MR. EDISON.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1289, 18 November 1911, Page 14

MR. EDISON.

HIS ESTIMATE OF THE GERMANS,

Mr. 1 nomas Edison, before sailin" homo from Hamburg, expressed some rci nmrkable views about Germany and tho Oermans to tho special correspondent of lho 'Now York World" who accompanied him. throughout his European tour. Jle was much interested in industrial Hamburg, saying that there, as elsewhere Uermanys new buildings woro distressingly uncouth. "There's something wrong with Germany's aesthetic lobe! I hey feed their brains with too much beer-result, beer architecture. The only dignified buildings I've "seen are copies of Greek and Roman. In architecture.; as m all else, Germans lack proper initia-tiye-they are good adapters, that's all I was surprised whife going through nii les of factories in Berlin to seo how little there was now-overywhero American machinery. Another thing that handicaps berman pro;,T«s is over-economy IJiey grudgo spending money, nnd if a new machine comes out that's an improvement on the old tho Gorman won't "•Jwf unt ". I ' lo ,las us ?'l up the old. \\ hero the American's intelligence comes in is in his willingness to spend money when necessary. There is no slrart-sighted sou-saving done, amon" our business men. Ono hears great talk of tho high standard of business integrity in Germany, yet at .lunch tho other day with l.orman financiers it was admitted tjiat there was no comparison between iMg.ish standards and their own. The English is tho highest standard of integrity in tho world."

"I was told that tho German aristoc!3 f ar ° f nf ?7 n Z ]™& ] y into business now to get rich quick, and they do not care how it is done. Their methods have generally affected business ideals It is my opinion that the English are the highest typo physically, morally, and mentally over here. ' ''I don't believe in tho talked-of industnal world domination of Germany. Just wait till our markets get filled up; and «ore forced to flood Europe with our drummers.' They'll show Germans what Pi l t ~G e™ i ll,T has interested mo through the changes which have taken place since I was here before. But we have nothing to learn from her while shes got much to learn from us"