GERMANY AS TRADER

Dominion, Volume 21, Issue 88, 12 January 1928, Page 9

GERMANY AS TRADER

ATTITUDE OF DOMINION “A CERTAIN ANTIPATHY’* Germany’s industrial recovery since the war and the position she now holds in the markets of the world, were discussed by Mr. P. Durschmidt, representative of a large manufacturing concern in Leipsic, who left for the south on Saturday in .order to study further the Dominion’s trading conditions (says the “New Zealand Herald”). Mr. Durschmidt made it clear that he spoke of conditions as he ■ found them himself, and that he was not willing, even if he were competent, to discuss matters political or to express an opinion on any question. During the short time he had been in New Zealand he had been struck by a certain antipathy which importers still freely expressed toward German-made goods. His own firm was one of the largest manufacturers of textiles in Europe, and its largest customer was England. Next came Canada, while Australia was also a heavy buyer. Germany still had heavy reparation payments to make, and it was inly by the cultivation of her trade that she could hope to meet her obligations. As it was, the textile industry depended largely upon England for cottons and other material which was then “made up” by the manufacturers. The textile industry had flourished remarkably in recent years, although other manufacturing lines had not been so fortunate. Unemployment had almost completely disappeared, and conditions generally were quite satisfactory. The operation of the new currency had proved highly satisfactory, and the greater part of the distress caused by ’the inflation-of the mark had now become a thing-of the past. Europe had come to see that Germany could not be shut out from all trade, and as a result the country had progressed as its trade expanded. Referring to his own experience of Germanv’s trade with New Zealand, Mr. Durschmidt said he realised it could not be expected that the Dominion would be a very favourable market compared .with larger countries. However, there still remained a certain attitude toward German goods which was almost totally absent in England and the other Dominions.