Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-07-14


demand that the illimitable needs of
Europe may be expected to create? The
fact is, that in the face of these illimit-
able needs the industry Of all Europe
stands paralyzed. What is it that has
laid its hand on industry and at the
moment when industry's products are
needed as they were never before needed
in the world has put out the fires,
turned off the power, and left industry
idle?
The answer cannot be made in
sentence. There is a tragic combina.
ton of difficulties that has brought this
about. | will try to enumerate a few
of these. and let any American manu-
tacturer try to imagine his plant faced
with such a series Of difficulties and
answer it he, too, would not have
found them too great quickly to sur
mount.
Let us pass by the case Of these in
dustries in the devastated districts.
Obviously, their situation alone makes
an early restoration of work quite out
Of the question. Let us take as an
example an unharmed industrial plant
in any place located in the interior of
any one of several countries. We must
first recollect that domestic transporta-
ton is broken down. This is sub
stantially true of all Europe. 1t is lit
orally true in many districts. but even
where the service is best. days and
weeks are consumed in moving freight
| short distances.
bn hot
terials. and in most cases these ma
terials must come from outside the
country. Over great regions a mill
tary embargo still continues and raw
material could not be shipped II it
could be obtained. To obtain it, there
must be arranged in many cases ocean
transportation, and ocean tonnage is so
scarce that ships sometimes make one
| half their pre-war value out of receipts
Of a single round trip.
Credit Is Solution
But il tonnage can be obtained and
military embargoes do not interfere
there is then the difficulty of exchange
and the practical imposSbility of credit.
| All the continental nations are con-
| because every ton of material that is
| bought outside of the country increases
! the difficulties of the government in
handling the foreign exchange situa-
| ton.
So the manufacturer must first OBJ
tain an import license, which is al
! ways tedious process and frequently
a difficult one. After he has permis-
sion to import raw material he must
get the foreign funds necessary to pay
for it. Suppose he has done all this
and has surmounted the difficulties of
ocean and land transportation he is
! then ready to start his mill. 1t may
| be, if it is located in Italy. for ex-
| ample, that he can get no coal. In any
event the price of coal and the difficulty
of getting it regularly, together with
the difficulty of transporting it in suff
cient quantities, will be n serious han
| Gicap.
Then comes the labor situation, and
| although every manufacturer is sur
rounded by idleness. in few cases is his
labor market favorable. If his product
| is one that requires special skilled
labor, he finds that his former labor force
has drifted away and Is difficult to re
place. Always the increased of
living and the idea which is universal,
that labor shall have in the future a
larger share in the profits of produc.
ton, makes his new wage scale some
where from two to three times his pre-
war scale, while all over Europe the
demand for a shorter day is adding, at
least in the opinion of many manu- :
facturers, to the labor cost of produc-
ton.
But now suppose that the manufac-
turer has surmounted all these difficul-
ties and has actually started the pro
duction of his product. There then
comes the difficulty of his market. He
again faces the obstacle of broken
down transportation. If his market
had previously been in the Balkans. the
Near East or countries along the east e,
ern front, the transportation problem
is at present unsolvable. The diff =
culties. even of transportation of mail,
are unbelievably great, and bad as the
mail service is, it Is frequently speedier
than the telegraph. This is no ex
travagant figure of speech it is a plain
statement OF condltlons 'nat are SO
widespread as 10 De typical
But suppose the manutacturer mas at
last proouceu MS soous anu mas 30. ~
touch with his prospective customers
thess cus.1ers LON ss.s;n;na ",1 ~ pn o,nntr;sv
tionanu Z, vi ;ne o.anna - ar g.,
tney pIoDaolS ~ nav .e hm~ Ie re- ,ba b crs
~nat tney "Snt " oug n,.a w.