What is perhaps the first concise and comprehensive statement of France's war losses has just been made by Captain Andre Tardieu, former French High Commissioner in the United States. In describing what he calls the "balance sheet" of France, Captain Tardieu states that during the five years of the war 8,000,000 men were mobilize ed, of whom 1,400,000 were killed, 800,000 maimed and 300,000 wounded. France thus lost 57 per cent. of her men under 32 years of age.
Concerning material losses, Captain Tardieu states that 600,000 houses were destroyed, 75,000,000 acres of arable land laid waste and 3,000 miles of railroad and 25,000 miles of highways destroyed. Mines which produced 55 per cent.
France's coal output were damaged or destroyed; 11,500 factories, which before the war produced 95 per cent. of the woollen goods, 90 per cent. of the linen material, 70 per cent. of the sugar and 60 per cent. of the cotton goods were crippled.
One-third of France's ships were sunk by German submarines. To defray the cost of munitions of war and food supplies France had to raise more than 8,000,000,000 francs, of which sum she was forced to lend 1,320,000,000 to foreign coun-ries.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.