PRESERVE AMERICAN MARKET FOR AMERICANS. Around the Great Home Market of America Let Us Build a Wall of Firm Protection. Editorial from the Boston American. Facing a war debt which, at its lowest reckoning, is more than ten times as large as the debt our fathers faced at the end of the Civil War, we shall little question the Republican Congressional caucus assertion of the need of tariff legislation "designed to increase the revenues from imports." Or, stated a bit more accurately, there will be little dissent from the statement that with great economy must go increased income, whether we get it by taxing imports at the port of entry or by taxing the incomes of those who profit by the tariff in those imports after they clear the customs. While there may be room for reasonable debate as to the place where and methods whereby this increased revenue tax shall be levied, we can see no possible ground of objection to the Republican Congressional caucus' further demand for and promise of tariff legislation designed "to afford adequate protection to American labor and indus tries." How can American labor and industries possibly be in peril from the demoralized and war-harried industries of Europe? They can be and we think they are in precisely the same peril from them that an established and pros Take, for illustration, the product called dyes. Before the war Germany monopolized them. During the war, spurred by necessity, we learned to make them. The exact extent to which our capacity for successful domestic dye production has been developed is not clear, because the testimony of the experts is conflicting. It is, however, reasonable to suppose that this infant industry is not yet strong enough to stand alone against the desperate assaults of the experienced German dye makers, frantic with eagerness to regain a lost monopoly of immense. profitableness. Dyes are not the only things we used to import, but now make for ourselves. There is also, for another illustration, optical glass. The ability of the American people to make all the dyes they need and all the lenses is a very great asset to a nation wishing to be as independent, economically, as it has become po- and, in the long run, domestic litically. The war has taught those of us who can discriminate between hard facts and illusions that it is not safe for this great democratic republic of ours to be at the mercy of any foreign Power, political or economic. It has revealed with startling vividness, though at great expense, the need of constant vigilance and adequate preparedness. It has shown that of the many forms of preparedness industrial preparedness, thanks to the distance between us and our great rival and jealous Powers and to the intelligence with which we have provided ourselves with the beginnings of a sufficient navy, comes first. It was our industrial strength which enabled us to equip and feed our associates in the war beyond their own limited resources while we were assembling the military forces that finally delivered the knockout blow. Industrial preparedness, all-round, complete, is the great secret of modern safety, and it behooves us to make certain that we shall not again be helplessly dependent on any foreign and possibly hostile source for things which a genuinely American policy of foresight would enable us to produce for ourselves. So fundamentally the use of tariffs to keep out floods of foreignmade products at the expense of domestic labor, domestic industry safety, is as much a duty of the national defence as is the maintenance of an alert and adequate navy, of coast defence guns and of a citizenry trained to self-reliant combat when the need for it is urgent. In our recent engrossment in altruistic adventures we paid too little attention to home needs. The time has come to get back to earth, and to that particular part of the earth on which we and our children are destined to live. We have before us a great and intricate variety of reconstruction problems and reconstruction tasks, but the first concern of all of us is the welfare of America. At the base of that welfare lies the need for steady employment of American labor at wages which will maintain a high standard of living. This base is threatened (how much we do not know) by the existence in an impoverished world of great masses of idle workers eager for employment on the lowest terms. We are humane enough to wish to see them put to work. We are willing to go to great lengths to aid in their wholesale employment. But we are not fanatic or insane enough to wish for the leveling up of this foreign destitution by the destruction of our own standards. Around the great home market of America let patriotic Americans unite to build a wall of firm protection within which the productive genius of America may feel safe. PROOF OF GERMAN RUTHLESSNESS. Germany's Economic War Aims and the Destruction of French Industries. Information Supplied by The Paris Chamber of Commerce. Now that the hour of reparation has sounded, it is advisable to call attention to the work of systematic devastation carried on, during four years of war, in those extremely rich industrial regions of France which fell into the hands of the German armies. A German document, laid before the Peace Conference by Mr. Klotz, the French Minister of Finance, proves that this work of destruction and looting had been premeditated long ago, and every detail pre-arranged. The document consists of 482 pages entitled: "French