FRANCE: Incalculable. . . Prosperity

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The striking thesis was weightily advanced in Paris, last week, that France has doubled or tripled in economic strength, directly as a result of the War.

In a massive 343-page report this conclusion is drawn from a multitude of sources by Commercial Counselor Joseph R. Cahill of the British Embassy at Paris. The report was issued in book form, last week, by the British Department of Overseas Trade and produced an international sensation. One of its major conclusions, that French prosperity is due in large part to the French protective tariff, was promptly taken up in London by the many onetime English free traders who have now turned protectionist. The most potent of these is Baron Melchett, foremost British Chemical and Industrial Tycoon (TIME, Oct. 29). Speaking in London last week Lord Melchett alluded to the Cahill Report and belligerently said:

"The people of other states are not hesitating to defend their position by means of high tariffs. It is time for the Empire to assert itself. This may sound curious from an old free trader like myself. But conditions have changed and the traditional free trade sentiment of the British public has changed with them. More iron is wanted in the soul of this country! We must have the courage to put a high tariff wall around the Empire!"

Returning to the Cahill Report on French Prosperity, observers noted first its unequivocally optimistic tone: "France is at present incalculably stronger industrially than in 1913. . . . Hers is an enhanced, all-pervading and solidly based economic advance . . . signal prosperity ... an age of industrial expansion unprecedented in French history and of a magnitude unsurpassed by any other European country."

Counselor Joseph Cahill, exhaustively analyzing whole mountains of sources, concludes that present French prosperity rests on four primary bases: 1) Stabilization of the franc by Prime Minister Raymond Poincare, an achievement now nearly two years old (TIME, Feb. 7, 1927); 2) Protection of French industries by the present tariff; 3) Enlargement of French factories and productive equipment; 4) Development of new processes and enhancement of technical efficiency.

In developing the last two and major points of his thesis Counselor Cahill is factually illuminating where most analysts would prove vague. He observes that the capture by Imperial Germany of so many industrial towns in Northern France forced the development of an entire new industrial area around such southern, central and western cities as Marseilles, Bordeaux, Toulouse, Grenoble, Limoges, Tours, Caen, Rouen and even Paris. It is these new and War-born producer areas which Mr. Cahill hails as of paramount significance in the French industrial boom of today.

With authentic enthusiasm Counselor Cahill writes: "France has become the greatest iron ore country in Europe; she has acquired potash concessions far in excess of her consumption; compared with 1923, she has increased her coal output by one-sixth, doubled her coke output and more than trebled her electrical capacity.