The soldier wrote:
"I realise that when this war is over we must be better equipped than
ever before to meet world business competition. I want to be a better
salesman. Please send me some books on American salesmanship and also
some of the American trade papers. I have begun the study of Spanish
because I believe we are going to have our part in the Latin-American
trade." Here was a young Frenchman risking his life every moment in one
of the greatest battles the world has ever known: yet in the midst of
death he was looking forward to a new business life.
The whole attitude of the Frenchman toward life has undergone a change,
first under the stress of ruthless war, and under the spur of his
kindling desire for rehabilitation. Formerly, for example, the French
loathed to travel. When he knew he was going away on a journey, he spent
a month telling his relatives good-bye. Now he packs his bag and is off
in an hour to Lyon, Marseilles, Bordeaux, or any other place where
business might dictate.
The new and efficient French industrial machine is not the only factor
that American business in France must reckon with after the war. The
French woman is fast becoming a force, thus setting up an altogether
unequal and almost unfair competition, because to shrewd wit and
resource is added the power of sex and beauty.
In France, as most people know, the woman exerts an enormous influence,
regardless of her social class.
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