GERMAN TARIFF

Evening Star, Issue 19019, 14 August 1925, Page 12

GERMAN TARIFF

GOVERNMENT'S NEW PROPOSALS INDUSTRY PROTECTION. Press Association —By Telegraph—■ Copyright. LONDON, August 12. Tho Berlin correspondent of the ‘ Morning Post ’ states that to-day ended the Government’s long and weary fight to carry tho new tariff, under which industry gets increased protection, while the land owners secured tho reimposition of the food duties which were suspended at tho outbreak All* 11 the capitalist parties are immensely gratified that industry can settle down to develop an aggressive export trade necessitated by the Dawes plan, while agriculture can carry out plans for increasing the local production of foodstuffs. Politically the tariff is bound to lead to popular opposition to the Government by the Socialists and Democrats, representing the wageearners, owing to the probable rapid increases in the cost of living. A. and N.Z. Cable.

BILL PASSED. VARIOUS COMMERCIAL TREATIES. BERLIN, August 12. The Bill was passed without amendment after heated debates. Prior to the division the Social Democrats and Communists walked out, and the Democrats abstained from voting after making a statement expressing doubts with reward to the legality of tho tariff laiv in view of the attitude of the majority parties in restricting speeches. The Reichstag also passed the Ger-man-Aracrican Commercial and Amity Treaty/, tho Gennan-Swedish and Gerraan-Finnish Arbitration Treaties, and the German-Grcefc Commercial Dr Stresomann demanded _ that Germany as a progressive nation should have tho same rights as others to hold mandates over backward nations. Herr Scheo, ex-Governor of German East Africa, lamented the obstacles placed in the way of Germans acquiring land in colonies like Now Guinea, Samoa, and East Africa. He said that the British Colonial Minister had declared Tanganyika to he permanently incorporated in British .territory, and added that this was a violation of the Len.fn.iG of Nations Covenant.—A. and N.Z? Cable.

GERMAN ,TRADE, In the course of a speech at Berlin recently the Chancellor (Dr Luther) remarked that, although enormous progress had been made since the second half of 1923, when inflation nearly produced economic chaos, Germany was i still far from normal conditions. The most urgent problems were the maintenance of production and opportunities for marketing the products. The former was impeded by the lack of capital, the latter by the disinclination of foreign countries to admit Gorman goods and tho inability of German manufacturers to compote in price with tho products of other countries. At the i S aine time the home market suffered owiim to the reduced purchasing power of the people. - The first need was to create capital out of public savings, and thus avoid the high rates of inI forest required by foreign lenders. In I this respect the business world could i roly upon the co-operation of the Go- | yernmenfc. ’ Referring to .trade relations with

foreign countries, tlio Chancellor announced that tlio Government intended to settle the final form of tlio new tariffs, and would do its best to hasten tho passage of the Bill through the Reichstag. He appealed to tho various sections of trade and industry to abandon selfish interests and doctrinaire theories, and to consider the tariffs from tho broad standpoint of trade in general. This, ho declared, was tho more necessary, since tho trade policy of Germany must be directed to securing a surplus of exports. In conclusion, the Chancellor denied that there was any further danger of inflation, as tho lleichsbank had tho monetary situation well under its control.