The Ensign. MONDAY, JULY 20, 1914. GERMANY'S ENTERPRISE.

Mataura Ensign, 20 July 1914, Page 4

The Ensign. MONDAY, JULY 20, 1914. GERMANY'S ENTERPRISE.

By her resolve to enter the New Zealand trade Germany is seeking to realise her ambition to _ dominate the world's markets, 'and this, it must be remembered, can only be done at the expense of Great Britain, who will have to take the naval- question- into consideration. The Germtvn mercantile marine h.a-d its very mainspring in the determination to emancipate German trade from slavish dependence on British vessels. That humiliating conditionwas not effectually remedied until Bismarck inaugurated his- great notlcy of vigorous Government support tor -shipping and export trade, consisting of ship-subsidies, protective tariffs, acquisition' of colonies, and conquest of new markets—"an energetic and far-seeing policy," says- H-err Heineken (one of the Grand Admirals of the German mercantile marine- and Director-General of the North German Lloyd), "which has borne the richest fruits under the regime of .the Emperor Wi.ll'ianu II." It is the policy of '"Full Steam Ahead!" which is placing 50,000 and 60,000-ton German, vessels in the North Atlantic at the rate of two 'or 'three a. year (points out the Berlin correspondent of 'The Daily It ie "Full Steam Ahead!" which has banished obsolete cargo-boats from the South American service, alidl initialled in their stead' a whole fleet cf 2^,000-ton linet-s-de-luxe, destined to make still greater the lion's share of trade lyith Brazil and Argentina which Germany already commands. It is "Full- Steam Ahead H" which inspires German lines to lay down ships for tho Australian and Far Eastern trades in groups of seven. It is "Full Steam Ahead 1 !" whie.h lias caused German banks, navigation companies., and exporters to launch ivi-thin the past few months a- series of international leagues lor the systematic propagation of (Jei*man commerce on linos so far-reaohing and comprehensive that hardly a market in the world is not em-braced in their vision. Tho sigiiiibeanu li-hing about the German mercantile marine is that it is not merely a trade carrier but a trade finder, a pioneer in- the highest since of that- oft-m.isais-ed term. They make it their business to- create trade. That is why Hcrr Ba.Uin- organised an "independent" German exhibit for the Panama-Pacific Exposition when the German Government officially declined 1 to do so. That- is why he offered to transport German wares to and from- San Francisco free of charge, and to carry British exhibits on the same terms, if desired. That -is why the Hamburg-American land' the North German Lloyd Lines are in the forefront of the new associations forming month by month for market-exploitation 111 every quarter of the globe. German shippers believe implicitly that "tradfc follows tlni flag." It is 'always theif flag—the German merchant emblem — which is carried in front of the German commercial army. The naval ensign is never fail behind.