The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1920-01-12

Paris, Jan. 1o.-The a. H. F. is
coming back to France.
Not DISSEMINATING in gray files of
ollve-drah from gigantic troopships,
hut quietly, unesteatatiousiy cf-it-
IAN CARRIED, and holding in their hands
not the bayonets of war but the COM
rnercial commissions which are the
weapons Of commerce.
Men who fought as dougboys in
the -raf-traps OF the Somme, men who
pushed the Stars and Stripes ahead
of all the allied banners in the bred
fui forest of the Argonne. men who
went over the top at Chateaus-Th
ry AMI ST. Nihiel; aces of the air with
one, two, five ten enemy planes to
their. tcotiit, and engineers whose first
GLIMPSE of the tremerd ous economic
NEEDS OF France were gathered in
the construction of the A. +. F. rail-
way: artiilerymen who put over" the
barrase at Nerdun on September IS.
1918 and @. N. officials who learned
Frcnen in tho wiiu-1ung bases Of the
S. O. S.-thoasa sads OF them are re-
turning to the land they fought in as
the standard-bearers of American
business in Europe, incidentally
"cashing in" on the long, weary
months they spent for the sake OF
civilization away from their homes
and affairs and loved ones.
MODERNTTT VS.. HABIT
When the great war ended on No
vember IL. 1918, it WAS but the sig
nal for the commencement OF an
other vital war-the conduct of Mod
ernity against Habit Two rnillon
Americans in France realized as they
had never realized before how back
ward The OLD world was and how adj
vancad their own. And. brought face
to face with miracle workers from,
over seas, millions of Frenchmen rea-
liZed the same truths.
BUREAUCRA/3 JoLTTsD
Now the aftermath has come.
Everywhere France Is waking up.
Even hide-bound bureaucratism is
getting te.s II never got before Oil
is to be sstfieSi .tated for eeal len HE
French railways-a revolutionary
procedure which m.yht have not come
for years had not the Americans
shown the way. The ports of tia4rc.
b@T weak. and st. Nazaire are being
modernized with machinery imported
from Pittsburgh and Chicago--be
cause the French found that the
American method of loading and dis
charging vessels was Just about twice
as rapid as our own.
For years Paris has been menaced
every year by floods. In 1916 IL
thousands Of lives were lost in an
inundation, which ii Is feared, may
be repeated this year. Yet not
thing has been done to prevent a
catastrophe, which only. enough rain
or snow makes positively certain.
The French policy IF "laissezfaire"
has reigned supreme--until now. when
the government has discovered that
in the Mississippi America met and
conquered far greater problem than
the Seine, and that there is no reason
why France cannot do likewise. A..
cordingly, American engineers are to
be consulted. and the first step in the
right direction---a drainage canal is
to be constructed as soon as the new
chamber votes the necessary funds
How America is invading. the
French business world is clearly
shown In the latest bulletin OF the
AnneTics n chamber at eainnaefce, esiva
Ing the increase OF members since
the armistice. No less than $50 large
American firms established Offices in
Paris last year, nearly ali with rem
resentativos who once wore the khaki
in the defense of the right
SOME AMERICAN PIONEERS
Among these firms are FIVE Ameri-
can banks--not counting those which
were established In France before the,
war: the American Writing Paper
company, of Holyoke, Mass; Il. c.,
Atkins and company. machine tool
makers, OF New York: NJ Erlanger
RlunngArt and company, textile manu-
facturers,. OF New York: browne and
company cotton merchants: the Huda
0nzasaAs ~ AilwaS enppliae alaa m0~l