The sun., 1901-07-28
N. sIE6FRIED ON AMERICA.
Our, a Great Country -Bsgsase That French
men should BRING Here.

The ex-French Minister OF Commerce. Mr.
Jules Siegfried, who has just returned To Paris
after tour through the United states. fatiers
us as follows in an interview with a reporter
of the Tomps
The United States which I visited forty
wears ago. have now reached n development
that is simply astounding. found st Paul n
village Of some three thousand inhabitants
IN a wild country stl peopled by Indians.
At present il IL a rich and handsome city
with a population OF l83, 900. II Is, OF course.
needless for me to speak Of the fantastic
growth Of Chica go or Of the gigantic agglom-
Grafton OF New York Ia 1880 | saw there
houses four and Ave stories high, but now YOU
fnd colossal buildings OF twenty-eight and
thirty stories which are reached by the ele
yators in hfty second- The railroads cover
10, 900 kilometres There are 1900 locomo-
tly.s ?s,cOO ia ssenger cars and i.s2sO0o freight
mIllio rds of francs "A Ia the foreign trade.
which amounts 10 very little compared To
the enormous domestic trade. here are me
figures: Imports. fonr milards. two hundred
and fifty millions Of francs; exports, seven
mllards leaving the colossal surplus or
two mllliards seven hundred and ffty millions
Of francs to represent the net exports
-In all that has recently been said OF Ameri-
can industry there Is no eTaggrratl2n Iake
Pittsburg. for eSampls IN my SpInron an5 !, Is
really il IL hard to say whether the natural
advanta ges Of the region or the energy and
ingenuity which utilize them should get the
larger share Of ones admiration The mills
~ytend from the heart Of the city TO distance
Of thirty kilometres outside The places
verifable forge. and its Inhabitants can boast
that IL holds The record for smoke
In the United States the cost OF labor Il
very high from Is 10 10 francs day for
skilled wYkman Bu, tha. = -, aSldayy dlifrlnl,y
ingenui The perfection of their machines Is
such that. In spite OF the high rate OF wages.
the net cost j. lower Than u is "a cltner me
German OF English factorles .N, .N,,aru may rh,
agricultural machines. the locomotive, ana
railroad car shops aud the cotton and silk
nIls were sngulary interesting 10 me- ~, nI,
A astoni.hing progress IN the making OF shoes
Excellent machines and u rigorous division
nr labor enable the american manuIacttlrers ,n t
and 10 give their employees from 10 To ~
francs n day for nine hours work
The power Of American industrial pro,
bV the new tendency 10 concentrate enter
pri4eS IN trusts They constitute q great ad-
vantage from the viewpoint OF unity OF direc-
ton and the suppression OF embarrassing
and useless competition But, on the other
hand there il no good reason 70 be dazlled
by their spandor or terrified by their power.
Wages IN America are. ns rule. about
double what they are in France. For un-
skilled laborers the average ~ francs 81
oentimeS and for skilled laborers or tradesnen
| 10 or Is francs for nine hours work = day
| il is generally supposed that the cost OF living
| is very high but that i an error Rents
| certainly are high in the great cities, but
,3on tSSn i i does sf in Frame. ,,
Vow would Frenchmsn easily obtain
| work in America He would, on Two con
% tnow the English language Without that
| ia ggage I would not advise any Frenchman
| to 20 to America"