Devastated War Areas

Taihape Daily Times, 6 December 1918, Page 6

Devastated War Areas

KECONSTRUCTION NEEDS. The reconstruction problems confronting France, Belgium, and Britain are dealt with in an interesting manner in a letter received from one- of the members of the press delegation that visited Britain and the western front at the invitation of the Imperial Ministry of Inf&rmation. Looking back at the tour through the intervening events, says the writer, one of the most outstanding memories is the desolation of Northern France and Belgium. The delegates were in the ruined cities of~Albert, Bapaume, Arras, and Ypres. 311 tof these are masses of broken masonry, The streets have been cleared, and by following a guide one can see the remains of the great buildings of which France and Belgium were justly proud—the historic Cloth Hall of Ypres, the once beautiful Hotel de Ville of Arras, the stately churches of all four cities. Surrounding these ■ are depressing masses of wreckage, the beginnings, it may be, of new cities, but beginnings that are largelysentimental, for the practical rebuilding of Arras, Ypres, Albert, and Bapaume must be undertaken almost from the foundations. And these are but samples. The delegates were able to see only the fringe of the ruin which the German-made war has bnought to France and Belgium. They passed through many of the smaller towns, such as Fere-en-Tardenois and Hazebrouck, which are scenes of absolute desolation. They motored some 1500 miles over the devastated area of Northern France, through towns and villages, which have crumbled to pieces. Even the coastal towns of Boulogne and Calais have been damaged by bombs to a surprising extent. Villages whose names have become familiar the world over, such as Souchez and Pozieres, are identifiable only on the map. .Literally not one stone remains standing "upon another. RUIN INDESCRIBABLE.

Even human vitality appears to have gone from the areas in which the German 'Army set its feet. French civilian residents tiere were, when the delegates passed through, but they were few in number, and almost without exception they looked dejected and hopeless, going about their daily tasks without the slightest sense of the Messed relief which even then was so near to them. In this respect Belgium and Northern France have no doubt already changed, but years must pass before the ■ damage to land and buildings can be repaired, and millions must be spent in the work of reconstruction before land and industry can give food and shelter to the prewar population. The ruin is indescribable, the loss incalculable. The warstricken portions of France and Belgium can never again he as they were. To make them even self-supporting an enormous wealth of labour and material must be poured into them, and the appalling cost of it all must form part of the count and reckoning to be made with Germany at the final peace ' settlement. Britain has a reconstruction problem of a different kind, hut it also is vast. The delegates are able to realise its magnitude through their visits to the munition factories Industrially and socially Britain must face, is indeed now facing, a process of change such as no nation has ever experienced. The difficulty of returning soldiers to civil life is complicated by the necessity of finding new occupations for the enormous army of workers employed in the manufacture of munitions. A Government Department, under Dr. Addison, Minister for Eeconstruction, has been preparing for the critical period at the beginning of peace. During an interview, Dr. Addison told the delegates that happily about half the women in muntion factories have their own plans and need no place in the indus : trial organisation of the future. EMPLOYMENT OF SOLDIERS In the army there is even a larger proportion who will be able to return to their previous employments without Government aid. The demobilisation scheme has been planned so that those so placed can be first released from service. The army unit is to be wholly disregarded, and soldiers are to leave the colours in the following order: —First, men who have employment waiting them; second, men who are skilled in trades where work is abundant, and last, the residue, which it is hoped will be only a small proportion of the whole. In the factories the difficulties of transition from a war to a peace footing are enormous. One has to visit these great works to get an idea of the extent to which British trade has been sacrificed.so that the supply of munitions may he kept up. Not only have I firms adapted their plants to the needs of the War Office; they have sacrificed their trade connections, ; 3 nd must begin to build afresh. One huge establishment ..through which the delegates passed had been utilised for the manufacture of electrical machinery. It was turning out tanks, rerifling big guns, and providing all sorts of heavy supplies for the army svA navy. Another

was a carriage factory, but now without, a single carriage factory in sight, and none in order. A third was the biggest of Britain's linen mills, in which nothing was being made but aoroplanc cloth. These conditions arc multiplied in all the industrial centres of Britain. The delegates had many 'conversations with the men in charge of these concerns. In every case the future was regarded as doubtful, but was being anticipated with the same courage which enabled the captains of Lritish industry to sacrifice everything so that the army in the field might want for nothing.