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March, 1919 the. medium of great fairs, with their outpourings of catalogs, pamphlets, leaflets and posters to acquaint the world with the excellence of her wares, and. also to learn from the exhibits of others where French importers may look for their requirements. Fifty-three groups of manufacturers participated in the 1917 fair at Lyons, and 937 classes of articles were represented. The num- ber of firms taking part in this fair was 2614 and the transactions totaled 410,000,000 francs. The United States took over 50 per cent of that business. The. exigencies of war France. to exercise. a supervision over her exports and imports. She went steadily toward her goal of bringing trade under the strictest control, as did Great Britain and the United States, and now the government is taking ad- vantage of that fact to insure the coun- _try against any private interference with rebuilding and rehabilitation. To accomplish a revival of industry at home, and the renewal of her foreign relationships, however, France must have easy and cheap communications with her colonies and other countries. The prime essential is ships, and the plans of France to obtain such a mer- chant navy are illustrative of the degree of efficiency she has attained in making war measures serve the purposes of peace. Ships in Government Service All seagoing vessels were requisitioned for government service and placed under the orders of the ministry of. maritime transport and merchant marine. A ‘rental was paid by the government and an allowance was made for expenses, maintenance, working capital and other charges. Shipowners. themselves man- aged their fleets, and were encouraged by the distribution of bonuses to make them as effective as possible. When one of these ships was sunk the gov- ernment: undertook to replace it. This replacement of ships is a car- dinal point in French plans. During the war ships could not be built in France. The minister of marine held that to bring materials from the United States or England would handicap French shipbuilders because of the cost of the materials and_ transportation. That would have meant that French ex- porters would have to pay higher freight rates to the owners after the ships were put into the water. It would have placed not. only the exporters but also French industry under a handicap in the competition for markets that would follow peace. Under the circumstances, the minister proposed that the state should replace destroyed ships. Only from the government would French yards accept orders. The minister con- tended that the state can buy materials compelled. THE MARINE REVIEW Hea WOODEN MOTORSHIP BUILT IN AMERICA FOR THE FRENCH GOVERNMENT The high freeboard, ‘tall funnels and the absence of topmasts, give “to this type of vessel a decidedly unusual appearance. During the war,’ France placed contracts freely for wooden ships and she has plans for a great fleet of steel vessels from American yards awaiting permission of the shipping board — more cheaply, :and that, therefore, © it will be able to contract for new ships on a basis that will insure reasonable rates to the trader of the future. The government intends to replace ships in this manner within three years after the war is ended. These ships will be- come the absolute property of those from whom their equivalents have been requisitioned. In addition, the ministry proposes to build a state-owned fleet for the colonies. This fleet will be managed by shipowners, but the state will share in the profits and in the deficits. Here- after, it is intended, no more subsidies will be made for ships in which the government has no interest. The colonial fleet will be used in the trade of the French colonies, either with France or with other countries, and will be the lever by which the government will control cargo rates and the selling price of imports. Steps have also been taken to have the fleet now waiting for re- pairs put immediately into shape for service. This work will require time. With these plans for increasing the ‘merchant navy, so essential to the. de- velopment of foreign trade, go others for the improvemént of harbors. France has today no harbors where ships of the largest type can dock. Many avail- able places are being explored, and plans have in some cases’ been drawn for the enlargement of harbors and the recon- struction of ports on a scale commen- surate with French hopes for a revival of foreign trade. Closely related to this development of ports is the plan to co-ordinate railroads and_ shipping lines, especially across the Mediter- ranean to Algiers and Tunis. <A project which has received considerable atten- tion is the improvement of the Rhone river from Geneva to Lyons, which would give Geneva an all-water route to the sea through Marseilles. The cost of the project is estimated at $70,000,000 and it is proposed to utilize the locks for the generation of electricity for Lyons and Paris. : &