FIELD-MARSHAL OF BUSINESS.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 129, 7 January 1916, Page 2 (Supplement)

FIELD-MARSHAL OF BUSINESS.

TiJK .MAN WHO JUS SHOWN THE GftU.MA.Nfi) iiu\\ IU ' liyji.l) Oil." tßy riedei ;i w ii.Kiiu Wile, in the " IWliy .Mail. ; .No w (union uttig'c.- have been erected an} where in tne i'uiiier>uua in Honour 01 ;i .Wepu Mopuoios-iooiiing niuu minioU Wanner iv.ain.ii.ni; vei lie has none nioi e to cmiiue Hie uermuns to make tue.r iigut timu all oi Uiiuloiiimrg s victories put together. in, natue is hniuiy known in Lngland ■"a until Hie system lie lias brought into existence m crumpled up, OerUmiiiv > power oi resistance —a» far at least an tne niatenai smews of war aro concerned is not likely to ije broken, l-e .» t!:e gun us ttlio lia.i tauglit tlie '.■eniun ■ ln.i\ to " hoid out.' Nui and lieir oi the "electrical king, ftnul Hatheiiau, who died in Juno hint, he lias naii command since tlio hour tlie war began ol ttic vast liernian scheme tor deiymg tlie laws' ol blociiado by converting tne ftmpire into an almost completely seli-conta ned ami seli-oustaining community, it is lie who explained to the Oennan War Ulfiee that the grip ol the British fleet, instead ol lortlnvith choking Germany to dentil, nngiit be turned into something ot a national blessing, n the country vvouid proceed to prove that necessity is the motlier ol invention. It is lie who evolved the biniple device ol' keeping all Germany s money at home by spending none ol it abroad. It is lie who ha, directed the energies ol the chemical and engineering alchemists, who have wrought such wonder, in creating substitutes for practically every essential of war except cotton that many of the artificial products have turned out to be more effective than the real article. It is Rathenan, in short, who lias .shown the Germans, barred from the outside world by land and sea. that THERE IS HARDLY ANYTHING THEY CANNOT MARK IF THEY .MIST OR DO WITHOUT IF THEY HANK TO. SPECIA LISTS ENTRUSTED. The entrusting to Rathenau'cs hand, of the purely business side of the war n proof of the German theory that specialists only should lie called upon to do tlie expert \voik. Falkenliayn unhesitatingly made room in the War Office for Ratlienau because the War Minister real sed that a business man brings to the economic aspect of war talents- which no strategist, tactician, or military genius, however gifted, could possibly posses*. Ratlienau unfolded his plans to enable Germany to "hold out" and Falkenliayn said: ''Go ahead." It is to no small extent his achievement that Germany is to-day able to sally forth on the most adventurous of all her war .schemes— the road to India.

Walther Rathennu i-> :i superbusiness man and, indeed, a supcr-Ger-inan, for his gifts are astonishingly diversified. A Jew, still in the early forties, standing (ill. 3in. in lis 1 stockings, ho is m remarkable type of the highly trained German who combines "with eminent commercial ability intellectual gifts of high degree. Trained by his hither to be a practical engineer, who had to work his way up in the great "A.E.G.'' (General Electricity Company) shops in overalls at dds. a week, young Kathonau, alter graduating from Charlottenburg Technical College and taking his doctor's ilegu. at tii.' university, revealed literary inn wii.ch. hail lie coiinned himscll to the v.riting Held, would have given hnit rank til Ucrmuny. several ol Ins works, ni 11 phihisopiucal character, entitled and " In Criticism 01 the I'Jra," are protound studies ni outstanding trends in Modern Germany. liie\ reveal Uu trace oi the war-zealot. An expert eug neer and literary thmker o't advanced liberal views, Katlicnau has a.so tevealed splendid attainments as a liaiiher. I mil a yeai or two ago lie was a managing director 1.1 the neriiiier JLtauuejagcoodsVliait, one ni liie most iiupoiiain uerinuu institutions. As cii.ui aiiiu ol the governing hoard oi Ins i;ui:cip toioss-.il eiecti.cal company, you.ig ixauieiiau t-pec-a i-ed in liireetiiig u» nuaiiei.il operations, wan n coveted ti.e entire globe ami represented interests wortn l-'JO,-iiiih.iihii. POLYGLOT TOI'KIST. Like nearly every nioi.ern young German business - man. Kaiiienan speaKs hnglisii iihc a I,.manner, trench liKe a I'ai-K'an, ami apaiiiMi line u grandee. He can .piote Dante in Italian and knows more annul lo.stoi tnan nio-i ltu--iaii-. tte mis toured l',urope Ironi Arcnangel to Urn bay oi t* scny and i an w rite « itn equal auiiiority on ecoimnni coiiditions in rMiuth America or the I nited ."states, liotu ol »Inch he na> v -it.'U and studied. He has talked iu me aiiout lii ii.-ii Allien a- n he had l.veil there all h..- kie, lor the A.E. (i. had importaiit electrical interests in ar l.ai-.e Nyanzn, and one ol his hoblues i~ investigating aliau - on the spot. Willi all Ins talents Walther Itntlienau i- a modest man. I had w i itten a biographical sketch oi his lather for iiii-Jiicsii>u in " -Men .U'ound tiie Kaiser, and siiliinitted the nianiiscript tor revision. Ii ended Willi a tribute to Walther Katlicnau, «honi I described as a worthy heir ol a business giant. •■ Leave me out," he said «hen he handed bin k the manuscript «itli the l-eieielli •- to liun-eil deb ted. " I don't rne.nt." lie venerated h lather to a di votinnal degree. It was .11 the ■ .m'. wi-h that the renin ns oi Kniil liat'iieii.ui la-t dune were laid in state ; ;,.,. Ni.-der-i honweidc works of the \. K.C." on tiie banks ol the Spree, ..: 1 i,! Berlin, and over theai the miii deiivereil to lII.HIMI vnikmon an eloiim nt p i:n -\ Ile ol the fail er whom he eii'og -el a- a man « ho 1 nobled husim - and eh vated indu.stry i" the levi 1 el ait Murint: recent year- 111 Bi-rGn it used hi be -1 d that Walther Kaiheiia'i w;is " 1 In-,: " in the Kaiser than ati> man 11 Germany, I wonder if William 11. in lhn-e hour- was pi ivileged to listen to the vnung engiiieer-banker-)>hilo-o-plier'.- plan- for "Toe Da\": PATS WAV. A gentleman in Dub! n, -peaking of the Ii Kb, said that nothing e\'i' -atifieil them, and that lie «.1- willing to prove Ii - h ord • on n ivn el that 'I he should no to the doar and mil a can. tin matter w hat fee he nceht give, the driver would a-k for more. The wager was taken. T!ie gentleman 1 ailed a cab, drove about a quarter of a mile, stepped out. and handed the driver half a sovereign, the legal fare being a shilling. Cabby drove ofif. The gentleman who had taken the wnsier wai- exulting in Irs triumph, when suddenly the cabby returned, and. ton. liitiL' Irs lint, saTil : ■- "Please, sir, lone ye a dirty threepenny bit about ye? It would he s'urh a pity 10 break a hriirht piece of gold like this for a drnk !"