Evening Republican, Volume 23, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 24 January 1920 — More Energy and Zip in Germany [ARTICLE]

More Energy and Zip in Germany

Writer Says There Is Less Laziness Than in Any Other European Country. LOW EXCHANGE IS BIG AID Gives Germany Advantage in Laying Her Commercial Lines In Little Nations About Her—Bitter at United States. By HAROLD E. BECHTOL. (In Chicago Post.) ■ , Berlin—l have been taveling in central Europe for months. I have visited farms and factories and stores and banks and government offices. A marked difference is noticeable as soon as the German frontier is crossed. & There is more energy and zip in Germany; there is less laziness; trains move regularly; clerks in stores are well staffed; wagons and cars and freight trains (one of the rarest sights in Europe) move briskly; smoke comes from the stacks of at least some of the factories. German factory owners say “Made in Germany” goods can never again depend on cheapness for sale abroad. They point out that her sources of material are cut and that the old long hours and cheap labor are gone. Yet Germany bid far lower than anybody else on a contract for metal uniform buttons for the Czecho-Slo-vak army recently. I could cite several other cases. Germany has a big advantage in laying her commercial lines In the little nations about her (sentiment aside of course) because of the fact that her exchange is'very low, like theirs. From Germany alone, among the big nations, can the new nations get values approximating what their money represents to them. Germany** Bright Side. That is, for Germany, the bright side of a bad situation. Her mark Is worth under a nickel, about a sixth of par. She has got to have a credit before she can buy cotton and copper from America. She can’t buy with marks. Government official? urge a credit for the hope It would give the German people as they enter on a hard winter. The same pleas, of course, are made by the other nations of central Europe, some of whom helped the allies to win the war. American observers here say the Oono, mvornment is doing the best

it can, but the attitude of the Prussians in the business world 1s t “You have to give us credit before we .can pay France and Belgium and England! You’re delaying tn give - France' and England a further head start!” . - , —— —- ' - ' • ■ They hhld Uncle Sam personally responsible ; he’s hated for declining to rush humbly across with open money bags. There are several reasons why the south of Germany is leading the north. The Prussian worker had less ”redom in the old days than the south German worker. Now that he holds the whip hand, he hasn’t as sane an idea of what to do with his liberty. Prussian capitalists, too, are, slower. They hate to "get to, work for France and England,” as they put it. British officers in the occupied area tell me the big dye works in the northern Rhine district are kept closed by the Germans. The Germans know the allies cannot yet equal their dyes—• especially a “fixed” blue—and they do not propose to start these plants and let the allies learn the secrets if they can avoid it What She Can Export. Germany can export some glass, china, potash, cutlery, optical instruments, surgical and scientific instruments andutoys, without Importing raw materials. She needs* from America principally cotton and copper. French and British chocolate, soap, toilet articles, etc., are on sale in the stores everywhere in Germany. The only American goods found generally are prewar stocks. - The French and British occupied zones are now commercial fronts. Military officers there and military missions in Germany give the French and British commercial travelers and bankers every assistance. All of the American commercial men and bankers 1. met In Germany told me they had fought their way through in spite of the government, rather than with its assistance. The Gerjnans realize their overseas trade will be absolutely dependent on the allies for years to come. -Germany now owns only 3% per cent of her prewar shipping. , ?