AFTER THE WAR.

Press, Volume LII, Issue 15512, 12 February 1916, Page 7

AFTER THE WAR.

GERMANY'S POSITIOX.

SPECIALLY WRITTEN TOE "THE PREBS.")

(Bt Mrs Jttlian- Grande.) BERNE, December 3. "The Press" has already called attention to the efforts being made oy Germany to prepare for the difficulties of the period after the war, and to her ingenious methods of endeavouring not merely to keep the foreign markets which she already had before tho war, but to gain now markets. Everything is done as stealthily as possible, and although I am not in a position to write from personal knowledge of what Germany is doing in other neutral countries, nevertheless, I am well aware of her efforts .in Switzerland. There is no doubt that the most serious menace to Swiss trade and industry is now constituted by the German determination to establish as manyjac. Tories and workshops as possible on Swiss territory, often with names which would lead the uninitiated to suppose that they are Swiss firms, and actually as a rule ivith Swiss directors, possibly even a Swiss manager, men of straw no doubt, but none the less calculated to deceive the unwary. At the present time Swiss hotels are teeming with German merchants, manufacturers, and engineers, who are bombarding Swiss firms with offers to develop their businesses and increase their capital, s if only the Swiss firms will enable thein to export to belligerent countries what are really German goods as articles of Swiss manufacture. In this nefarious enterprise the Germans are assisted by a number of Germancontrolled Swiss newsi>apers> such as the ''Neue Ziircher Nachrichten," one of Herr Erzberger's organs, the "Ziircher Post," and several other Ger-tnan-Swiss journals. Nevertheless, the Swiss papers not under control, realise the danger to their country of this economic penetration, which already before the v?ar had assumed alarming proportions, and which, after the war, is litely to increase beyond all bounds if some stringent measures be not taken by Government. As long ago -as last March", 'one of the most wiflely-vead commercial "periodicals in Germany, the "Zcitschriffc des ELandelsvertragsvereins" (organ of the Commercial -Convention Association), published an official notice in heavy black tvpo "t 0 ensure German export trade after the war," in which the following passage occurred: ''For many branches (i.e., of trade) one method of getting out of an extremely embarrassing situation will consist in transferring tho manufacture or finishing of their products to a neutral country. As to this we are in a position to give advice and hints to German manufacturers working for ..export, and we will do our utmost to help them still rßore in future. We would recommend manufacturers anxious to increase their business in this manner to communicate with us as speedily as possible."

The "Gazette de Lausanne," commenting upon this disquieting German notice, says that the compilers of the registers of the Swiss "Feuille Officielle du Commerce" recently received instructions to indicate tlfe nationality heads and directors of new firms when registering them, but that this order is only occasionally carried out. and needs to be strictly enforced. The ."Neue Ziircher Zeitung,".- the leading Swiss commercial daily newspaper, cites a letter sent, obviously by a German, to a Swiss commercial man. "who had answered gn advertisement in a Zurich paper inserted by a foreign textile manufacturer. The German advertiser, in his letter, remarked that the present state of affairs makes it impossible for Germans to keep up direct communication with their customers, as before, but that nevertheless it is very important for them to be exactly informed as to the commercial and financial situation in general and the prospects of their being able to resume business on profitable lines after the war. Consequently, the letter concluded, "we intend to have our woods' sold by a Swiss branch and by §wiss agents," and as we are convinced that there is a great scarcity of goods everywhere, and that the demand will be very great, we expect to be able to do much profitable business." The "Neue Ziireher Zfcitun«r," after declaring that the Swiss merchant honoured fcy the receipt of this communication renlicd thereto as it deserved proceeds to make various suggestions for Switzerland's economic defence for instance, that foreign enterprise-! establishing branches in Switzerland should be. forbidden to as=;ime a Swiss name or any name, such as Helvetia, for example, or "Federal" (Eidgenossisch). which could posciblv lead the public to imagine thnt thev are Swiss concerns, or that thev are of Swiss origin. There are several notorious instances of this having been done by Germans. Again, - it is proposed that "foreign;" which rool'v means German, hrms .manufacturing goods abroad and estabhshmg branches in Switzerland, where there products are finished off or merely packed, should be obliged to. assume a name for their finns which should clearlv show that the; said firms are of German origin, and. finally that the majority of .members of boards of management of foreign limited liability companies settled m Switzerland should be Sniss subjects, /ho ' Neue Zureher Zeitung" demands that the question should be brought as as possible before the Swiss Parliament, but in the meantime it urges, that the Government should take some measures

