GERMANISED REPUBLIC

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 277, 19 August 1919, Page 5

GERMANISED REPUBLIC

THE TEUTON IN VENEZUELA. Venezuela is tho most completely Germanised country outsido of Germany, according to a business man who has recently returned from there after spending several months in its chief cities. "One Sunday night in Caracas," he says, "I witnessed a company of tho Venezuelan troops, forming a colour guard, gtrose-step down the street and back again. They were German in their uniforms from spiked helmets to leather legging*. Most of the big business of the country is in tho hands of Gorman houses, who, despite the black list during the war, managed to continue business to a considerable degree," ho said. "By dubious ways these German houses wore ablo to ship considerable quantities of codec from Venezuela during the war, and a good deal of it wont to Prance. Of course, neither the French nor tho Allies knew of its German ownership. "Although coffee could not be shipped freely during the war,- nevertheless, German merchants wore able to get control of practically all of the coffee produced in Venezuela during that time," said this man. "Most ot tlieso German merchants had loans throughout Venezuela, and they accepted coffco in many instances, and at a very much depreciated price in settlement for theso loans. As a result, when tho armistice w;is signed and tho black list lifted their warehouses wore filled with the product that •had aged and matured, and had trebled and quadrupled in value. They had simply made fortunes. The wholo business of Venezuela is completely in tho hands of Germans. Many business men throughout Venezuela that were compelled to discharge German employees during tho war in order to be able to trade with the United States and the Allies liave re-employed their lierman representatives—"Christian SciencoMonitori"