THE ENEMY'S TRAM

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 109, 25 January 1918, Page 8

THE ENEMY'S TRAM

GERMAN ECONOMIC ORGANESATISN

BIG MANUFACTURING

COMBINES

A great deal has been said and written of the preparations that the manufacturers of Great Britain .aremaking for the trade war that must follow the declaration of peace. British linns are organising, experimenting, and expanding. They are standardising their products, increasing their scientific equipment, and, ;in many instances, exchanging technical knowledge. They are having the hearty assistance of the Imperial Government in preparing to use for tho development of Oversea and home trade the vast plants that at present are producing munitions for the Allies' armies. But it must not be imagined that the British- an' bavin? matters all their own way in the domain of preparation for after-war competition. The Germans also are busy, and 6omo interesting and important- information regarding .their economic organisation has been obtained.

The Germans are pressing forward with the compulsory and voluntary syndication of industrial concerns. Compulsory syndication has been demanded by the Government to secure economy in view of the scarcity of material and the shortage of labour, while voluntary syndication has been .suggested and carried out by the parties interested by way of preparation for the prospective economic war and in order to facilitate tho return' of peace conditions in the economic sphere, though in some cases this action has been in response to hints and suggestions on the part of the Government. The Gorman coal-mining companies, for example, are now all included in one combine, tho firms which stood out originally having boon forced in by the threat of Government interference. A typical syndicate has been'formed in the chemical 'industry. The_ Germans bad a dominating position in tlm chemical trade before the war, and they are wr,l| aware that -'he British are' going to make a big bid for this tr:»K TV German choniirnl combing, which is for a period of fifty years, is primarily of a defensive nature. The various ' works retain their independence and freedom of action, but profits will ho pooled, all manufacturing experiences exchanged, and all products produced in at least two places, so that continuity of supply may be assured. The Germans believe that this arrangement will do much to further the exploitation of new discoveries and promote technical progress, with the result that the position of their chemical industry in the markets of the world will be strengthened. The manufacturers concerned with the production of'dyes and explosives are iii close association with the chemical interests.

Syndication has been proceeding irt the'ecntral organisation of the German, wholesale trade, the iron industry, the 'shipping trade, and many of the smaller industries. There have been numerous amalgamations and fusions of individual concerns in the course oE tho devalopment of large organisations in German economic life. Even the tanks have been undergoing a process of concentration. The chief reason for this tendency on the part of the German banks is that the problems confronting German finance on the conclusion of rjeace (the problems connected with the supplies of raw materials, resumption of issue, and _ reconstruction of organisation): will demand institutions of cxtraordi"ary capacity and internal strength. Ifc seems doubtful if the Germans can create such institutions, but they are going to -make the effort, and the first step is the formation of banking combines.

The; compulsory organisation of industry is illustrated by what has happened to the German boot trade. Tim German Government ordered' a reduction in the number of working boot factories, and brought the whole business, clown to the minutest det."'"'. under strict central and - bureaucratic control. At the same time, production within specified limits was made compulsory. The central nuthoritv is a supervisory committee, the members of which aro appointed by the Imperial Chancellor. A special representative of the Chancellor sits upon the committee, and may suspend its decisions for review by the •Chancellor. Tin committee distributes orders, allots raw material, and maintains a divinV ' equalisation fund. The number of boot manufacturing companies has been reduced to eleven, and each of them has its defined sphere of operations within the German Empire. The companies must manufacture footwear in accordance with standards laid down by the supervisory committee, and. they must sell at the official prices* The footwear must notbear the names or trade marks of individual companies. The new German organisations i are beine; used to-day for the production of the .supplies and munitions required for the conduct of the war on the enemy' side. But the movement towards syndication has an evident bearing upon the conditions of post-war trade, and there can be no doubt that the new German combines, if they are abl'j to .operate freely after the war, will be most formidable competitors in the struggle for trade.