in virtue of tho extraordinary powers conferred on.it since the war. While Germany is making all these endeavours, she nevertheless tries to use her mailed fist _ against Switzerland and prevent her from doing aD - v business which would affect German trade. For instance, she has boy- | cotted Swiss aniline dyeworks as regard their coal supply, and this not because she is at war with Switzerland. who has rendered her great services since the war, but because she does not wish the Swiss dye manufacturers to capture the British dye market. A Swiss connected with some large dyeworks, who was speaking to me on this subject, said.: "It- is the shortsightedness of the British Government which is responsible for our being unable to develop this business with England which would be all to the good of England and the detriment of Germany. A year ago, when an association in England wished to establish dyeworks. and asked the Government merely for a guarantee of protection against GerI man competition after the war in the form of a tariff on foreign dyes, the Government refused. To me. as an | outsider, this is only explicable either because the British Government is

afraid of Germany or because German influence is still very powerful in the British Cabinet. . "We continue to admire the British people," he proceeded, "hut as for the British Government, I must admit that we have now nothing but absolute and unadulterated contempt for it. For the last twenty years, despite Gcr- • m«*vnv's active preparations for war, it did nothing to organise counter-pre-parations. and now your people have to pav for this neglect in hundreds or thousands of precious lives and in millions, even billions, of money. And even now, in face of Germany's efforts to capture the world's trade, alter the war, your Government is doing nothing to counteract those efforts, and still sticks to the shibboleth of free trade. I tell you that unless your British merchants and manufacturers take your Government by the throat and compel it to do something at once, your trade after tho war will be in the position in which your armies were at the outset of the war. "One of the most painful phenomena o f the present war," continued the speaker, "is tho way certain newspapers have been befooling the public, disputing about trivialities aiuj perpetuallv reviving ancient editorial grudges, instead of sinking all petty differences and personal ambitions m faco of the one groat fact of the world s lifo to-day. £?o busy have they been with their wranglings, that, they have found no time whatever to deal with. thi= vitallv important question to which I have just referred, and with which, I may say, German attention is enormously ' preoccupied —the question or trade after the war; and it has been left for two or three newspapers, such as the 'Morning Post,' and the 'Engineer,' to, realise the transcendent importance of this problem. It is time the British public washed its hands of tho whole gang of Northcliffes and Gardiners and the Yellow and Radical and devoted its attention to matters of more moment." _ I havo sTftnmarised the views of this well-known manufacturer, because I have reason to believe that" they are thoroughly representative of even friendly neutral opinion as regards England to-day. He did not, however, mention one of the chief changes taking place in Europe to-day, the gravity of which can hardly bo exaggerated, and that is the daily # closer rapprochement between Germany and Austria, and the fact that Germany is, of course, "top dog," and, without appearing to do so, is imposing her will upon Austria and moulding tho latter to \suit her purposes. Already a German. Austi o-Hungarian economic association exists, which ias completed a tariff union between the two monarchies, and is laying; discreet plans for including Turkey and Bulgaria in its economic clutchcs. Quite recently this German' AustroHungarian Economic TJnion met at Dresden, and passed the following .resolution :— "That those present at the meeting held on November 29th, 1915, in Dresden, and organised by the Gcrman-Aus-tro-Hungarian and the Austro-German Economic Union, confirm the resolutions arrived at by these Associations. on June 28th, 1915, in Vienna, in favour of an economic alliance between the two Central Empires and of community of their commercial policy, arranged hy convention and ensured for a long period of time. A uniform foreign tarilf is to be agreed upon, based on a uniform Customs scheme, but) Customs dues need not be invariabfcthe same for bbth countries. The economic differences, are "to be taken, into consideration in mutual intercourse by the imposition of compensatory Customs dues. Preferential Customs without community of commercial policy must, like all other half measures, be rejected as inadequate, for the community of interests of the Central Empires is not. confined to Customs policy. On the contrary, the changes caused by the war are making a common commercial policy a necessity. . Furthermore, thefaithfulness with which Turkey and Bulgaria are fighting side by side with us opens up new prospects to us and imposes upon us tasks which we can only fulfil if we act together." Not only is Germany openly laying broad and deep the foundations of a Customs and commercial tariff between herself and her. allies, in which she carefully reserves the dominantposition for Prussia, and which is, of course, largely directed against England, and aimed .at capturing England's trade and commerce, but she is also clandestinely working in nejitral countries to involve them in the grip of her tentacles.