The Dominion. FRIDAY, AUGUST 25, 1916. BRITISH AND GERMAN PROSPECTS CONTRASTED

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2859, 25 August 1916, Page 4

The Dominion. FRIDAY, AUGUST 25, 1916. BRITISH AND GERMAN PROSPECTS CONTRASTED

The Secretary of the British Board of Trade', according to a' cable message which we publish today, has just made somo 'interest-, ifg references in the House of Commons to the question of food prices. Incidentally, ho referred to the Withdrawal of large numbers . of workers from their ordinary occu-' pations. in order to join the military forces: or to work in munition factories, and though he gave- no figures! bearing on, the point, the number so affected, we know, -must run into millions. It is therefore astonishing to learn,: from files to hand by this week's. English mail, mat-in spite'of all the dislocation that-has taken, pi aco in ordinary Work-a-day matters in Britain, the Board of Trade, returns for the month of June last are in. the matter of exports the most satisfactory recorded since the war began, lhis is : the more astonishing- because the dram on the manufacturmg centres of population has been an increasing.one: It is true that the organisation of. industry has been placed on a better footing as the result of the readjustments ren- 1 clered necessary by the war, but even so the increased 'efficiency thus gamed could not have compensated tor more than a portion of tlie loss of energy and power sustained by the. departure of the able-bodied and skilled men from the factories The figures show that the value .of the exports for June was £47,274,500, not only the highest amount reached since tho war began, but actually $7,400,000 higher than was recorded in June,, 1914-that i Sj to say, before the war. Ihe exports for the first six months ot 1916, compared with the similar period of 1915, show, an increase of 408,000,000. The figures for each month of the respective periods aro pi such interest that we give them below: '

BISITISH EXPORTS , 1915. wis. £ £ •January 28,247,600 .36,767,200 February 26,176,900 : 36335800 March .......... 30,176,000 '37.598.1C0 4 pril 32.169,700 36,817,800 May, 33,619,000 47,024.400 June 33,233,600 47,274600

'■Totals 185,622,600 , 241,807.860 It roust be borne in .mind that the value of the goods exported is in most cases higher than in pre-war times, and this to a largo extent has served' to make good the falling off in quantity. Tie London Spectator, discussing the Board of Trade figurea, contrasts the picture of industrial activity which Great Britain at tHe present moment displays commercial and industrial stagnation .of Germany. ' It seems that, on-July 11, the Times published certain information obtained through a neutral resident of Eotterdam, which brought into prominence several comparatively new "points concerning tho position of Germany. There has beon a tendency, it 'is pointed out, to spread the idea that whilo the war is progressing German manufacturers are accumulating the means to dump their products on the rest of the. world directly peace is declared. A very different viow of the situation is given by the neutral observer referred to, and it is obvious that his conclusions are in the main sound. Germany is of necessity exhausting her stocks of the principal raw materials of modern industry. She is using up all her availablo copper and lead, and lias practically no spare stock of either cotton or wool. "She may, indeed," he "have materials for making aniline dyes and drugs, and has possibly also accumulated a considerable quantity of manufactured dye-stuffs: .-. . . but theso aro unimportant in comparison with the total volume of ttio pre-war trade of- Germany, and of tho trado which sho hopes will be hers after fcho war." As a matter of fact, Germany has been concentrating her efforts on the war and using up her raw material fo,r war purposes to such an extent that, even if tho war were to end now, sho would find it difficult to immediately acquire a sufficient stock of raw materials to 'start her industries afresh. She has very little to sell, and _ how is she going to buy on credit in faco of the enormous llahil-

ities sho has already incurred? To quote the neutral writer:

Before she can manufacture anything Germany must Ret tho raw. material. Sho has 110 copper, lead, or other baso metalß needed for her iron and steel manufactures. She must import all these. She will absolutely require to import 200,000 tons of manganese, 'copper, zinc, and other things before, she can start her. manufactures in this department alone. It is. the samo with her. textile trades. -They have no wool; they caanot get any cotton, and they cannot make textiles until they import and pay for these raw matorials. Thoy cannot pay until they can export manufactures. . That is Germany's position.

Nor do Germany's difficulties end. there. Under pressure, of the British blockade tho Germans have been driven to slaughter stock that should have beon kept for breeding, "and tho young animals which should now be growing into beef and pork for consumption two or three years ahead nave never 'been born. Each month that the war lasts tends to. make the future position more serious, for tho Germans are 'so short of meat'that they will be compelled increasingly to trench upon their reserves of breeding stock. After the war it will tako them several years before they can recoyer their previous agricultural position as regards stock, and during that tirno they will have to import nearly all. the meat'they want to consume."' And where is the monoy to come from to pay for these importations? To those who are over-inclined to judge tho progress of the war entirely from the record of the military operations, tho possibilities' involved in the strangling of Germany's industrial and commercial developments here discussed niay give rise to new thoughts and ideas. The manufacturing and business classes of Germany cannot be blind to the perils of tho situation which not only paralyse their present efforts, but must at the best cripple them for many . years to come. And the longer tho war lasts the worse their position must become. ■ This is a factor which must count with increasing forco in breaking down the enemy's power to-hold out against the Allies. The' morale of the enemy may he weakened and shattered by influences apart, from the. blows inflicted on the battlefields.