ners, and mode of living correctly we must bring a full measure 

 of charity, sympathy, and understanding to bear upon the sub- 

 ject. France has indeed suffered burdens grievous to be borne. 

 All her young men are dead; her fertile fields, a desolate waste. 

 Wars have decimated her population and ravaged her territory 

 since times immemorial The drain upon man-power and re- 

 sources has been appalling. Lying adjacent to a ruthless enemy 

 who covets her mines and fields her position has been so insecure 

 as to keep the people in a constant state of suspense. Even 

 in peace times a large standing army is imperative. Not only 

 are these men taken from productive industry but also the labor 

 of many others is required to support them. With frontiers as 

 secure as ours, with all energies and resources turned to internal 

 development and the productive pursuits of peace, France would 

 be an unusually rich and progressive country. , 



Again, the French have the old world type of mind, adhering 

 closely to custom and convention. "They are far more conven- 

 tional, because an older people than we. In the United States 

 men are always on the move. It is rare for a father and his 

 children and grandchildren to follow the same pursuits or even 

 to live in the same town. In France the great opportunity is not 

 to do something different, but to continue doing well what was 

 begun a hundred years ago. The American motto is "Get On!" 

 The French is "Stand Fast!" 1 France, smaller than Texas, sup- 

 ports a population of 40,000,000. To survive competition and to 

 live comfortably there must be an intensive pursuit of livelihood. 

 No one can afford to move from town to town or to change occu- 

 pations at will. There are no broad, virgin acres awaiting set- 

 tlement, no cheap lands to support a constantly moving farming 

 class, so extensive as to respond productively to surface cultiva- 

 tion. The limited home-acres must be tilled deeply and inten- 

 sively. "The tremendous and inevitable rivalry in business, and 

 in the liberal professions, forces the French to perfect them- 

 selves in one branch rather than to dabble in many. It makes 

 them prefer security to risk. The people who love risk begin 

 by emigrating. Those who love security stay at home." 2 



Thus a people rooted deeply in the soil and lacking contact 

 with progressive ideas are somewhat impervious to innovation 

 and change. But American capital and machinery will do much 

 to put agriculture upon a more modern and productive basis. 

 Greater than material aid, however, is the influence of progres- 

 sive ideas in regard to those things which make life truly worth 

 while sanitation, housing, living conditions, recreation, and 

 social betterment. A brighter and a more perfect day is about 

 to dawn for those valiant defenders of freedom whose motto is, 

 "Libertv, Equality, Fraternity." 



1 B. Van Vorst, France Our Ally, pp. 4, 5. 



2 Ibid, p. 5. 



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