ven the greater part of Europe, got all out of patience
with them. When they finally remedied the evil it was too late. Other
countries had learned the art of silk-raising and had stepped in and
snapped up most of the trade. My father says that now America, which is
the largest silk consumer of the world, buys only about a quarter of her
raw silk from China."

"So the evil-doer does not always prosper," laughed Pierre.

"Evidently not. In contrast to China's actions see what Japan did. That
nation was enterprising enough to cultivate silk and foster its reeling;
and when America sent the Japs machinery they set it up and soon had
tremendous filatures run by their own people. There were thousands of
factories where whole Japanese families were employed in reeling silk
from the cocoons. The Japanese raw silk, however, was not always free
from gum, and in time there was so much complaint about this from
America that conditioning houses were established at Yokohama where the
goods of each Jap merchant were examined and his personal trade-mark
attached to his wares so if they did not come up to the standard they
could be traced back to the owner who shipped them. Now more and more
Japanese silk is sold, and in the main it is good, although America
sometimes complains that it drops below the standard. Certainly no one
can begrudge Japan her prosperity, since she had the wit to grasp her
opportunity for commerce."

"Surely not."

"I think the trading of different nations one with another is all very
interesting, anyway," went on Henri. "Why, we are like one big
family--or ought to be! My father has no patience with war. He thinks we
should try and overlook the other's faults as we do at home, and live
together in peace. We all need each other, and the products peculiar to
each land. No one of us can get on without the rest, for as yet no one
country has been able to turn out everything its people require. It
takes every climate and every national characteristic to bring together
the produce of the globe. Besides, trade brings the different races
closer together. One of the greatest pities of this war is its
interference with commerce through which avenue we were all building up
bonds of universal friendship and sympathy. It stands to reason that we
understand the people of China or America better if we have dealings
with them and meet them sometimes, than if we always stay here in France
and read about them, doesn't it? An