GERMAN TRADE.

Press, Volume LVII, Issue 17119, 14 April 1921, Page 8

GERMAN TRADE.

REPARATION EXPORT TAX. | DUMPING OF GOODS IN j ENGLAND. \ (By Cable —Press Association —Copyright.) (Australian «.nd N.Z. C*bl« Association.) LONDON, April 12. The Folkestone docks are congested with thousands of bales of German basket and leather ware, fancy goods, toys, and , crockery, which have been hurriedly shippod to escape the indemnity impost which is applicable to everything landed after April. 14th. Special steamer services from Flushing were needed to copo with tho traffic. (fkom our own COHRESPON'BKNT.) LONDON, March 3. Figures for the two last quarters of 1920 show what strides Germany is making with her export trade to this country. The largest figures relate to dyes and dye-stuffs obtained from coal tar. For the quarter ended September last tho value under this head was £1.010,546, while for the December quarter the value hod increased to £3,041,798, tho respective quantities being 23,732 cwt and 59,306 cwt. Domestic enamelled hollow-ware increased from £67,777 to £98,387; sugar, unrefined, rose in quantity from 3670 cwt to 144,146 cwt, and in vnluo from £11,927 to £240,432. Tho 22,024_pairs of cotton .gloves, valued at £37,345, had jumped up to 37,163 pairs, valued at £5U,005; and toys and games (not of rubber or leather) increased from £304,557 to £458,337 on the quarter. The reason for admitting only M.IVs "to the projected exhibition of cheap foreign goods is the desijw to avoid giving these commodities publicity. Alongside each article will be the corresponding British product, and the prices of each will be shown. The mam object of tho National Union of Manufacturers in organising tho exhibition is to bring home to M.P.'s the need for adequate provisions in the forthcoming Government measure to deql with' the devastating foreign competition resulting from collapsed exchanges. Mr Jarvis, at the British Toy Manufacturers dinner, stated that 22,500 out of 30,000 men in the industry are now out ot work on account of German dumping, and the flood of German toys so far experienced is nothing compared witli that about to enter theso markets. The* season immediately preceding Christmas provided a striking demonstration of the effectiveness of German plans to extend foreign trade. borne months prior to the end of the year warehouses in all the large cities in England were filled with German toys of all kinds. Representatives of German firms, including many Norwegians, (Swiss, Danes, and Swedes, canvassed the trade thoroughly, offering their wares at an average increase in price over pre-war days of about 100 per cent, and promising quick deliveries. One German firm sold 30 different kinds of 'dolls in England, three of them at prices considerably below the toghsn dolls It is estimated in America, that "tho sales of German toys in England in 1920 amounted to over 9,000,000 dollars, compared with 1,850,000 dollars in 1919. German Dyes. Writing from New York, Mr P. H. Middleton (Guaranty Trust Company) savs that representatives of German dye manufacturers are carrying a wonderful range of colours, in a wide variety and high quality. A British dyemaker reports that the Germans are offering a- certain dye whidi is much required in the Bradford trace at 7d to 'ls a pound", which he is unable to produce for less than 4s a pound m a quality inferior to that of the German. .Representatives, of German textile, houses are in England offering cloth dved in 500 different shades. BntHii makers state tlhat it is impossible for them to produce cloth at the prices asked by the Germans, even after tho big fall in tho price of raw wools, lae slowing down of some of Britain's new industries, such as dyes and chemicals, photographic materials, and scientific instruments, and in some cases the actual closing of factories as the result of German competition, have brought forth vigorous protests to the Government, and appeals for protection. An Organised Attack. Recently it was pointed out that the well-being of the British magneto industry was vitally important in regard to our national safety, and an exposure was made of the determined and carefully organised attack by a combination of Gorman manufacturers and financiers backed by Government assistance, with the result that German magnetos wcro being offered for sale in this country at about £5 wholesale, whilst tho British article cannot be made for sale under from £l2 10a to £ls. The conditions (says the "Financier"; are not equal. On tilie one side we have a victorious country who, though winning a war, -has seen taxation heaped on taxation, wages piled on wages, debt heaped on debt, and waste crammed oh the top of waste until,'to put it plainly, it cannot pay its way and make magnetos under 250s each. On the other hand, is a defeated country, crippled to such an extent tlhat its taxation is relatively low, its factories overflowing with orders, its workmen labouring with gleeful activity, and its production costs so comparatively small that it can make magnetos and sell them here at a price which would hardly pay fcr the labour-involved in the production of the British article. There is no doubt as to the fixed intention on the part of Germany to create a monopoly in tho magneto industry, no matter what it costs ncr what amount of organisation is involved. Trade Boom in Germany. Writing from Berlin to Ihc "Daily Chronicle," Mr Leonard Spray says that the complete statistics of last year's issue of shares of new companies and capital increases of existing ones "suggest the paradox tthat national bankruptcy and private prosperity go hand in hand." New companies numbered 4go, with a total in shares of 1,461,000,000 marks. Companies vliirh increased their capital numbered 1752, with a total value of new shares of 6,741,000,000 marks. As a matter of comparison, in 1913 the total value of existing shares was 15,500.000,000 marks; so that the amount of new money coming from the public last year alone came to more than half the total sum invested in private trade and industry in the year before the war. Engineering and allied trades come first with 43 new companies, to which is subscribed 172,000,000 marks, and 304 capital inc-rop-H's absorbing no less than 1,050,000,000.

