near future of national feeing being subserved to business considerations and trade with Germany being reestablished, M." Leclercq-Motte vehemently replied: "I have discussed this question with those in the trade, and especially with top-makers, and they

say they will not trade any more with Germany. This is our feeling. But apart from this our Government is hound to control matters so as to prevent such trade." M. Leclercq-Motte stated that their demand for wool would be increased when they settled down to trade, especially as Alsaco would be included in France. Alsaco had many woollen manufacturers. The Silk Industry, In the course of an interview, M. Marcel Mathieu was emphatic in his declaration that a large number of so-called French fashions which are palmed off on the public as originating and having been manufactured in Paris are merely travesties on the genuine article. M. Mathieu is a representative of the firm of V. Mathieu and Co., silk manufacturers, of Lyons, and his interest in the mission is principally confined to the representation of commercial matters, his chief object being to learn as much as possible regarding the business possibilities of i\e\v Zealand. At the time he is collecting as much data as possible with that object in view. M. Mathieu has already decided to appoint agents in New Zealand to represent the interests of his firm in this country, and he intends to approach the New Zealand and with a view to .obtaining exhibits at tho famous Lyons Exhibition, which is held annually in his homo town. M. Mathieu stated that his mission in New Zealand had been very successful, and he saw vast opportunities for. a reciprocal trade between New Zealand and France.