not only farm products but all kinds of materials, and to set up little booths in the street. On the roads out of Paris we would sometimes pass these booths for a couple of miles at a time. This, undoubtedly, is more or less of a hardship to most of the shop keepers, but it is apparently done with a general idea of cutting down the price of living, purchases made in these street booths being apparently quite economical. On our return to Paris we interviewed several prominent bankers and business men and some of the officials connected with the Government. They all seemed to be perfectly optimistic as regards the ultimate recovery of France, declaring that it was simply a question of time when they would get back to normal conditions. They felt that a great deal depended on the Allies insisting that Germany live up to her treaty obligations, and what they feared more than anything else was that England and America would be lukewarm on the subject and allow Germany to back out of some of her promises. The one particular situation that seems to be serious is the coal situation, which is going to be very difficult the coming winter. Germany has delivered only a small proportion of the coal promised under the treaty, and England has fallen short in her deliveries to France. This, particularly with the recovery of French industry, will mean a very serious shortage this winter unless the supply can be increased, and it looks as though some additional coal would have to be imported from either America or other outside source. After getting all of this information, together with our own personal observations from the tour, we feel that France is sure to recover it is only a question of how long it will take to get back to a normal basis again. They have recently passed a new tax law which they feel will take care of the deficits they have had in Government operation, and if the receipts amount to as much as they anticipate it should enable them not only to take care of their expenses but also to begin on their sinking fund payments. Although we made only a short visit to Brussels, we had an opportunity to talk with a number of people who were conversant with Belgian affairs. That country seems to be nearly on a normal basis at the present time. The destruction, while it was great in amount, in percentage was much less than in France; though the manufacturing establishments were crippled by the removal of machinery into Germany, in quite a large RD T proportion of cases they have been able to get it back, so that a great many of the industries in Belgium are somewhere near a normal production at the present time. In general, business seems to be good, and we look for a quick recovery to normal conditions. The labor situation in both France and Belgium has gone through the state of unrest that has been experienced all over the world. In general, while the labor situation was not wholly satisfactory in either country, conditions were much better than they had been before, and the feeling was that the general attitude and efficiency of labor was improving and that they might anticipate an increase in production and a decrease in cost as time went on. Though they had had some severe railway strikes just before we landed, and a great many people told us that it might take two or three days from Cherbourg to Paris, the train left promptly after the arrival of the boat, and we reached Paris before nine o'clock that evening. On our return from Paris to London the train ran about an hour ahead of schedule time, and we reached London nearly an hour earlier. On the trip to Brussels the train was on time, both going and coming, though as it crossed the devastated area the schedule time is seven hours instead of four. Those we talked with feel well satisfied with the present French Government. It seems to have the confidence of the business people. The feeling of the people toward the Germans is apparently as bitter as it ever was. There is very little fear in France of a Bolshevistic movement; the fundamental reason why that fear does not exist is that about eighty per cent of the population are land owners or property owners. Confidence is felt that Russia will eventually work out all right. Bankers and business men in England seemed almost universally to feel more apprehension in regard to the unsettled conditions in Central Europe, and their effect upon the trade of the world, than the same class of men in America feel. The bankers with whom we talked told us that every effort was being made to curtail credit extension to merchants and manufacturers, and that the business world must realize that, in view of the expansion in credit which had already taken place and the unsettled conditions, it was no time to expand one's business when economy must be the watchword of the hour; and that conservatism must be exercised in all development. The general impression that we gathered was that during the first year after |