DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE BUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE Sold by the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office Washington, D. C. WASHINGTON GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE 1920 LETTER OF SUBMITTAL. DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE, BUREAU OF FOREIGN AND DOMESTIC COMMERCE, Washington, November 24, 1919. SIR: I have the honor to transmit herewith a report on "British Industrial Reconstruction and Commercial Policies," by Trade Commissioner Fred W. Powell. It is based upon six months' investigation made in Great Britain during the spring and summer of this year and on later information brought up to November. The general scope and purpose of this report were worked out in accordance with my own suggestions at the time I was American commercial attaché in London, when Mr. Powell was working under my immediate supervision. Questions appertaining to finance, shipping, and labor, which obviously have a very important relation to industry, were excluded from treatment here because they were being investigated by others. A perspective of all the kindred elements in the revival of British industry and commerce following the war can not, of course, be presented with complete accuracy until sufficient time has passed to permit the situation to work itself out more fully. Nevertheless, it is important to give an idea at this time, even to a limited extent, of the great forces at work in British industry that indicate the direction of development. Statistics have been excluded because the main purpose has been to explain the broader aspects of industrial tendencies, with their relation to commercial policy. There is no such thing as industrial reconstruction if one has in mind the pre-war status. There is a new world all about us. A great amount of thinking and planning has been going on in Great Britain. Inhibition due to adherence to traditional methods has been largely cast aside. There is a will to rebuild industry and commerce along the most scientific and practical lines. Great Britain a century and a half ago gave the world its modern industrial system. There can be no doubt of British genius for industry and commerce. The present situation is full of difficulties, but persistence is a quality that gradually overcomes difficulties. American business men should realize that the future is as yet unformed. Major lines of development are still somewhat indistinct. Changes in world conditions are coming. The main points of Brit |