80 INFORMATION RELATING TO AGRICUIvTURAL ECONOMY IN GENERAL 



rage the rapid resumption of agricultural life by giving solidarity to indi- 

 vidual efforts. 



For the reconstitution of dwellings in cases of urgency a special de- 

 partment has been instituted in the prefectorate of ever>^ department 

 affected either in the past or the present by the invasion. 



Even before the valuation of damages due to the war, urgent repairs 

 of slightly damaged houses may be effected if the owner's poverty disable 

 him from himself making the necessary repairs, of which the cost should 

 not on principle surpass a fifth part of the value of the real estate before the 

 war. 



Bituminous cardboard and oiled cloth will be supplied gratis and axes 

 lent for the purpose of preserving partiallj' destroyed buildings and prevent- 

 ing the extension of damage. 



Further, depots have been constituted of material which will facilitate 

 the reconstruction in cases of urgency of dwellings by the persons interested. 

 A single applicant may receive material of this sort up to the value of 1500 

 francs. 



When real estate has been completely destroyed, and the pre^dous 

 occupiers thereof cannot find other temporary lodgings in the commune 

 to which they have been authorized to return, they may ask for the grant 

 of a temporary house, indicating the site on which they wish it to be erected 

 and the number of members in their family. To meet such a demand the 

 administration has caused stocks of temporary houses and collapsible shel- 

 ters, which can be set up rapidly, to be constructed. 



The first temporary shelters to be grouped in a devastated commune 

 form the local receiving place for the repatriated refugees. They must 

 consist of a series of houses destined from the beginning of the enterprise of 

 repatriation for most urgent needs — a ma3^oralty and public offices, a relief 

 station, a canteen and station for provisions, a reserve of furniture — 

 in order to secure indispensable living conditions to those who have suffered 

 losses in the communes in which destruction has been such that thej^ have 

 not been able to find shelter in the remaining houses. 



In order, however, to enable the resumption of normal life or any agri- 

 culture a special department for bringing back the soil into a cultivable 

 state must destroy bombs, level trenches, and remove wire entanglements. 



Capital and stock are also necessary to the resumption of agricultural 

 life. On principle money on account or advances on indemnities for war 

 damages can onh^ be granted if the cantonal commission, anticipated by 

 article 4 of the decree of 20 July 1915, has testified to the damages and es- 

 timated them. Immediate advances, for bringing the land again under cul- 

 tivation or harA'estihg crops, may however be made, by the medium of the 

 prefect and agricultural departments of a department, to persons who have 

 incurred loss where the estimating commission has not been able to exercise 

 its functions. These advances consist of seeds, fertilizers, agricultural im- 

 plements, draught animals and live stock. 



Every application for an advance of this kind should indicate the ex- 

 tent of land to be cultivated, the kind of land, and the manner in which it 



