HITLER’S DIFFICULTIES

Te Awamutu Courier, Volume 53, Issue 3816, 2 October 1936, Page 10

HITLER’S DIFFICULTIES

PEOPLE TIRE OF CONSTANT SUBSTITUTE MATERIALS IN INDUSTRY NOT YET ECONOMIC. Herr Hitler has again set Europe guessing. The capitals anxiously 'awaited Nuremberg’s grand finale, expecting a characteristic coup, but this failed to materialise. The viciousness of the German Dictator’s verbal attacks on Russia and the extravagance of his references to the Urals and the Ukraine, while unquestionably increasing the anger of the Soviet, are suspected of being to some extent for internal consumption, says the, London Correspondent /of the Sydney SunGuardian. The conclusion now drawn is that serious restlessness has manifested itself in Germany owing to the economic plight of the country and that this has compelled Hitlei- to renew his vigorous campaigns to rally the nation. It is known that Germany faces another winter with a shortage of food, and foreign exchange difficulties remain as serious as ever. Expenditure rises, taxation increases and the people wonder how much longer they must continue their tremendous personal sacrifices without any alleviation. THE COST TOO MUCH. Hitler is now intensifying his campaign. Although bitterly antagonistic to the Soviet, he is reported to be deeply interested in the Russian system and somewhat envious be cause he fears that Russia is becoming the model National - Socialist State. He has been paying close attention to the Russian Youth Movement and likewise to Russia’s terroristic methods. The great Nazi scheme for making Germany independent of foreign raw materials within four years is being watched with the keenest interest in Britain, as it is evident that the Germans will make titanic efforts of produce economic substitutes for wool, rubber and oil. It will be a tremendous test of German ingenuity and resources. As has been pointed out, the German Government has already poured out millions in developing synthetic raw materials without outstanding results. Nothing can overcome Germany’s deficiency. Oil-drilling programmes are already estimated to have cost Germany 26 million marks; 165 million marks has been granted for the erection of 12 staple fibre factories and several hundred million marks have been spent on devolping the production of oil from coal. Credits and subsidies have hitherto been the only method of stimulating the production of raw materials. Under the new plan, it is foreseen that the Government will compel industries to erect new works, using their own liquid assets. State aid will be restricted to undertakings lacking the necessary capital. It is expected that in. some cases the State will guarantee minimum prices for raw materials thus produced, and companies will be allowed to issue shares for public subscription, which has hitherto l beerj partly forbidden. AUSTRALIAN PRODUCT. The creation of a special Raw Materials Office to organise the schema on a nation-wide basis is expected to be announced shortly. The plans include the development on a grand scale of the work of finding substitutes, particularly staple fibre. Petrol, rubber and synthetic substitutes for natural textile materials are already being produced in great quantities. Germany supplies 90 per cent, of the rayon required for artificial silk, and 20 per cent of the cloth used for uniforms for German soldiers is made from yarn substitutes. iThirty-four thousand tons of sausage skins are imported, largely from Australia, each year, but such progress has been mfade in finding a synthetic substitute for the natural skins that it is hoped soon to make Germany independent of this foreign supply. The financial correspondent of the “Mlanchester Guardian” expresses the opinion that Germany will perhaps go farther in replacing cotton wool with artificial fibres, and also oil with oil produced from coal and with industrial alcohol; but such experiments are entirely uneconomic. IMPORTS INCREASE. The substitution of home-made “Buna” rubber would be even more expensive. “Buna,” to-day costs three times the price of natural rubber, and is used only on military, post-office and railway vehicles. For metal and metal-ore supplies from abroad, no> substitutes are available at whatever cost. The country is dependent up to 50 per cent, on foreign supplies. This rate will increase, because Germany’s deposits of iron ore are very poor. The same applies to non-ferrous metals. Despite extraordinary subsidies, the output of the lead mines increased only from 52,0010 to 57,000 tons from 1933 to 1935. DeSpito rigid control of imports and energetic efforts to encourage the production of substitutes, Gera ' many’s commodity imports have

mostly risen sharply since Hitler’s advent. In several cases the 1935 imports were the largest on record. NEW KIND OF “CORK”. The Berlin Correspondent of “The Times” reports: German ingenuity in producing substitutes for imported raw materials has now been applied to cork. It is announced that corks made of poplar wood and coated with cellulose, varnish are being placed on the, market. One large concern bottling German sparkling wines is using them exclusively this season. Germany imports annually from Spain and Portugal between seven and ten million marks’ worth of of corks, mostly for the wine industry.