[67] M. Loucheurʼs statement to the French Chamber implied that the rate of conversion was applicable to material damage as well as to pensions, and I have assumed this in what follows; but precise official information is lacking.

[68] The figures of damage done, given by M. Briand, are generally speaking rather lower than those given ten months earlier (in June 1920) in a report by M. Tardieu in his capacity as President of the Comité des Régions Dévastées. But the difference is not very material. For purposes of comparison, I give M. Tardieuʼs figures below together with those of the amount of reconstruction completed at that earlier date:

Destroyed. Repaired.
Houses totally destroyed319,2692,000
Houses partially destroyed313,675182,000
Railway lines5,534kilos.4,042kilos.
Canals1,596784
Roads39,0007,548
Bridges, embankments, etc.4,7853,424
Destroyed.Cleared from shells.Leveled.Plowed.
Arable land (hectares)3,200,0002,900,0001,700,0001,150,000
Destroyed.Reconstructed and working.Under reconstruction.
Factories and works11,5003,5403,812

A much earlier estimate is that made by M. Dubois for the Budget Commission of the French Chamber and published as Parliamentary Paper No. 5432 of the Session of 1918.

[69] A more recent estimate (namely, for July 1, 1921) has been given, presumably from official sources, by M. Fournier–Sarlovèze, Deputy for the Oise. The following are some of his figures:

Inhabited Houses

At the Armistice:Totally destroyed289,147
Badly injured164,317
Partially injured258,419
By July 1921:Entirely rebuilt118,863
Temporarily repaired182,694

Public Buildings