INDUSTRIAL WAR AGAINST GERMANY.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 October 1915, Page 4

INDUSTRIAL WAR AGAINST GERMANY.

With the prospect of a prolongation of the present armed struggle against our Teutonic foes, it may seem somewhat premature to discuss at the present time what is to be done after the war is over in connection with trading with our present enemies. Were if not that there exists the need for educating an appreciable number of our people into the plain, yet imperative, duty of being just as logically patriotic after as during the war, the question of buying German goods in the future would not arise. It is well known that there is a section of the community to whom the appalling doings of the past fourteen months have conveyed no lesson, and who in their woeful ignorance, or inexplicable indifference, will, unless brought to a due state of the seriousness of their actions, again resume their old habits and purchase j German-made goods as a matter of course, provided they are a fraction cheaper than those of British make. It cannot be too clearly understood that it was her commercial and industrial undertakings, carried into every quarter of th» globe, that very largely enabled Germany fo prepare and enter into the terrible struggle that is now reducing the fairest and best portions of God's earth to a clmrnel house, and making a shambles of the habitations of men. Germany's push and resourcefulness have achieved much, while her unscrupulous methods have done even more. In the arrogance of her vaunted mission to become the dominant power on earth, she has built up a marvellous system of industrial and commercial enterprise in order that her commercial sway shall be as supreme as that of her military power. Wo are told that while the war has been in progress Germany's industrial concerns have been carried on with unabated' energy, and that when the war is over the vast accumulations of goods now being piled up will be sent forth to flood the markets of the world, and it is apparent that these goods will be for sale at prices which under ordinary circumstances would entice purchasers to forget their patriotism, and become willing agents for restoring the enormous ravages mode on German finance, and be a great factor in helping our enemy to once more become a menace to the nations. Such a prospect is too horrible to contemplate, and that is why every citizen of the British Empire should be aroused to a due sense of the danger fliat is looming, ahead. The question has already received attention by the people of Dunedin, where at a demonstration organised by the Chamber of Commerce the peril was exposed. Let it not be imagined fori a moment that this great danger is a bogey. It is intensely real, and, if not successfully grappled with, may render even the most complete success of our armies little else than the most hollow of victories. There is every likelihood that Germany considers that the closo of the war will find British industrial machinery, which has been forced into new channels by the imperative need for munitions, will have to get back into its former groove the best way it can—not without disorganisation and possibly a tendency to chaos, and it U easy to conceive that, having all its manufactures in order, Germany is looking forward to a huge scoop, especially in the oversea trade. That is the peril which has to be realised and met. Hence the demand, which should be general throughout the Empire, that after the war there shall be no resumption of trade relations with the enemy. There are but two ways in which this demand can be achieved. The first, and that should alone suffice, is by bringing the people to thoroughly understand that every article of German make that is purchased is helping the enemy to regain strength for another and perhaps more sanguinary struggle than the present. In addition to this, the very fact of trading with those who have been guilty of such terrible atrocities will bo akin to condoning the offences wlfidli we now abhor, and it may be the means of prolonging the sufferings of the brave Belgians instead of helping them to regain what they have lost. In view of the fact that there are always some people who fail to come up to the proper standard of true patriotism, but who draw the line at singing the National Anthem, there is the Customs' screw that can be put into operation to prevent them from having the excuse of buying German goods because they are a fraction cheaper. Above all, we have that great impelling duty to foster British trade and to encourage the manufacture within the Empire of goods heretofore ''made in Germany." The question, though a national one, is really for each individual, and it is by the units taking the right action that the power and prosperity of the Empire as a whole, as well as of the various dominions, will be promoted. There will be much need for concentrated' effort to repair the huge losses caused by the war, and the people cannot take steps too early in order to put matters in trim for facing the after effects of the war,