Salt Lake Tribune | 1915-11-10 | Page 5 | Will Buy Steel to Reconstruct France

WILL BllK STEEL TO RECOISTnUCTFRAiE Materials Formerly Bought in Germany Will Be Purchased Pur-chased in America. NEW YORK, Nov. n. Five members of the French industrial and commercial commer-cial commission landed here today from the steamship Lafayette and said tbev camo to arrange for the purchase, at the conclusion of tho war, of at least 100,00n,orm worth of structural iron and steel, machinery and industrial supplies. sup-plies. All supplies of this character, the commissioners said, tonnerly were imported im-ported from Germany. Tho commissioners said that while they are hero primarily to purchase supplies sup-plies necessary to reconstruct and modernize mod-ernize French industries when the war is over, they will endeavor to establish reciprocal trade, relations, between the I n'Ued States and France. Tho commission is headed bv Maurice Damour, formerly French consul gen-'ra.l gen-'ra.l at Now Orleans, now secretary of appropriations of the French chamber of deputies. Although this commission is not a government organization, it is backed, the commissioners said, by all the large industrial and commercial organizations of France, and a majority of the bankers. bank-ers. He added: Before the war France imported a. large portion of all structural iron and steel, industrial machinery and all manner of supplies from Germany. But it is now conceded in France that the great friendship shown by the I'nited .States will bring about close, trade relations between the two republics at the conclusion of the war. The purchases we will arrange for will be necessary to rehabilitate I'Vanee's various industries after the war, but we will also take op-portunity op-portunity to modernize many of the plants. Before the war we were spending at least .$160, 000,00(1 a year for German machinery and industrial in-dustrial supplies. I feel sure this sum will now be spent in the United Unit-ed States and that our purchases will lead to far larger ones in the future. Our orders will cover virtually all kinds of machinery, from agricultural agri-cultural implements to fine -grades of textile machines. Ample provision pro-vision has been made for the financing fi-nancing of these orders. Mr. Damour said the commission will remain in this country several months, with headquarters in New York, but trios will lie made to many of the larger cities and virtually all of' tho important manufacturing centers.