THE HAND OF STINNES

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 10 September 1921, Page 3

THE HAND OF STINNES

REACHING OUT FOR BRITISH

TRADE.

A COMPANY IN LONODN

.New Zoalandors who marched across the iloheuzoliern Bridge at Cologne after the armistice were interested tc hoe in a country undevastated by waT a people suffering from the result of looa snortagc, yoi busy already with the industries of peace. Brilliantly lit cuts ran on a network of electric lineu through the cities and, across the country from town to town.: At Leverkusen, the great chemical and dye works —which had made vast quantities of high explosives and poison gas for the German armies in the field—were again engaged in the ar|B of peace Tho famous Duisborg, head of the firm, made.no secret of it tft&t German dyes, j the result of years of patient research j by hundreds of chemists, would spun i again be competing successfully with English dyos. Away beyond the Rhine tho artisans of Solingon—the Sheffield j of Germany—were no longer concerned I »'ith the making of machine guns, rifles,, and bayonets. Already they were busy with tho manufacture of razors, and Hcissors and knives. The retail I shops aro doing brisk business with j the Army of Occupation. At Mulheim one saw the machines making cables, barbed wire, and fencing wire, and woro not or little surprised to find that this particular -firm had an agent' in ' Auckland. The manager mentioned tho fact with some degree of pride, , and a cute twinkle in his eye» , A.t nisit the /eastern sky Hvas'aglow" w^m thq ruddy' light of imi^y;iVbu^t''.;'furna<jeß. It is true 'that mete Was* ascertain degree of .Bolshevistic,.discontent! among 'the workers M 'Ithe great Industries, but It was also evident that the magnates of commerce and manufacture would dear with that in due course. On all hands there were evidences of that return to patient and organised industry which, before the war, had given Germany a foremost place in the commerce of the .world. Disregarding to a convenient extent the orders of tho army against frater-, nisation, one heard of capable and farseeing organisers determined to make up for the loss of tho war by a f^ain in cormrierce*. And one hoard occasionally mentioned ihe name'of the Napoleon of German industry—Herr Stinnes, i During the war Herr Stinnes had some say in the policy of the country and in tho control of German manufactures. After the war he continued to be a dominating factor in German industry. He got many concessions from tho new Government that he could not obtain under the old Monarchists regime, and there were soon indications that he was looking fonvard to capturing much of the trade that Germany had lost as the result of war and the British blockade. Writing recently in The Times, Dr Alonzo Taylor, one of the leading American authorities on the economic conditions in Europe, stated that Germany orcupies a position of peculiar potentiality as a manufacturing nation to-day. She has the best labour in Europe, Her labourers are recovering : their traditional thrift and ambition, ! and they aro completely disillusioned las to communism. In short, in the j hands of the German employer of toI day they are the most docile workers in Europe. He mentioned some other ! conditions, including the low position |of the German mark, that placed the I German manufacturer in a position to undersell practically any manufacturer in any oountry in the worlds But it is not in Germany alone that the hand of Stinnes is reaching out for trade beyond the seas, -sittd- across the. Continent. Quite .recently, we were told > »of great contfes&ons , ' obtained in Russia—concessions cheaply purchased in the depression into which that unfortunate country has been plunged by Bolshevist rule. , And now comes the startling fact that, not content with these gains, Herr Stinnes has commenced operations within the f British JBmnire. -

New Zealanderg who make a study of the English commercial journals will have been interested in the story of a new London firm as unfolded in the , Mercantile Guardian, copies*of which [ reached New-Zealand by & recent mail. ;It is the story of-the inauguration of I The Products Corporation, Limited—a . title sufficiently wide and nondescript to cover a multiplicity, of interests. \\ hen enquiries were first made at the office of this company, the Guardian was assured that the company was British throughout, and that' there was not a farthing of German money m the business. Later, Mr Stanley Hopkins, managing director of the corporation, was interviewed. There had been rumours that Herr Hugo Stinnes was at the back of the organisation, and that it was to be run in the interests,of German products. Mr Hopkins now admitted that his corporation would, on the one hand: act as agents for the Deutsche "Wildermannwerke, which makes caustic potash and chlorate of potash. It would also act for some four or five other German manufactories handling, steel, aluminium, and paper pulp. How far Herr Stinnes was connected with these industries Mr Hopkins was unable to say, but there was no doubt that he was largely interested in the Wildermannwerke. Another . branch of the ■ company's business would be the sup- j ply of British goods, consisting mainly ! of raw materials, to Germany, and Mr Hopkins anticipated that the turnover ; in that direction would amount to I very considerable figures. As for the | rest, the corporation desired to obtain ' a foothold in the British export trade, -\ though, he admitted, it remained to • be seen whether the directorate was so constituted as to achieve success in an J indent business, and, further, whether support would be forthcoming from j importers abroad and manufacturers at Home to a company which frankly avowed its intention to trade with i Germany. The corporation was credit- !. eel with an ambitious programme, and would require very large capital to \ carry it out successfully. The potash industry is one that was ; almost a German monopoly before the ' war, arid a member of this firm in- : formed the representative of the Mer- ' cantile Guardian that it would be an important item in the operations of ' the corporation, and that they were successfully cornering the market. It j may be doubted, however, whether ' Germany is now in a position to do ' this, as, since the return- of Alsace to ; France, the great mineß- there are no ' ,longer y in German hands.! It does not, ' hoveyer, require a very .yivid imagina- ' tion to see the detrimental possibilities ! that can be exercised jn regard to British trade generally by a firm such j as this established in London yet showing a vastly preponderant interest m goods made in Germany. And it is not at all unlikely that the powerful ! hand of He.rr: Hugo Stinnes is already reaching out with a view to exercising ' a pressure that may prdre detrimental +o British industry.— Otago Daily Times correspondent. "*'- i