industry in the invaded regions." It was published at Munich in 1916, by order of the German Chief of Staff, and sent "privately" to all the chambers of commerce and economic associations of the Empire. The preface states that the aim of the work is: to suppress all competition injurious to German industries; the investigation made by 200 experts and specialists, called home from the armies, was extended to as many as 4031 industrial enterprises situated in the zone occupied in January 1916. The preface says: This work does not give the whole of the damages to French industrial establishments, caused by the war. For, besides the requisitions, destructions and seizures made later than the date indicated, there exists immediately behind the French front a large number of manufacturing towns flourishing before the war whose factories and works should be considered as entirely destroyed; amongst which it suffices to mention Armentieres, Bethune, Rheims and Luneville. In order to estimate the damage inflicted by the actual events of the war, on French industries, the facts stated in this work should be supplemented by figures, which it will not be possible to give until after the war. Starting on the principle that a widespread knowledge of the industrial and economic conditions of the occupied territory be necessary in the professional centres of the Empire, we have endeavoured, in this work, to provide as full a description as possible according to the facts and statements obtainable on the spot. This work includes, from a technical as well as an economic point of view, the most important branches of industry; it describes the conditions under which divers industries exist, it shows their connections with Germany, and with the world's markets, and gives a glimpse of how the consequences resulting from the destruction of certain branches of industry will be likely to affect Germany. The German document goes on to explain the state of affairs connected with each branch of industry; the most characteristic passages are the following: THE METAL INDUSTRY In most cases it is a question of the carrying away of raw materials and machinery, chiefly turning-lathes, electric motors, driving-belts, sockets, flattening- or rollingmills, blowing-machines, etc. Their restoration might, on an average, require from 8 to 16 months for all the manufactories. We may say, almost with certainty, that all blasting and smelting-furnaces, steelworks and flattening-mills will be thrown back several years and this is particulary the case wtih the flattening-mills of the North.... Germany might be able to intervene as contractor for this machinery. THE WEAVING INDUSTRY All the metals wanting in Germany, such as copper, brass, bronze, etc., have been seized and carried away; quantities of raw materials and half-manufactured as well as manufactured goods have been sent into Germany; besides which the looms, coils of finished thread and chains have been likewise taken away. In the region of Sedan-Rethel, the destruction caused by the war is exceptionally great. Out of fifteen establishments ten combing-mills have been completely destroyed, that is to say all the looms and fittings have been taken out of the buildings, and are lying in the open air like so much old iron; the buildings themselves have suffered, owing to the displacing of the machines, boring holes in the walls, or taking up the floors, so that if these firms wish to start afresh after the war, their factories must of course be entirely fitted up with new machinery and appliances of all kinds. It is evident, that not one of the establishments mentioned could begin to resume work even partially, till a year after the signing of peace, and only on condition that the factories for the looms, etc., could deliver the requisite machinery in that space of time. The renewal of work at the mills will have to encounter great difficulties. Owing to the lack of raw materials, and experienced hands, also to the general scarcity of everything, and to the destruction of so many manufactories, it is not likely that the fittings which are missing can be replaced in a short time, or that the damage done can be repaired in a short space of time. HOW THIS WILL AFFECT GERMANY The French weaving industry will have lost, during the war, many outlets. To monopolize them and to make the best of the terrible blow dealt to this industry in the invaded regions, it is more especially important that Germany should re-open her mills as rapidly as possible after the war thanks to the prompt acquisition of raw material and thread. Should the connections, in regard to commercial policy, between France and Germany appear in a favorable light, an opening of vast importance would be found in the markets of the North of France, especially for the German constructors and mechanical engineers employed in the weaving industry. THE MECHANICAL INDUSTRY It is especially noticeable that during the war great harm has been done to this industry on account of destruction and requisitioning on a large scale, for electrical plant. Owing to the requisitioning of metals and pieces of machinery, as well as the removal of machinery in order to make room for other things, the latter have been either damaged or made useless. Important requisitioning was done in manufactured products for the needs of the army; and one cannot hope for a renewal of work, in most of these establishments, before another year. German industry, in