GERMAN TRADE.

Press, Volume LVIII, Issue 17433, 19 April 1922, Page 8

GERMAN TRADE.

LEIPZIG FAIR A FAILURE.

ECONOMIC CONFUSION.

(FROM OTJR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) \ LONDON, March P. ! According to the Berlin correspon- | dent of the "Daily Chronicle," the ' Leipzig Industrial Fair, heralded with a tremendous campaign of advertisement, has to be written down a failure. The article throws a striking t light upon the industrial conditions in . Germany and shows how the fluctuations of the mark is leading to economic confusion. No fewer than 150,000 1 visitors went to the fair. - "Countless 1 special trains from all parts of Germany and abroad," says the correspon- ' dent, "automobile services innumerable and nearly every aeroplane in the ' country have been employed to carry guests to the city. Thirteen hundred German and foreign journalists have been taken there free of charge ayid ■ are being lavishly entertained. Indeed, the amount of money spent on 1 up-to-date boosting of the fair must have been enormous. "Yet at the very beginning a note ', of keen disappointment and serious alarm is sounded in the German Press. Naturally with the mark specially low at ftie moment there is a great demand 1 for goods, but there is next to nothing on offer. The vast quantities of goods brought for sale were snapped up by the first comers and early on the first afternoon the sign 'sold out' was being exhibited in the textile branch and most of the other departments. 'Economic confusion in Germany,' says the representative of the 'Vossische Zeitung,' commenting on the situation_ as demonstrated by the fair, is 'making rapid strides, and seriously minded manufacturers and traders see in the present conditions clear.signs which give them furiously to think that a catastrophe cannot be far off. The journey towards Austrian conditions is proceeding at increasing speed.' Besults of Speculation. "This serious situation is due to Germany's present trade policy, and to tho way in which the people are allowed to play about with the rate of exchange. Most careful enquiries convince me there is np reason whatever for the recent fall of, the mark, save speculation by prominent banking and Bourse interests. They are sending to , Amsterdam and Switzerland orders for the continuous throwing on the market of German paper money. That sends down the rate of exchange, causes 'flight from the mark' and a demand for securities which, therefore, rise in price and enable speculators to reap big profits.'' "On the other hand, the low mark stops Gentian buying of raw materials and makes trade for foreign firms in •Germany impossible. These conditions are cutting Germany's trade throat. Firms represented at Leipzig, are thus forced to say they can only accept orders for delivery many months ahead and with prices left open. Little business can be done on such lines. The general industrial energy of the country is not at present great, in spite of the foolish cry that the world is being 'flooded with German goods.' The physical condition .of the workers, which can only improve with better trade, bringing better % and cheaper foodstuffs, 19 still a | clog on the .wheel of the Home market, and tho foreign trade ot about one-fifth of that of England is as much as she can do now, and it keeps her going in a way that prevents unemployment, which/the industrials fear for political reasons. -Shortsighted Underhand Methods. "The uncertainty of the rate pf ex change, and the difficulty of procuring raw material, too, prevents any increased speed being put on and more orders accepted. Then there is a widespread idea nere that only exports count. The foreign trader coming here to buy is welcomed with open arms, Imt anyone who comes to endeavour to bring goods into the country is coldshouldered. The obstacles put in his way are almost unbelievable, and till Germany removes them to a reasonable extent she will remain in a parlous industrial position. "Under present conditions a flood of imports can scarcely be permitted by'any'country, but the short-sight«d underhand methods of the German traders who really control the imports to their own personal advantage, is a stupid policy, which will damage Germany most in the long run."

CHICAGO WHEAT MARKET.

flßy Cable—Press Association—Copyright.) (Australian and N.Z. Cable Asiociation.) NEW YORK, April 17. There were wild cceiiea in the Board' of Trade pit at Chicago, when wheat for May delivery advanced in a sensational manner. Opening at 14HJ cents a bushel, the price shot up 4 cents in a few minutes.

CAMBRIDGE CO-OPERATIVE DAIRY COMPANY.

The Cambridge Co-operative Dairy Company, Ltd., is issuing £24;700 of debentures at 8 per cent., for a term of ten years. Full particulars are advertised l in this issue.