GERMANS WORRIED BY TRADE OUTLOOK

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 80, 28 December 1917, Page 8

GERMANS WORRIED BY TRADE OUTLOOK

VISION ,OF~ WORLD MARKETS CLOSED ; AFTER THE WAR . THiE COMMERCIAL MAP ' .. Copenhagen, November 6. ' .. In the midst of the general exultation in Germany over the victories on the Isoiizo.and Riga fronts and the demands for revision of the peace programme in. accordance with the new war map, German business classes are beginning to oboy the injunction to consider tho commercial map as well. An increasing amount of- attention is flevoted by tho newspapers to the growing difficulties of re-establishing German foreign trade after the war. Articles in serious newspapers, oven or Pan-German views, are found almost every.day in which it is pointed out that, diplomatic breaks with China and-Cenpral ■ and fiouth American republics, instead a , source of amusement en account of the military unimportance of these nations, mean the loss of _ Germany's :hard-won commercial position in these markets and increase the difficulties of tho up-hill fight to rebuild, tho. foreign trade after the "war. ' ■ • • .■ •■

. Business men protest that these difficulties will be virtually insuperable if the Government persists in its plan of establishing control of imports and shipping aftdr the, return of peace and of restricting private initiative. Some of them go farther and demand indemnification by the State of men engaged in foreign trade for war lossee,. and State financial assistance in tho postbellum offensive against foreign markets., : ;' .: , ..'■'• \ ; . For Consular Service Reform. . The thought that German shipping might -he barred or restricted in the ports' o:r • Germany's present enemies, 'which has long been scoffed at by shipping and export exports, has now come home to the business world as a real menace. .Discussions of peace conditions, even 1 in the most virulent pan-German war organs, emphasise the'necessity of again procuring for German shipping' the ''most-favpured-rnattbn". treatment in foreign harbours, which was,formerly enjoyed,, as a vital condition- of _ the settlement after the war.' Considerable attention isj'devoted to the reform of the , British Consular .service, and the demand is voiced that measures be taken without delay to bring the man Consular and .trade intelligence services up to "date, and'that all preparations be made during the war so that the German trades may .have a favourable start in the race to secure raw materials the instanf/peace is Concluded. . - .■'.■' '... :'•> •.'■'•■■ ■' ;

. ' •Views of Hamburg Men. . The situation is realised with especial keenness in Hamburg, where in repeated articles by business experts the Gov* ' ornment has been warned that tha plans to promote the recovery, of German exchange and keep down prices by establishing.an official purchasing monopoly ivoiild merely Tesult in rival nations securing the scanty world-supply, of foodstuffs and raw materials. There l is a well-authenticated story of • n conference between Emperor William, Field-Marsha] von Hindenburg. Genera) > von Ludondorff, and Albert Ballin, head of the' Hamburg-Amerika Line, last summer, in which th,e Hamburg shipping magnate, after listening to the glowing account of the military situation wen by the military leaders, told' the Emporor that every extra month of an additional .yew in. getting out of the slough of. the ruin after the war. He declared he did not expect to live to see Germany out of < her difficulties.