in the Rue de la Paix, whose French Manager was a live,
virile, far-seeing young American. The President of the French Company
laid his case before him. Quick as a flash he said:

"All right! If they won't guarantee it, I will, and on my own
responsibility."

Whereupon he put the deal through. It was the kind of swift, dramatic
performance that appeals to the Frenchman. The net result was that the
service has come back a hundredfold to the Trust Company.

The idea prevailing in America that French firms are not worthy of
credit is a matter of great surprise all over Europe. Here is the way an
Englishman whose firm has done business in France for fifty years, sized
up the situation:

"There are no better contracts in the world than those entered into in
France. Americans who have had little experience in such matters may
find the negotiations leading up to the signing of a French contract
somewhat tedious, but we do not mind this and one is so completely
protected by the laws of the country, that losses are almost unknown.

"Not long ago we had a case in point. A purchaser of lathes who had
already made an advance payment, received his machines and then by
various excuses put off the final payments for the remainder from week
to week. We waited four weeks and then made our complaint to the judge
at the tribunal. Two days later the judge ordered the delinquent firm
to pay up in full and we received our money the very same day. How long
do you think a New York court would have taken to decide a simple
question of business of this kind? The fact is that in spite of the war,
French credit remains to-day as good as any you can find."

On top of their resentment over our lack of confidence in their credit
is the added feeling which has cropped up since the beginning of the war
over the way American manufacturers have ignored many of their French
contracts. A French manufacturer summed it up in this way:

"There is no doubt that some American manufacturers who had signed
contracts for the delivery of machinery in France, deliberately sold
these machines at home at higher prices. It has created a very bad
impression and I am afraid that henceforth your salesmen will find it
much harder to operate in my country.

"The trouble is that Americans have been spoiled by too many orders.
Before the war they were all crying out for business. Now that they have
everything their own way, they have become independent and arrogant.