Part 8 (1/2)

Our invitation to this banquet read as follows:

The President of the Ma.r.s.eilles Chamber of Commerce begs you to honor him by your presence at the luncheon which will be given to the members of your Commission on

Monday, September 25th 12:30 P. M. at the Restaurant de la Re'serve.

(31 F Promenade de la Corniche)

At this banquet, on my right sat Maurice Damour, French deputy in charge of the Commission, and on my left Hubert Giraud, vice-president of the Chamber of Commerce. He made a fine address and I asked him for a copy, which he gave me. It is reproduced herewith:

Mr. President-- Gentlemen:

I am desired by my President to give you in your own language the welcome of the Chamber of Commerce of Ma.r.s.eilles. You will certainly lose more than gain in hearing me instead of President Artaud, and I must apologize, as my knowledge of English is far from being adequate to my task. Anyhow, it is possible my words may be by a few of our guests more easily translated than if delivered in French.

Gentlemen, the oldest Chamber of Commerce in France, and maybe in the world, is exceedingly proud of entertaining tonight the highly qualified representatives of the American Commerce and Industry. We are most thankful to your party to have agreed to spend some of your valuable time in our city. We are sorry to say that we have not this good fortune as often as we would like, and that your fellow-citizens generally pay very little care to our old harbour and town. They are rather exclusively attracted by our great capital, Paris, and when coming to enjoy the splendid winters of the French Riviera, they reach it direct by rail or by sea, and seem to be quite ignorant of Ma.r.s.eilles, where they could find at least what is our city's glory: LIGHT, LIFE and LABOUR.

I think that Ma.r.s.eilles deserves more attention, and that the old ties between America and Ma.r.s.eilles should be better known. I would recall that our history, especially the history of our Chamber of Commerce, records the old sympathy of Ma.r.s.eilles for America. It is as old as your nation herself. At the end of the eighteenth century, when the stars of young America just appeared on the Atlantic horizon, French wars.h.i.+ps fought for your fathers'

independence. Some s.h.i.+ps of Admiral d'Estaing's French squadron bore names such as ”LE Ma.r.s.eILLAIS”, ”LA PROVENCE”. In the year 1782 the French fleet was increased by a new wars.h.i.+p of 118 guns, built and armed at the expense of the Chamber of Commerce of Ma.r.s.eilles. Her cost was 1,200,000 francs, a very small sum of money in our days, but rather a large one in those remote times.

She was offered to King Louis XVI for the very purpose of helping in the American war, and she was named by the King ”Le Commerce de Ma.r.s.eille.”

Gentlemen, it is for the successors of the ”echevins” of the year 1782 a great joy to meet in Ma.r.s.eilles the sons of the glorious soldiers of the Independence War, sustained so many years ago with the a.s.sistance of the wars.h.i.+p bearing their own name.

Gentlemen, Ma.r.s.eilles may be somewhat ignored, but France was not forgotten by America. I need not mention the numerous proofs our country has received of your country's sympathy. But I only fulfill a duty in emphasizing the very great help we have found in America in the course of this terrible war, the greatest human cataclysm which ever stormed the human world. All of us are aware that France found in America another kind of help than material, steel and grain. France found amongst you any sort of goods, but also--and over all--kindness and pity. American ambulances, splendidly organized, afforded invaluable relief to our wounded on the front.

May I mention not that American airmen rendered to our army the most useful services, and that American lives were lost for France.

America helps us by sea, on land and in the air. Your country knows that France is not fighting for power or profit, but that she is pouring the best of her children's blood for Freedom and Humanity.

Gentlemen, we used to say in France that good accounts, that is good settlements of business, make good friends. I believe that the words may be reversed and that good friends.h.i.+p may lead to good business. I trust that after this war, trade between America and Ma.r.s.eilles will be largely extended. We have shown you that, notwithstanding the present worries and difficulties, we are pus.h.i.+ng on our harbor improvements and preparing large accommodation for s.h.i.+pping and industry. We strongly believe that, in the near future, Ma.r.s.eilles must become the most important harbor and center of commerce for the whole Mediterranean Sea.

We think that the American trade will find in our city the best center of distribution for your large exports of commodities such as petroleum, harvesting machinery, tobacco, and that they should be forwarded through Ma.r.s.eilles to all the Mediterranean sh.o.r.es. I have no doubt your visit in our city will allow you to observe that you can find here produce of our land or of our industry, most convenient for American requirements, and that in the mutual interest of your and our cities the trade between Ma.r.s.eilles and American ports will be proportionate to the friends.h.i.+p of the Nations.

Mr. President, Gentlemen, I propose your good health and the good health of your friends, and the prosperity of our sister Republic, The United States of America.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Sh.o.r.e of Mediterranean near Ma.r.s.eilles. In the Distance Chateau D'If, Made Famous by Dumas.]

There was greeting by M. Artaud, president of the Chamber of Commerce, and a response by Mr. Nichols. We were given an ovation by the most representative people of Ma.r.s.eilles. We met at this dinner, A. Gaulin, American Consul General, and he was most cordial.

The next day was Sunday. In the afternoon we visited the Ma.r.s.eilles Art Museum. We saw a bust, recently found, which dates back to the Second century; it resembles very closely the work of Rodin. In this museum we saw an old bell, labeled 1840, and an old straw hat, labeled 1820. We drove all over the city, visited the old docks and noted the cosmopolitan conglomeration of people in streets.

We were taken to the Chateau D'If, which is a quarter of a mile out at sea, made world-famous by Dumas in the noted novel ”The Count of Monte Cristo”. We all resolved, right then and there, that when we got home we would re-read ”The Count of Monte Cristo”. In our drive we saw Longchamp palace, which resembles very much the court of honor in the National McKinley Birthplace Memorial at Niles, Ohio. The entrance to the port of Ma.r.s.eilles resembles the Golden Gate at San Francisco. We gathered considerable information in our talks with the people we met at Ma.r.s.eilles, being told among other things, that all the officials of the French government are to hold over until the war is over, that is to say, elections are suspended for the time being. The efficiency and preparedness of the Germans was enlarged upon, it being stated, as is very well known, that Germany was the only country prepared at the time the war broke out.

We visited at Ma.r.s.eilles the birthplace of Rouget de l'Isle, the author of the Ma.r.s.eilles hymn. This hymn was first sung by a lady at an evening party in Straussburgh, Germany, and it was then called the ”Hymn of the Soldier from Ma.r.s.eilles”, but afterwards became known as ”The Ma.r.s.ellaise Hymn”. It is the national anthem of France; the words are inspiring and no one, whether American or French, can listen to the music of this hymn without being stirred to the depths.

We heard much of the vast stores of zinc and iron ores in Tunisia and Algeria, and were given much information about French colonies. France, including its colonies, has nearly one hundred million people. The Trans-Africa Railroad takes in a population of more than two hundred million people along the Mediterranean, including France, Spain and Italy. One of the largest dams in the world, ”La Durance Dame,” 429 feet across, is in France, not far from Ma.r.s.eilles.

Before the war Germany marketed a large amount of its coal in France, three hundred thousand tons annually.

Bauxite or aluminum ore is mined in France, and 60 per cent. of the output of the world is French product. Algeria contains millions of acres of virgin forests, ready to be explored. The cork oak is one of the important trees. Large exports of iron ore are made to England. At the end of the war the French expect to market ore and coal from the fields of Lorraine.