Page:EB1922 - Volume 31.djvu/135

Rh

entirely due to the war. In 1914 the textile factories worked 10 hours a day, but in April 1919 the daily hours of labour in all fac- tories were reduced to eight. This automatically cut down the output of the textile industry by 20 %, there being no possibility of a larger production per hour for the machinery. Another difficulty was a shortage in the supply of labour. Many women left the factories as soon as their husbands returned from the war, and their places were taken by children between 13 and 16 years of age.

As regards the consequences of the war to the French flax-spinning' industry, it may be sufficient to say that 95% of the mills were in the Lille district. When hostilities ceased, only one mill was in a sufficiently undamaged condition to be able to resume operations in a few weeks. Subsequently the work of restoration made remark- able progress, and at the end of 1920 about 250,000 out of 600,000 spindles were working again. Simultaneously an effort was made to increase the national output of flax, and at the end of 1920 the area under cultivation was 125,000 ac., or more than twice as much as before the war. Of this area 75,000 ac. are in the Nord, 20,000 in Brittany, 15,000 in Normandy, and 12,000 in the Lower Loire.

Armentieres with its cotton-cloth and flax mills, Valenciennes and Cambrai with their muslins and handkerchiefs, Reims with its wool-combing and carding, Caudry with its tulle and embroidery, and many other ruined towns had by 1921 made equally gallant efforts to rise from ruin. Wool seemed to have made the best re- covery, inasmuch as in Oct. 1920 Roubaix and Tourcoing had re- gained 85 % of the normal output and were employing 93 % of the pre-war number of workers. Cotton was not far behind, but flax was estimated to be three years from a return to normal conditions. Old centres of the woollen industry, such as Mazamet, Elbeuf and Vienne, developed considerably during the war, and new ones were established in Lyons and other textile centres, but it seemed prob- able they would be gradually transferred back to Roubaix, which has the advantage of proximity to the coal-fields and the port of Dunkirk, and of a nucleus of labour accustomed to textile work.

Among the minor textile industries the manufacture of ribbons, which has its chief centre at St. Etienne, deserves mention. It is carried on by about 170 firms, employing 80,000 workers, and its normal annual production represents a value of about 100,000,000 francs. About half of this is exported, principally to Great Britain (56% in 1913). Another important branch of textiles is the manu- facture of tulle, lace and embroidery. The principal centres of production are Caudry and Calais (tulle and guipure), Le Puy (ordinary hand-made lace), Normandy, the Vosges, Brittany and Haute- Savoie (lace de luxe), and Tarare (tulle curtains). The total output has never been even vaguely estimated, but it is believed to exceed 200,000,000 francs' worth of lace and guipure and 150,000,- ooo francs' worth of embroidery. Before the war France exported over 60,000,000 francs' worth of machine-made lace a year. Out of 776 tons, 490 went to the United States and 62 to Germany.

Silk. The production of raw silk in its various forms being an industry specially adapted to poor countries with large supplies of cheap labour, France imports nearly the whole of the raw silk she requires for her manufactures. Before the war she took 16% of the world's output and was the second-largest consumer of raw silk in the world, the first place being held by the United States with 37 per cent. Good silk is produced in the Cevennes, but the quantity rep- resents only 10% of the requirements of the French weavers, who are dependent on Italy, China and Japan.

The three centres of the silk-weaving industry in France are Lyons, St. Etienne and Picardy, but the first alone can really be said to count, inasmuch as Lyons produces 99 % of the entire annual output. Three-fourths of this consists of pure silk materials and one- fourth of silk mixed with cotton or wool. Its value in an average year is estimated at about 24,000,000 (reckoning the franc at the par exchange value), the exports at 16,000,000, and home consump- tion at 10,000,000, the balance being made up of 2,000,000 in im- ports. During the war many silk-weaving looms were used for mak- ing woollen materials. Exports of silk were unaffected at first, and actually increased in 1915 and 1916, but declined materially in 1917.

Lyons silks, which are well known all over the world, had an excellent opportunity, during and after the war, of establishing them- selves in the United States and S. American markets, in which they had to face German competition before 1914. That this opportunity had not been grasped by 192 1 was due, according to French observers, to the extremely individualistic temperament of the Lyons manu- facturers, who would not combine for the purpose of acquiring new markets. M. Ennemond Morel, in his report to the Comite con- sultatif des Arts et Manufactures, says that another condition necessary to progress the continual introduction of new and im- proved machinery is also unobtainable owing to the strong in- herited peculiarities of the Lyonnais character, " which is incompre- hensible to those who have never come in contact with it."

The manufacture of artificial silk, which began with the Char- donnet process about the year 1890, has developed into an important industry employing 1 1,000 workers and producing 1,400 tons a year, or about 12 % of the world's output. The principal centre is at Besancon, where the Chardonnet process is used (800 tons). Next come the Givet and Izieux works, which use the Desperssis process (500 tons), and finally Arques, which makes artificial silk out of wood pulp (100 tons).

