124 The Forest Products Laboratory 



things that we should approach in the hght of sober, every-day, well- 

 known truth. 



These are days when the whole world is being reconstructed. The 

 stage is set for a new era in international relations and industrial com- 

 petition. The times make it worth while to consider some of the things 

 Avhich in the new rivalry of w^orld progress M'ill make nations strong. 

 We hear much about the oil fields of the world and how tlie industrial 

 control of the harrassed old planet will lie with the people who control 

 the bulk of its crude oil. Yet, oil is but an example of the many raw 

 materials which modern civilization demands. And while keeping a 

 watchful eye upon new and undeveloped sources of raw material, 

 surely we must not overlook the resources which nature has put in our 

 own hands. 



Many of us who served in France were able to see at first hand 

 the conditions of life and industry in a country where population has 

 crowded close upon natural resources, w^here for the masses living has 

 become close and hard, and, even to maintain standards of comfort far 

 below what the average American demands, a degree of thrift and fru- 

 gality beyond our comprehension must be constantly employed. In 

 France wood is a commodity of a totally different character from what 

 it has been in the United States. Even with the care and intelligence 

 applied unremittingly to French forests, lumber is priced as an im- 

 jjorted luxury. Xo one can become familiar with that country without 

 appreciating how this fact handicaps the comfort of living and the 

 industrial opportunities of the French nation. The gleaning of the 

 forests for little fagots, the very scaffolds used in city building, which 

 are made out of small poles carefully lashed together and used over 

 and over again, tell the story. With all their beauty and picturesque- 

 ness, the rural districts of France often leave an impression of decad- 

 ence. A new structure of any kind is a rare sight and moss-covered 

 stone buildings of the time of Jeanne d'Arc must serve the French 

 farmer of today. Only a people great in industry and foresight could, 

 under such limitations, have built up M^thin an area less than that of 

 our single largest state, the great industrial nation that France is 

 today. 



The lesson which such things bring home is, in a broad way, the 

 same fundamental truth which underlies many economic problems of 