Forty-four electricity companies raised \ 738,000,000 marks in additional capita], whilst eight now companies issued shares of 28,000,000. Metal-working industries modueed 29 new companies, with 76,000.000 marks, whilst, capital increases took place in 147 cases to a total of over 300.000,000. Tho flood of money, even if only paper, continues flowing in undiminished, perhaps in greater, volume. Krupp's opened tht new vear hall with nn issue of 230,. 000,000. which was enormously over, subscribed. Last year seven new ship ping companies were formed, with shares of tho value of seven and a hall millions, whilst 15 coniranies iucrensed their capital by 123,000,000. German "Thinking Machines." Investigations in leading German c*n tres of industry by special representatives of the "Daily Mail" have been in progress for some while, and the conclusion is arrived at that Germany ii "shamming dead." At Chemnitz (th« German Leicester), for instance, th« writer was told of novel and wonderful labour-saving devices, of new ma. rhinos which will turn out articles L hitherto onlv made by hand and of en- f tirely original methods of knitting \ silks, artificial silks, ntid metrd thread. j These are a closely-guarded secret, and for the moment none of these machines is being put on the market. It was more evident at Chemnitz than at any other place I visited in Germany thafl the order has gone out from Berlin: "Keep quiet until things are settled with tho Allies!'" Berlin, by tho sim« pie device of restricting the import m" raw materials and the export of the finished article, ensures that bnsimsi at Chemnitz is kept suitably "quiet." It is remarkable that, though most of the products of Plnurn (the German Nottingham) are heavily taxed, being classed as "luxury articles," after ft "slump" this industrv is now recovering rapidly. Most of tho homo workers arc engaged on the cheaper and cirrser lines, for which there is a steady demand in Germany. In this region ol industrial Germany one hears a great deal of the so-called "community of interests associations," under which. | prices are fixed by a sort of trr.ft-ron-trolling to a great extent the linen, embroidery, and lace market, and tnnny "making-up" firms at Planen, Chemnitz, or Herlin hare been bought lip or persuaded to sign special contracts for many years to rotm*. This "tank-ing-up" trade, equipped with powerful rutting, stitchimt, and sewing machines driven by ele"tricity at a tremendous speed, is'claimed to bo another of Germany's coming industries. As every- , thine is done toy machinery, tho price, of tlie finished article is generally amasv" inglv low. The firm which is turning out thpse rapid "making-up" machines —"thinking machines" the Germans call them, from tho extraordinary ingenuity of their construction—is now eomnlptelv equipping two factories for tho Argentine. They will ha tho first of this type in that coun- - trv. Other Trade Revivals. From the same source, too, comet the announcement that Jena, where tlra powerful German optical glads industry is preparing to flood the world market with lenses and cinematograph apparatus, there ih Tety iitlle labour trouble, and the 10,000 workers engaged m tho optical trade are themselves something more than ordinary workmen Dresden's thriving piano trado, and Meissen's historic porcelain industry, are now busier than ever. During the war, under tho pressure of necessity, the optical gloss' industry revived in England, and to-day Great Britain is capable of becoming a dangerous techj nical rival of Germany in what was forI merry practically a German monopoly. Unfortunately, from tho commercial point of view, while the German rat* of exchange is as low, and British lyaees are as high as at present, Great iJrftain stands a poor chance of challenging Germany's position of suprern- : u'cy. As for piaios, the guide observed: "There is nothing much doing in , Germany, of course. Tht country is - I full of pianos. Dining tho war ,w» . sold very cheaply, and few pcopio failed to avail themoslves of the chance to purchase a new piano at a bargain figure. Even in the average work* man's home in Qermany a piano—often an automatic piano—is regarded as \ being almost as necossnry a pioco of T furniture as the kitchen tabic ,Our only hope is export, and you see w« are preparing for itl M Supplies of German Paper. In these days of world-wido paper shortage, the question naturally arises (says tho "Daily Mail" investigator, "where does Germany get tho pulp from?" The answer is simple. During the war Germany did not make much use of her extensive plantations of trees intended for pulping for paper. Subjugated Poland supplied a largo proportion of the enormous quantities of pulp used by Germany during tho war. Consequently, when the armistice came Germany's forests wcro almost untouched; she possessed a considerable stock of pulp and paper, and her book-shops wore stacked to the ceilings with books published in every imaginary language. Now that Gormany has ogam begun) regular foiling for licr paper production she is producing much more paper than she actually requires. The result is seen in the present price~3o pfennigs—(nominally 3d) of Gorman newspaper . printed with good ink on ' excellent paper, only three times tho pre-war pnoo, an increase which falls far below. , the average rise in cost of other articles !, of daily use. Tho advantage, in th» way of cheap catalogues,, circulars, and the like, over foreign competitors which {■■ Germany derives from her aupcrabun- „ dance of paper is obvious. Walking in * Leipzig through the streets where the publishers' offices are grouped, I came across the names of publishers known ' to every student of the classics, to every novel reader, to every traveller < on the face of tho globe. In this lino there are not secrets, no tricks. Tho Leipzig publishers mean to go "full steam ahead" selling cheap, well-print-ed, well-bound, often well-illustrated, books, each firm sticking to its tradjtional line, be it art or theatre, lexicons or novels.