The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1931-06-10
BY WILLIAM PHILIP SIMMS
Scripps- Howard Foreign Editor


TORONTO, June 10.-Backed by
the aluminium Company of America.
Mellon interest, the largest alum
mum plant in the world, employing
a city full Of people, now is going
up in the wilderness about Arvida,
Quebec.
This fact offers additional proof
that the present tariff policy at
Washington eventually will destroy
the bulk Of Americas foreign trade
and doom to chronic idleness a mil
lion or more American workers.
If foreign retaliation against the
tariff prevents sale of American
goods abroad, the hands making
those goods must, of course, be laid
OF. And, in order not to lose their
export trade manufacturers. lust as
obviously, must set UP branch fac
tories abroad.
Built With U. S. Money
So a new town, named Arvida,
built with American money, is 60
ing up on the banks of the Sague-
nay river, in the heart of the forest
country near Lake st. John. Here,
near the great highway of the st.
Lawrence, on tidewater, is being
born the new aluminium capital of
the world.
That the builders of Arvida have
world trade in view is clear. The
same interests already have a large
plant at Shawinigan Falls, half way
between Montreal and Quebec,
more than ample to take care of
the Canadian trade. In fact,
Canada now is exporting millions
OF pounds off aluminium annually.
IT is estimated that during the
average year of 1926, the total
world production Of aluminium
amounted to 460,000,0O0 pounds.
The Arvida plant alone, when COM
pleted, will have a capacity Of close
on to 400000,000, or about four
flfths the entire world production
In 1926.
U. 8. Has Same Chances
The bauxite ore consumed by the
Arvida concern will have to be
hauled all the way from British
Guiana, South America, $500 miles
past the entire Atlantic seaboard of
tthe United States and around Nova
Scotia and New Brunswick.
Nearness to the source Of raw
material, therefore, has nothing to
do with the location of the works
at Arvida. North Carolina is only
about half as far from British
Guiana.
A vast quantity of cheap hydro
electric power is needed to break
down the aluminium ore, and Que
bee has plenty of that. But so has
the eastern part of the United
States, much nearer the ore.
It's Another Factor
A great deal Of manpower of
husky breed is essential to carry on
the strenuous, hot job of smelling.
Quebec has such labor. At the same
time. however, there probably are a
million men now unemployed in the
United States capable and willing
to tackle the job.
Wages can not have much to do
with locating the aluminium capital
in Canada, for Canadian wages are
approximately the same as Ameri
can.
Some other factor, therefore, must
have entered into the decision of
the business men who fixed on Ar
vida, and apparently it was the fact
that Canada has become a better
base for export trade than the
United States.
Seeking Bases Abroad
Canada has preferential tariffs
with the other members of the
British empire, and about so per
cent of our foreign trade is with
the empire.
Canada also has special trade re-
lations with most of the other
principal powers Of the world,
whereas the tendency now is for
these countries to throw every pos
sible obstacle in the path of goods
made IN the United States"
Handicapped at home, American
industries thus are seeking new
basces abroad. However much they
might prefer to conf1ne their man
ufactrring operations to the United
States, they have no alternative, if
they wish to hold on to their trade,
than to migrate to foreign soil.
U. S. Steel in Canada
United States Steel, called the
backbone Of American industry, has
found it advisable to take this step.
Like aluminium people, it is build
ing 8 vast mill in Canada. On a
2,000-acre tract al Ojibway, near
Windsor, Ontario. the far-sighted
steel baron, James A. Farrell, is
putting up a $60,oo0,000 plant.
Between June last year-when the
Hawley-Smoot tariff became law
and the first Of this year, sixty-five
important branch factories were be-
gun over here by American con-
Germs. The alternative was to quit
the export business and fire the
workers engaged in it.
Thursday: In a Canadian Sky
scraper. or How Your Job May Go
Abroad