THE OUTLETS 335 



part of Greater France. If some of the manufacturers 

 of the Breton coast would emigrate to Oran or Bone it 

 would be a good thing ; this exodus would relieve the con- 

 gestion of the coast, and would doubtless, with the aid of 

 selection, result in the adoption of new methods of seine 

 fishery and of mechanical canning among the Armorican 

 fishermen and workmen. I would rather see some of our 

 manufacturers go to Algeria than to Portugal or Spain. 



But I entirely agree with M. Le Bail as to the desir- 

 ability of obtaining for us from the public authorities the 

 advantages of the " drawback" that is, the repayment 

 after re-exportation of the duties paid upon the importa- 

 tion of such wares as oils and tinplate, which are used in 

 the sardine manufacture. The " drawback" exists in 

 Spain, Portugal, and Italy ; why not in France ? 



IV 



I am going to compare two foreign markets, famous for 

 their enormous trade, with the French markets which I 

 have been describing : the markets of Basle and Billingsgate. 



Basle is a sort of European clearing-house for fish. 

 It receives fish from every direction ; it despatches fish 

 in every direction. We have already seen the part which 

 it takes in the salmon trade. Its trade increases year by 

 year. As long ago as 1892 France was sending fish to 

 Basle to the value of .13,800 ; the figures for Germany 

 were ^27,040, for Belgium ,16,680. Since 1904 France 

 has carried on a considerable trade with Basle, shipping 

 over .40,000 worth of fish annually. Belgium, Germany, 

 and England send each about ^20,000 worth of fish ; 

 Russia sends to the value of about ^8,000, the United States 

 ^5,200 worth, Italy and Scandinavia each 4,000 worth. 1 



The importation of fresh fish in refrigerator cars exceeds 

 120,000. In 1903 it rose to 15,811 quintals, or 116,000, France 

 figuring for 3,171 quintals. 



