The French exportation amounts to a total annual sum of about 7 milliard francs ($1,400, 000,000) compared to 6 milliard 880 millions ($1,376,000,000) in 1913. Of this total, about 60 per cent is represented by manufactured articles, that is to say, goods able to be produced in other countries, and especially in those compet ing on a large scale with the French merchant fleet. It is therefore no exaggeration to say that France leaves to her competitors the care of transporting much of the merchandise making up her export trade.
But the subject should not be dismissed by the bald statement that the reason for the infe riority of the French merchant fleet is because France practically confines her exports to manu factured goods. A more thorough investigation should be made and an analysis taken of the products exported. Most of them consist of articles of luxury, which recommend themselves by the elegant manner in which they are pre sented and the hall mark establishing their quality. Very few exporters seek a cheap mar ket for these goods. Now it should be borne in mind that buyers are judges of the price of goods, while on the contrary they are often un able to distinguish between the finely finished article and that of the cheap and crudely made substitute. This is a thing one has to be edu cated up to. In this category of goods are the following: nearly all textile products, clothes, articles of fashion (ladies' dresses, lingerie, hats, etc.). This group represents about one third of the value of all French exportations. The following are some of the figures: ' There is no doubt that some of our large dressmakers and fashion houses escape the danger of delivering their wares through the intermediary of foreigners on account of the frequency of the personal business relations of their overseas clientele with them. Strangers residing a short while in Paris or passing through the city undoubtedly create a strong link between these producers and themselves which greatly adds to the development of this branch of our exportations. But this clientele, although constantly renewed by several visits to France, is as constantly curtailed by the fact that once the clients return to their home coun try they are obliged to have recourse to an intermediary for the reception of any further goods. The Germans, especially, make great efforts in distant European countries to substi tute the Berlin fashion for the Paris fashion and whatever prestige the latter still retains, the good taste of people must not be too blindly relied on to allow us to overlook the danger with which we are threatened.
Even in the matter of non-manufactured products there are certain articles of export which it is necessary to have presented to cli ents by an intermediary who is more or less a connoisseur of their specialty. For instance,
wines and liqueurs, which represent an annual exportation of 265,000,000 francs, should not be delivered to distant clients through English or German shipping agencies, as they run the risk of being supplanted by such substitutes as Australian claret, Australian burgundy, Moselle or Rhine wines and even "Deutsches Kognac' manufactured in the open port of Hamburg. In addition, it should be noted that in the list of French exports not classed in the statistics figure 566,000,000 francs of parcels post and 656,000,000 francs of undenominated goods, or a total of over a milliard francs, in which manufactured articles and °objets de luxe) certainly play an important role.
The greater part of French industries, there fore, need to be exported by a properly organ ized national service which would avoid the use of intermediaries in whom one encounters dan gerous rivals. Thanks to their merchant fleet the Germans have been able during the last 30 years to place on all the markets of the world German goods which before that period were practically unknown. Undoubtedly the perse vering efforts of the German traders have ac counted for much to achieve this result, but the transportation by German ships and the delivery of the goods by German intermediaries result ing therefrom were a necessary condition of success. Let it be further remembered that the German product, being nearly always cheaper than that of its competitors, has less need of recommendation to prospective purchasers than the better and more elegant — but generally dearer — article of French fabrication.
Under these conditions any improvement of the merchant marine in France is dependent not only upon efforts displayed by the govern ment and shipbuilders but also by the whole hearted support of shippers in general. Ship pers should be made to realize the importance of the eventual destination of their merchan dise, and not become more or less disinterested in its fate once the goods have been dispatched and an' invoice sent. It is indispensable for them to follow up the shipment to the very door of the client, and the intermediary naturally designated for such a task is unquestionably the agent of a regular French navigation com pany. It is not too much to say that owing to the very nature of the French export trade, a close union of the shipbuilding industries and this export trade is an essential condition of success for the one as for the other.