The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1920-02-07

have been the leaders in her indus tries have not acquired that know1- edge of modern industry which will permit them to manufacture anything of metal in competition with similar products of American manufacturers So far as the manufacture of textiles and several other lines of industry are concerned, I believe that England is as far advanced as America, simply because America has not for the past 30 years made the same progress in these trades that she has in the man. ufacture of metals.
 In France, the people are thrifty, and previous to the war, had been able to invest largely in securities of foreign nations. The income from these securities, the luxuries they were able to export, the money de-
 rived from tourists, and the saving nature of the French people, enabled
 them to subsist on a basis which made possible the exchange of five francs for one American dollar. France to- day finds herself in the same position as England. Her industries are dis organized principally because the na- ton never developed the constructive
 type of business men which would have made a speedy revitalizatton
 possible. All our European Allies
 were organized on a basis of low Ia-
 bor costs, and as that basis of organ
 ization has been'take from them, they
 cannot again begin to revive until
 hose who direct the efforts of the
 working classes are permitted to ac- Quire that knowledge which Amercan
 manufacturers and business men had of necessity, to acquire. We have a1-
 ways had to produce with high wages
 IT., gfrI
 Italy, a country without raw ma-
 terials, without even coal has come , out of the war bled white. The great Ansaldo concern, the largest employ CTS of labor in the country. having more manufacturing plants than any other 20 concerns in Italy, is paying 450 L1res today for steam, coal, f. o. b. Genoa. At 10 Lires to the dollar, they are paying for the coal that goes un- der their boilers at the rate of $45 a ton. Steel, in fact all other raw
 materials, have gone up in the same proportion, so that Italy is in a large measure eliminated from the Near Eastern markets. whose trade she en- joyed, and on which she existed prior to 1914.
 With the exception of Germany, Belgium is the ab1est nation which went into the war. The brarniness of this small nation was evidenced by her. propaganda during the war period. She not only secured a large measure of the worlds sympathy, but succeeded in getting her people back to work. They are directed in their endeavors by a mentality which Eng land, France and Italy never have | possessed. This has been the big l factor in putting the country back
 where 1t was in 1914. A large part of the scars of war have been re-
 moved, and the nation is today the 1 middleman for Germany. The trade
 between Germany and Belgium at the present time, I have been reliably in- formed, is larger than it was before the war.
 Germany suffered terribly during the four years of war, because of lack l of food and because of the over whelming odds against which she fought. The number of malnutritior
 cases in Germany is unbelievable
 but the same mentality which enabled
 Germany, with fewer guns, a smaller
 supply of munitions and less m Il, tc
 thrash the Allies to standstill or the Western front until the U s. wen
 into the struggle, is just as eviden
 and resourceful today as 1t was f1v'
 years ago.
 In my judgment the present per
 sona1 of the German government vii
 not survive, but I hardly look to se
 any change in it's form. With cap
 able men administering it's affairs, tn
 outlook for Germany is indeed op
 tiYnistic She is today working witt the same spirit that practically gav
 her the commercial dominance of tn ; world previous to the war. As com pared with England, France or Italy her workmen are working far bette and are directed by executives wh are, in every way, superior to thos t of the Allies. Germany is workin out her problems with definite pur 7 pose and along well-thought ou l lines, This unfortunately, none c ) the other fighting nations is doing. The war was not caused solely b F Prussian militarisrn-that was onl 3 one of the factors which made it pos t sible. The underlying cause was com ] mercial supremacy-the prize fo } which nations have always Tough 8 That, and the subjugaion of ra7 = materials in the worId-were Ger
 many's objectives. Although figura I l lively the vanquished she has, fro1 l present indications, secured tt n prize. America cannot realize ho = thoroughly Germany is interested |. Russia today.
 r Unless the U. s. promptly realize h her obligations as the big broths V of the world-and we have aIread = lost six months of most precious tin |. t-Germany will have completed witt n in 30 or 40 years the suhjugation z Russia Moreover, Germany wi d strengthen her position by an alliant O with Japan which will make her a n most invincible. America must con .- pete alone for supremacy again l. i these united powers, because the re = of the allies are today so far in the
 decadence that it will be hard to g s more than a corporaPs gnaro out h any of them, unless they are revita aL ized, when the time for the gre Ls struggle arrives.
 ,e The war has enabled America s build up producing capacity whic " permitted us. for instance to expo g last June 100000 worth = goods to the worlds markets. Unle n we work quickly, that producing c l. pacity must be scrapped because l. year or Is months from now will l. too late. Our Allies will be too f