In controlling the Ruhr mines, railway and canals, the French control virtually the whole of Germany's industries. They can release delay or stop the transit of 160,000,000 tons of coal, 40,000,000 tons of metal, and 2,000,000 tons of tar. They can thus paralyze the business of the 30 or 40 magnates who, they believe, are the chief instigators of the German policy of evasion. Until these influential persons have surrendered, the French can proceed to collect money—not a large amount, but at any rate something. In the Ruhr, the German Government has five coalpits on the right bank of the Rhine, and five-sevenths of the Hibernia mine. Their average annual output is 9,000,000 tons of coal and 2,400,000 tons of coke. This represents only about 53 per cent. of the quantities due to France under the agreement for payments in kind. The Ruhr supplies the rest of Germany with about 40,000,000 tons of coal, on which a tax of 4 gold marks per ton is levied. The French will proceed to collect this tax, to do which they will have to put a Customs barrier round the whole of the Ruhr. They will have no difficulty in a making the arrangements, s they have for years had a staff of about 50 engineers in the Ruhr, who have been making themselves acquainted with every detail of the have the pleasure of pacing their local industries. They will now
knowledge to good use,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.