The news-democrat. (Providence, R.I.) 1906-1909, 1906-12-31
AHEAD
Of AMERICA IN
MANUFACTURES

Frank III. Mason, IN the loHoNinS i'Nt'i
from Paris. discusses the underlying rea-
sons why France excels in the production
anu sale abroad OF such wide range or
manufactured goods:
"The manufactured articles OF Ameri-
can origin which have won their way into
European markets by sheer force of SUI
perior quality are mainly included in the
following list;
II. Machine tools. There is nothing
made I'm Great Britain or continental Eu-
rope that surpasses any quality of ma
terial or equals I'm consummate workman
ship and ingenuity of construction the
high-class automatic machine tools of the
bcs. American makers.
80 The same is true OF typewritting ma
chimes, an American invention, which has
been initiated and copied in most Euro
pean countries with one uniform result.
Cheaper typewriters, more or less effi-
cient, have been produced abroad. but the
really high-class machines, perfectly ad-
jussted. balanced. adapted TO their work
and good for many years OF constant SER
vice. are still imported from the United
States TO European countries and sold in
large numbers at stiffly maintained prices
because they are made nowhere else.
%. Agricultural machinery. mowers.
reapers and cultivators. also implements
like spades, shovels. hoes and pitchfolks
OF American manufacture dominate and
have held thus far the principal foreign
markets through sheer superiority in
quality. combined with cheapness and in
genious adaptation 10 their purpose
-. The American sewing machine
which invaded Continental Europe more
than generation ago, still holds IT'S own
bravely against local competition by vir-
eHaa % ILL.,
tainly will he remembered that high
grade American-made bicycles. when
they entered the European market about
1895. embodied a standard OF lightness
and perfection of workmanship which
had not then been attained aboard.
20. The American factory-made shoe
when II invaded Europe did so because
IL was distinctly superior I'm form. finish.
durability and comfort for the wearer to
anything OF the same class with which il
had to compete European shoe manufac-
turers promptly recognized this and not
only equipped their factories with Ameri-
can machinery, but imported American
foremen, and in many cases shoes to
serve as models and inspiration to their
workmen.
"6 In the large and important class of
fine hardware-locks. hinges and various
fittings for house construction-the best
Araerican-made goods are distinctly supe-
rior, although their higher cost has 10
some extent limited their success in the
European field.
81 The silverware Of the leading Amer
lean manufacturers is sold In Paris and
other European capitals side by side with
The choicest work OF native silversmiths.
The American machine made watch and
various mechanics tools are equal IL not
superior In quality TO the best products
of 5he same classes that are turned out
in any other country.
But with this brief list the American
claim of precedence in quality is practi-
Cally ended. This Is all very we'll so far
as II goes, but there is whole realm Of
production in the higher and more artistic
forms OF manufacture which machinery
and automatic workmen do not reach. For
all this-the products Of skilled handcraft
into which has been wrought some OF the
personal genius and character OF the
workmen-we are still almost wholly de-
pendent upon European countries. and es-
pecially France.
"It is at this period i'm national devel-
opment when the American demand for
the highest products OF skilled and arts-
tic workmanship has become insistent and
all but Unsuitable that il is timely ana in
teresting TO ask what lessons France has
to teach the United States. especially In
the direction OF industrial art encourage
ment and education.
1T is welr known that notwithstanding
limited natural resources in respect to
coal iron and other metals, with not
pound OF cotton or petroleum produced
within her borders, with stationary pop
uation and heavy burdens OF public debt
and national defense, France is one of the
most prosperous of nations Paris gorg-
ed with money, has become the banker Of
continental Europe The underlying
sourcs of this prosperity can be summed
up in sentence, namely. a genial cl-
mate, soil naturally fertile and kept up
70 the highest point OF production by in
telligent. intensive cultivation: Industry
and frugalty OF living on the part OF tho
working classes, and above ALL the in
stinct of artistic taste, fostered and de-
veloped by education and governmental
influence. until it has become a national
attribute.
ut is this which enables French
ateliers and workshops to turn out the
choice products which defy the tariff
walls OF other nations and make Paris
the Mecca not only for a vast multi
tude of cultivated amateurs but OF the
merchants from foreign countries who
deal In the choicest and most valuable
forms OF merchandise
France is industriously prosperous be-
cause she commands the rarest and
surest Of assets--the aesthetic taste
which creates models and standards for
other peoples. and the consummate handi-
craft which multiplies in the product 10
20 or hundred times the value OF the
material OF which II is composed.