IF GERMANY WINS.

Taihape Daily Times, 9 April 1918, Page 6

IF GERMANY WINS.

"KAISER'S ALLEGED PROMISES. EX?LOITINa BRITISH DOMINIONS. '* American hewpapers ba ve published . (extracts from a "brochure, the author of jrfuch la said to be Herr August Thyssen, a" relative of the well-known German millionaire coal and iron master The" brochure has been suppressed by the German Government but a copy of it has recently reached America. In it Herr Thyssen wrote: I am writing this pamphlet because I want to open the eyes of Germans, especially of the business community, to facts. When the Hohenzollerns -wanted to get the support of the commercial class for their war plans they put their ideas before us as a business proposition. A large number of business and commercial men were asked to support the Hohenzollern war policy on the ground that it would pay them to do so. Let me frankly confess that I am one of those men who were led to agree. In 1912 the Hohenzollerns said that war had become a necessity for the preservation of the military system upon which their power depends. In that year the Hohenzollerns might have directed, if they had desired, the foreign affairs of our country so that peace would have been insured in Europe for at least 50 years. I"was personally promised a free, grant of 30,000 acres in Australia and a loan from the Deutsche Bank of £150,000 at 3 per cent, to enable me to develop my business in Australia. Several other firms were promised special trading facilities in India, which was to «e conquered by Germany —be it noted l>y the end of 1915. A syndicate was formed for the exploitation of Canada. This : Syndicate consisted of the heads of 12 great firms, and the working capital was fixed at £20,000,000, half of which was <to be found by the German Government

These promises were not vaguely given. They were made definitely by Herr voa Jb'ethmann Hollweg on behalf of the Emperor to gatherings of business men and in many cases to manufacturers. I have mentioned the promise of a grant of 30,000 acres in Australia made to me. Promises of a similar kind were made to at least 80 other persons at special interviews with the Chancellor, and particulars- of these promises were entered in a book at the Trade Department. But not only were these promises made by the Chancellor, they were confirmed by the Emperor, who on three occasions addressed large private gatherings of business men in Berlin, Munich, and Cassel in 1912 and 1913. I was at one of these gatherings The Emperor's speech was one of the. most flowery orations I have heard. The Emperor was particularly enthusiastic over the coming German conquest of India.

"India," he said, "is occupied by the British; it is, in a way, governed by the British; but it is by no means completely governed by them. We shall not merely occupy India, we shall conquer it; and the vast revenues that the British, allow to be taken by Indian princes will, after our conquest, flow in a golden stream into the Fatherland. 2n all the -richest lands of the earth the German flag will fly over every other flag." But this is what has happened in reality, In December of 1916 the Chancellor, .Herr vod began to have interviews once more with business men. The purport of these interviews again was to get more money from them. Guarantees were asked from 78 business men in Germany including myself, that they would between them undertake to subscribe £200,000,000 to the next war loan. I was personally asked to guarantee a subscription of £200,'000. ; I declined to give this guarantee; so did some others. I was then favoured with a private interview with Herr von Beth-mann-Hollweg's private secretary, who told me that if I declined to give the guarantee I would lose the contract I had with the War Office. But not only that, I was threatened with the practical ruin of my business if I did not give the guarantee. I described this demand as blackmail of the worst sort, and refused to. guarantee a mark to the war loan. Two months later I lost my contract and the greater part of my business has been taken over at a figure that means confiscation. Moreover, I am not to get paid until after the war but am to receive 4 per cent on the purchase price. The Foreign Trade Department sent out a circular last March, which said: *?lt will be wise for employers who have foreign trade interests ,to employ agents in foreign countries who can pass themselves off as being of French or British birth. German agents and travellers will probably, for some time after the war, have difficulty in doing business, not only in enemy countries, but in neutral countries." Po this is the prospect we are faced with after the war; The meaning of this circular : In plain "angu age is this:—So loathed and hated. have Germans become outside their own cpuntry the.t no one **■*"• ■want to have any personal dealings

with them after the war. Can any German to whom such prospects are held out by the Emperor fail to see that he has been bamboozled, humbugged and fooled into supporting a war from which the utmost we can hope to gain is t come out of it without national bankruptcy?