as far as the construction of machinery goes, should find after the war, in this line, a good opportunity for disposing of its products. With well-directed efforts, Germany should manage to monopolize the few foreign French markets, notably Turkey and the countries in the Balkan peninsula: the long inactivity of the French factories, and the impossibility of their being able to manufacture and export immediately after the war, might contribute to facilitating this. THE SUGAR INDUSTRY Sugar refineries, with a very few exceptions, have suffered terribly through the war. Not one has escaped being requisitioned; everywhere the stocks of sugar and treacle, the supplies of coal, coke, paraffinoil, guttapercha; the leather-straps, draught horses and bullocks, carts, harness, tools, light railways, weighing machines, electrical plants, etc., have been carried off; and in a few establishments only, four or six which are working for the German army, only bare necessaries have been left. The damage done to the factories themselves and to their fittings is still much worse. The French sugar refining industry will cease to be a competitor in the world's markets during the two or three coming years. At first, it will scarcely be able to supply the wants of the country and to reconstitute its exhausted stocks. In spite of a somewhat hostile feeling, the commercial relations with Germany will remain assured, for the French sugar-refining industry will not be able to forego importing seed from Germany without prejudice to itself. Besides seed, it must also purchase certain clays for refining purposes; and coals, the latter evidently in large quantities, the French coal-mines having likewise suffered very much. She might even to a certain degree have recourse to some special German factories with a view to her reconstitution, for the French building-yards, most of which are situated in the North, and weakened by war, will not suffice for the task. COAL-FIELDS DESTROYED Owing to the war, the coal-fields of the North have been greatly damaged. All the most valuable parts of the machinery have been taken away, and for certain strategical reasons the buildings for raising coal have been destroyed. Underground communication has been interrupted by flooding the work and galleries . . . . Owing to all these circumstances, the mines will not be in working order for years. The falling off in the output of coal during the first year of peace, for the whole of the region, may be estimated at 13 to 15 million tons. The coal-mines in the North of France have lost so much of their machinery during the war, that if their owners wish to have them worked immediately, they will be compelled to apply abroad for fresh supplies. Whatever mode may be employed in reestablishing political intercourse between France and Germany, the mechanical industry in the latter country will certainly benefit by the situation, Great Britain and America not having, so to speak, entered this region up till now. Similar statements are made concerning the spinning factories, the chemical industry, leather, alcohol, wool-combing, clothes, the weaving industry; the latter complete the German work and are a conclusive proof, confirming the words of Mr. Clemenceau, that the war "was not only, on the part of Prussia, a dream of military domination, but a well planned conspiracy, calculated to exterminate France industrially and commercially as well as militarily." GUARANTEES FOR FOR THE FUTURE: SPEECH BY PRESIDENT WILSON. When President Wilson received an official welcome by the French Parliament, M. Paul Deschanel, the President of the Chamber of Deputies, pointed out, in a striking manner, what would be the indispensable conditions for a lasting peace, and the only one France could accept, in order to prevent a renewal of the martyrdom suffered by her invaded provinces. You hoped and we too hope with you that from so much suffering more justice may arise; even as this war has not been like other wars, so peace should not be like the others have been; let guarantees be obtained against the re-occurrence of crimes which have been a disgrace to the earth and which no one has condemned more forcibly than you have: military, economic, financial guarantees, protecting the victims of German ambition against perpetual fear of alarm; greater guarantees by the agreement of free peoples, with powerful sanctions to chastise those who commit crimes against the peace of the world, and above all to prevent such crimes. TAKING IMPORTS IN PAYMENT OF FOREIGN DEBTS. From the New York Sun. It is possible for a nation to have an adverse trade balance which need not cause unemployment. Before the war the United Kingdom was in exactly that position. It depends upon what imports are received and under what circumstances. It is possible also for a nation to have a favorable trade balance in the commonly accepted term and yet not have in fact a real balance in its favor. Before the war we were in exactly that position. It is impossible, furthermore, for a nation or for nations to pay debts to another nation and yet not flood it with goods, not even send it directly any goods at all. These are things which Congress legislators will keep in mind while framing the new tariff schedules. If they not only keep in mind the fundamental principles involved, but put them into the laws, there is no reason why the Old World should not pay its debts to us, and there is no reason why we should |