The Detroit times., 1916-04-15
France Will Rebuild
With American Steel,
:. Says Corey
BILLIONS WILL
BE SPENT HERE
Demand At the Wars
Conclusion Will Be
Tremendous
BY HERBERT COREY

ANS ApIll 10 nat greatly
feared after-the.war slump in Ameri-
can business may never come. We
may be too busy in supplying the
myriad necessities of France.
That may seem coldly selfish
way Of looking at the situation. II
is not so intended. But the truth is
that
France will be in the market for
millions-billions-- dollars worth
OF the things the United States alone
has 10 sell. That business may be
spread over decade. II means
that we will get in France one OF
the best markets in the world for
all time"
Look at the facts. One of the first
things France will buy of us when
the war ends is houses. Steel houses
She must hire our men to come
over here and shew her men hew To
put these frames together. Does
that sound absurd? Then read fur.
Their.
France proposes to rebuild her
ruined factories on the American
plan said United States CONNER
cial Agent Needham. "They are to
he light, airy, thoroughly modern
structures, built on the modern or
automobile efficiency plan by which
the goods suffer no loss or waste
motion in the course OF manufac
ture.'
Not every manufacturer whose fac
tory has been destroyed, of course
But a very gs>percentage OF them
The government Is indirectly inter
esting Itself TO this end. The ole
ways are TO he forgotten. even as
the old days have passed. France
is TO be systematized, modernized
made more efficient She realizes
that competition will be more ruth
less and brutal in the years imme.
diately following the war than ever
before In the world history. There
will be contest for that world bus
mess so largely held before the war
by Germany. France has determin.
ed 10 get her share.
France must buy our steel build
ings.' said Henry G. Long, director
of the American section of the Re.
construction exposition.
mo one but America has steel
buildings TO sell"
Another man said that. His name
may not be used because OF his po-
sition in French syndicalism, or
trades unionism. England might, in
the fulness of leisurely time. make
the steel skeletons for these build.
ings. She has not in the past for
various reasons, one OF which Is the
delight she has taken in sneering at
the Americans who do. That has
cost her position in this race. She
will have no steel frames to sell
even II IL wer enot also true that
she will have reconstruction prob
lem of her own TO face in the days
Immediately following the declara
ton Of peace. II is not probable she
will appear as a serious competitor
for this class Of business for some
time. And there Is another reason
why American steel buildings will
be preferred to those OF English
make, IL all other conditions were
even:
I'VE want 10 put American ma
chimes in our new factories"
American machines are better
than either English or German,
French manufacturers say. The
English machine is too heavy and
awkward II is built to last, but in
the pressure Of modern business the
American has found that il pays "a
scrap machines sometimes The
German machine is neither as fast
nor az dependable as the American. y
Therefore the nation which begins
the new race with American ma
chimes will have an advantage over
both England and Germany Event.
ually. thanks to. the cheaper labor
here. France may likewise have an
advantage over the United States,
but that Is matter for the future
10 determine. The prediction--bas-
cd upon ordered judgment here
may be interpolated that labor will
never again be as cheap In Europe
as II has been. There will be too
much rebuilding work to be done
and too few hands to do Il with. A
statutory bar against immigration
will probably deprive the United
States Of the raw labor that has so
largely fed our mines and furnaces.
So that labor prices will likely rise
relatively all over the world