GERMANY OF TO-DAY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 185, 6 August 1936, Page 7

GERMANY OF TO-DAY.

"Goose-step" Economics Under

State Control.

BRITISH ANALYSIS,

July 30,

A nation of 65 millions in which every form of human activity has been mobilised and intensified in the service of the people, with military influence in evidence in every direction. This is the picture emerging from«a comprehensive report on economic conditions in Germany, compiled by Mr. Donaldson Rawlins, commercial counsellor to the British Embassy in Berlin. The report shows that Nazi-ism has introduced into all spheres of life of the nation a political control that can hardly be grasped by the older democracies. The I economic peacetime organisation has been adapted to military needs, and the exploitation of natural resources has been carried out irrespective of the commercial aspect. In other words, "defence economy" needs are paramount.

Government orders amount to twothirds of the total expenditure on investment goods, causing a boom in the iron and steel, non-ferrous metals, engineering, cement, shipbuilding, and automobile industries.

The report discloses an astonishing effort of national organisation. Every export and import activity, every domestic business deal, the price of every commodity, all purchasing, marketing, and selling are subject to orders from the Government. Not a cow or a pig in Germany can be killed without permission. Business must serve the nation. The report asserts that 80 per cent of the ' food and fodder consumed in Germany is domestically produced.

The report pays a tribute to the German genius for social legislation and collective organisation in education standards, food, clothing, housiug, warmth, and cultural things.