GERMANY TO-DAY.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 January 1921, Page 10

GERMANY TO-DAY.

SIGNS OF TRADE RECOVERY PROSPEROUS AGRICULTURISTS. FINANCIAL CHAOS. London, Nov. 18-' Socially Germany has progressed very considerably since the collapse at the end of the war. The wave of deep despair that passed over the whole country was followed by a moral decline which ran through every stratum of society, and its effects are still noticeable. That it lasted so long (says the Berlin correspondent of The Times) was due in great part to continued political unrest, and it would not be safe to say that the last has been heard of adventurers who seek short-cuts to their gaol by methods of violence. The old aristocracy, the landed interests, and the industrialists still profess to go in fear of a red revolution. As there is no means of estimating the forces which a Communist rising could let loose their forebodings remain unallayed. There are many signs of repair, and the chief among them is a desire to work. It is doubtful whether crime is more prevalent than before the w’ar. but crimes are better advertised, and. a false perspective is the result. There has been a decrease in crime since the beginning of the present year. LUXURIES OF THE PROFITEERS. In German cities there is always a scum that is driven to the curface by the forces of social intercourse. To-day it is very apparent in Berlin, though not so noticeable in Munich or Hamburg. It is this froth that forces itself upon the observation of the passing traveller, leading him to believe that it is the life of the place. Berlin at first sight seems to take its appalling national problems so lightly as to be a city of everlasting pleasure. The restaurants blaze with light, a band blares in each one, there is good food in plenty, wine flows, one hears laughter. The theatres, musichalls, and cinemas command full houses; the Palais de Danse is nightly crowded, and only high-priced champagne (and such champagne I) is served. It seems like waste gone mad. One has to look below the surface to see it for what it is, and then one also finds the real stuff. This boiling scum is given off by the profiteer, who is perhaps the greatest social menace threatening Germany today- But the restaurants and cabarets of Unter den Linden and the neighboring streets are as a small patch on a city of five millions. They are as nothing in a country of 70 millions, and one must look elsewhere for the real state of things.

FARMERS’ PROSPERITY. There is in all classes a re-awakened feeling for industrial and commercial energy. Agriculture, still the largest industry in Germany, is, of course, best off. Landowners, farmers, and farm workers all did well in the war. Some made large fortunes. Prices for produce are high and profits large. The laborers get their food as part of their pay, and in this respect they are much better off than the townsfolk, while their real wages have greatly increased, their hours have been shortened, their conditions improved, and there are more persons employed. The bulk of the heavy industry is also doing well. It is in comparatively few hands, well organised, and hard at work; employment is good and wages are high. With the rest of German industry the case is otherwise. Only in a few trades is there any briskness. There Is still a great shortage of raw materials for many industries; one hears complaints of a lack of coal, and orders are not coming in from abroad. Here and there a factory in its annual report states that it is fully employed and booked up, bi.t the general tale is one of working fewer days or shorter hours. And here, again, one must avoid being misled by appearances.

DEMAND FOR CAPITAL There is a great demand for increased capital, and it is being called up in millions. This is a necessary outcome of inflation. A much greater working capital is necessary to every factory than was the case in the days of the gold mark. Much larger sums are needed for payments for raw materials, wages, and working expenses. Similarly a much higher price is charged for products, and a greatly increased rate of dividend is paid. Thirty per cent, is a common rate. But it must be borne in mind that this is a paper payment on a gold mark holding, representing no more than, perhaps, a tenth of its apparent value. SOCIALISATION OF COAL MINES.

One serious factor in retarding the recovery of industry is the question of the socialisation of the coal mines. In its present form the demand is a heritage of the general strike that followed upon the Kapp Putsch; a measure of socialisation was part of the bargain between, the trade union leaders and the Government for calling the strike off. It has descended, a hopeless heritage, to the present Government. It is an embarrassment to the Cabinet and a constant drag on trade. While it hangs over the country it checks enterprise and development of fresh mining adventures, compelling caution where otherwise a bold policy would be dictated. A committee of employers, coal-users, and miners has reached a deadlock, and has had to elect an arbitration committee. But the whole country know that the miners mean quick socialisation, and the commercial world is filled with misgivings. Coal deliveries to the Allies under the Peace Treaty are at the moment in advance of the scheduled quantity by 250,000 tons —the best evidence, so far, of Germany’s goodwill. Credit does not appear to present any great difficulty. German industry may, in fact, be said to have struggled,to its knees. It has been a wonderful effort, and in it the German industrial and mercantile classes have shown all their old skill and. persistence.

A BANKRUPT STATE. Now, it is all a question of winning back the old markets and finding new ones. The home market offers an unlimited demand, but it will be some considerable time before the manufacturer will be able to turn his attention to it owing to the condition of the country’s finances. For the present he must work for abroad, and in foreign markets he is likely to become once more the bitter and dangerous competitor of other nations. At the root of the whole matter of the revival of German trade, however, lies the condition of German finances. The Qfntn i.a 11 v in a bankrupt posinokad.l? wUhaft to UB*» the WOX’d.

The funded debt, which was about 5000 millions of marks in July, 1914, was 91,000 millions on November 1,1920, and the floating debt, which was 400 millions in July, 1014, was 157,300 millions on November 1, 1920. The total debt is 287,800 millions, and by the end of the financial year it' is expected to reach some 330,000 millions.