The daily morning journal and courier., 1904-08-24

stretches Of territory nor the great nat iuraI resources nor the prodigious lequipment in machinery nor the vast number of men possessed by the United States France appears in comparison Ewith the United States insignificant Its future appears somewhat restricted. At least this is the conclusion to which lone must come finally who looks upon the matter from the standpoint of the relative positions of the two countries in regard to their natural resources and forces already developed. It is other iwise, perhaps, if one looks at results ibased upon possibilities. Temporarily, the balance of power in commerce is in Jour favor. We are at present, and will lstill remain, exporters to the United states; this is an actual fact. For the future there are some considerations (which are of great weight. In the first lplace. French products are not of a lclass that come into competition with American products.
 America, entirely occupied in exploit ling it's own territory, produces and ex- lports above all things the raw materi- als which our industries consume, as petroleum, cotton, iron, coal, etc. EThese are the most considerable arti- lcles. of her commerce. things that we neither make nor consider of the high lest importance. As a matter of fact, we are menaced with competition only in the matter of foods, but upon this 1point our production and consumption Twill so regulate themselves that we Ishall be able to meet competition sue Icessfully if 1t comes. Besides, our mar ket is sufficiently rich, sufficiently lsought, sufficiently important to permit Jus to secure concessions to foreign Iparts in favor of our own productions Iby making concessions to parties seek ling sales in our markets. In other lWords, we could exercose a rigorous re- Italiatory control over petroleum if our lwine, trade should be threatened. On lthe other hand, every increase in popu- llation and in the public good fortune of 1.-the United States is profitable to us be- lcause of the increased sale of our pro- lducts. Our trade in articles of luxury Increases when the resources of the lconsumer increase We need general Igood will; we must preach with smiling faces. Our wines, our champagne, our lime oils, our fruits, our liquers, our That's, our gloves, our perfumery our woolen cloths, our objects of art always lseek a refined, elegant and cultured Ipurchaser. Our wish therefore is very Isincere when we wish good fortune to Jour friends.
 Then, again, quantities do not speak A. 4i,,,at, ,1ea,ae.ea 1-xy ff lalso the qualities and results. On this lpoint statistics are insufficiently accu- Irate. If they were able to set forth the ireaI secret of the business transactions
 of each merchant they would certainly confirm ouroptimistic belief As mat ter of fact, industry and trade advance
 without teasing, toward the production of the highest grade of goods, and there are excellent reasons for this fact. The
 natural movement is the elimination oi Iencumbering weights of uncertain
 transactions and of bad debts; it tends al to the least effort -thatiiH, 1t seeks the Hines of least resistanceat It desires a ]. minimum of tonnage With a maximum
 of gain. This is the trend of French
 commerce. It is able to profit by all
 those circumstances which might prove lgreat difficulties to it's competitors
 Nor is this all. France IS to-day re Istrained within her own confines. Wil
 1t be so tomorrow? Isit not even now
 assured of its future in reserving fol l itself on this planet territory almosti a:
 vast perhaps as that Of the United I States. which can become in the future
 very prosperous? Irefer, of course, tc Jour colonial possessions, In them will
 be found an extent of territory, a diver
 sity of climate, an abundance of natu-
 raI resources which will furnish to hu-
 man activity and to the commercial
 world new and unexplored field I It was new land that made the for.
 Hume of America. Why should not
 these rev lands possessed by us make
 the new fortune of France? Already Algeria, Tunis and Indo-China are
 claiming their places and rank among lother possessions. Tomorrow the
 Kongo, East Africa, Madagascar ant
 New Caledonia will offer to strangers lopenings no less vast than those in America, These acquisitions were made only yesterday, but their pro-
 gross has already been remarkable