Paper. The French paper industry has always been largely dependent on imports of raw material. Out of 645,000 tons of pulp consumed in 1913, 465,000 tons were imported, and of other raw materials, such as waste paper and rags, there were also large pur- chases abroad, French paper manufacturers apparently finding it more profitable to import this raw material than to buy in the home market. It must be admitted that France, in spite of her large extent of forest land, is poorly supplied with wood suitable for conversion into pulp. The epicea, which is the type of the paper- producing tree, is rare in France. Efforts are being made to sub- stitute alfa, of which there are enormous supplies in Algeria and Tunisia, for wood pulp. The use of wild hemp, papyrus, millet stalks, bamboo, rice stalks and baobab, all of which are produced in abund- ance by France's West African colonies, is still in a very early stage.

Ceramic Industry. The ceramic industry is among those that made the greatest efforts towards development during the World War. It was considerably affected by the invasion, which reduced its output to an extent varying from 25 to 50 per cent. The lack of coal and labour also kept most factories down to about a third of their ordinary capacity; but the war led French manufacturers to use home materials, which they had previously neglected, especially for making tiles and stoneware. Some branches of the industry were greatly stimulated by war needs. For instance, in 1917 611,935 tons of heat-resisting materials were produced (exclusive of crucibles) instead of 350,000 in 1913. Makers also showed a distinct tendency to combination, especially in regard to the use of fuel and the management of ovens. A national ceramic institute was formed, chiefly for developing technical education. The output of crucibles, only 75 tons in 1913, was increased nearly 20 times and consider- able impulse was given to graphite mining in Madagascar.

Dye Industry. In France, as in other countries, the dye in- dustry was completely overshadowed by that of Germany. Under pressure of war necessity, three new companies for the manufacture of dyes were founded and the total capital invested in the industry in 1919 was about 80,000,000 fr., but, apart from synthetic indigo and the colours obtainable from sulphur, only a small variety of dyes was produced, and there was a great lack of those required for cotton printing. The needs of the country were so pronounced that the experts who advised the French Government requested the in- sertion in the Peace Treaty of clauses requiring Germany to supply not more than 5,000 tons of coal by-products and 5,000 tons of dyes every year for 20 years.

Artificial Perfumes. France is fairly well supplied with the arti- ficial perfumes obtained from coal-tar. She has eight factories, some of which are important, producing musk, ipnone (essence of violets), terpineol (essence of lilac), vaniline, heliotropine and coumarine, but she was nevertheless a good customer for Germany's synthetic perfumes, as well as for her pharmaceutical products. The dis- covery and sale of drugs for the cure of human ills has never at- tracted much attention in France, possibly on account of the innate conservatism of the people and also through the disinclination of French medical men to prescribe new specialties instead of their own combinations of known remedies.

Glass. The principal effect of the war on the glass industry was to encourage the manufacture of retorts, tubes and other laboratory implements, which were previously obtained from Germany, and of optical glass. The output of window-glass has also risen con- siderably above the pre-war figure. At one time the dumping policy of the Germans and Bohemians enabled them to sell a lamp chimney in Paris for 5 centimes, while the price for the same article in their own countries was 14 centimes. The Germans even succeeded in selling large quantities of bottles, in spite of the fact that France, a great wine-producing country, had thirty or forty modern bottle factories. The liberation of French industry from German com- petition is especially marked in regard to glass.

Motor-cars. The output of chassis in 1913 was estimated at 45,000, of which only 2,000 were for commercial cars. These chassis were built by 48 firms, employing 33,000 workers, of whom 70 % were in the Paris and II % in the Lyons district. Including the manufac- ture of radiators, coach work, magnetos, accumulators, tires, etc., the motor-car industry must have employed at least 100,000 workers.

After the war the French motor-car industry chiefly concerned itself with the production of high-class and expensive cars. In spite of an import duty of 45 % ad valorem and the additional pro- tection, at one time amounting to about 300% in all, given by the depreciation of the franc, very few French makers endeavoured to meet the demand for a moderate-priced car, either in home or foreign markets. As regards the latter, they no doubt felt themselves unable to compete with American makers, and they did not con- sider the home market sufficiently promising. It was generally estimated that no one living in Pans or any other large French city could keep a private car on less than 100,000 fr. a year, and incomes of this size were very rare in France. The number of cars registered (66,150) in 1919 showed an actual decline on the previous year.

Chemicals. In the 20 years, from 1893 to 1913, the imports of chemicals quadrupled while the exports only tripled, and at the end of the period the difference between exports and imports was about the same as it was at the beginning. The war brought about extraor- dinary changes in the French chemical industry. France became able to export certain articles, such as cyanide of calcium, chlorides,