The Pioche record. [volume] (Pioche, Nev.) 1908-1925, 1919-04-04


French textile industry, the Germans
when they did not steal the machin.
cry, broke some of the vital parts and
took away all electrical fittings and
every scrap Of copper.
What happened then after the war
had ceased?
The French government made ii I'M
possible for the Lille factory owners
to replace the stolen and destroyed
spindles by buying them In America
and England, and France could not re-
place them. II was pointed out to the
men of Lille who wished TO buy, and
who had the money to buy. that 1t was
Illegal to send money out of France.
If the spindle buyer happened to have
a fund handy In England or America,
with which to pay for his stuff there
was slim chance of being able to put
through the deal but it was by no
means certainty
Back of this seemingly suicidal pol.
icy was the French government plan
to make France as nearly self-sustain-
ing rs possible, to keep French money
at home and to keep the rate of ex-
change as favorable as possible to
France.
1t did not occur to the French off,
cials that reconstruction problems
could be solved more easily if the Lille
people and others in the same predica-
ment were permitted to buy factory
machinery abroad and thereby hasten
, the day when the textile mills would
. resume production.
, Would Help Labor. =
With production started, even
with factory reconstruction started,
the French economic system would be
benefited, because such an outcome
, would give employment to French
5 workmen. And expectation of tex
! tiles-which have to be manufactured
t before they are shipped-would auto.
: matically push the French exchange
Z rate into a position favoring France.
: Yet the whole chain of reconstruc-
l ton was blocked by the prohibition
4 on importing foreign spindles and the
Y French textile people themselves were
8 obliged to oppose government policy
that hurt their business.
$ American business men in France
e during the peace conference shook
: their heads when they were asked
: about the possibility of immediate
: trade between France and America,
: and the optimistic ones took the view
that tight government control of trade
e as put into effect by the French in
January as a reconstruction measure
could not last long.
d What happened to the textile indus
a try during the war was only repe-
:. tition of the sad fate of the brewing
e business and the mining industry, as
S well as the sugar business.
y All Of this wreckage cost the French
# something like 100000, 0OO-that's the
n first official estimate.
e Dream Of Prosperity.
{ In the midst of this despoiatior
Ii France has a dream of future indus
{ trial prosperity to be realized only
t by protecting all national industry
l. against foreign competition. Never
Il before has she thought seriously OF
y taking the Germans place in Europe
g and now she believes that with only
= comparatively small amount of ia
voritism she can compete for many o.
the German markets.
:, From the despairing days of July
II 1918, when 1t seemed certain the Ger
II mans would take Paris and tina
II French public opinion would not stanj
a behind continuation of the war, tt
n the eXaltatiOn France feels today II
q the joy of victory is far cry, to sa,
q the least.
Il The tables are completely turned
4 Politically and economically tn,
Il French have made tremendous gain
n and they can only be expected to maxi
Il the most of their bettered position il
Il the world.
If they happened to work at eros
purposes to England and America, WI
i can expect some compromise measure
4 and some heated headlines perhaps il
case the censor gets off the job some
time in 1919, but scarcely anythin,
/ more serious.
i Picked for Life.