ominently shown during the war.

"We will exact from Germany the restitution of each part of the material
taken away from us as can be recovered. But, besides that restitution,
we must bear in mind that speed is a primary condition in the
reconstruction of France, and that America, on account of her immense
capacities for production, ought to give us the first help. We need
ships, chartered ships as well as ships transferred to our flag; the
speedy reconstruction of the country is strictly depending on the
revival of our mercantile fleet.

"The colossal effort put up by the United States in the building of her
fleet for war purposes will not be diverted from this sacred end if it,
in part, helps France to recover on the seas, for the revival of her
forces in peace, the means of transportation which were lost to her on
account of the war.

"In reference to these four items--labor; credit, raw materials,
ships--I have explained in detail our needs to your administration, by
whose welcome I have been deeply moved. What I told them, what I asked
for, I am telling it to you again, because a policy of secrecy does not
befit our day.

"We have lost two million and a half men; some are dead, some maimed,
some have returned sick and incapacitated from German prisons. Whether
they be lost altogether, or whether their working capacity be
permanently reduced, they will not participate in this reconstruction.
The fifteenth part of our people is missing at the very time we need all
our material and moral forces in order to build up our life again. The
younger part, yea, the stronger part of our nation, the flower of
France, has died away on the battle-fields. Our country has been bereft
of its most precious resources.

"Our war expenses, on the other side, 120,000,000,000 francs, are
weighing heavily on our shoulders. To payoff this debt there are at hand
only such limited resources as invasion has left us. The territories
which have been under German occupation for four years were the
wealthiest part of France. Their area did not exceed six per cent of the
whole country. They paid, however, twenty-five per cent of the sum total
of our taxes.

"These territories which have been, for the last three months, occupied
again by us at the cost of our own blood and of the blood of our allies,
are now in a state of ruin even worse than we had anticipated. Of the
cities and villages nothing remains but ruins; 350,000 homes have been
d