EXPORTS TO GERMANY.

Wanganui Herald, Volume LI, Issue 15131, 27 January 1917, Page 4

EXPORTS TO GERMANY.

Thb New York Times says that ever since the war began evidence has beeft accumulating that the statistics of exports from the United States to Germany did not fairly represent What that country really took of American products. The figures as given out indicated oh, their face a taking by Germany of about 26 per cent of all exports from the United States to Europe. But they showed merely the 1 things that went first to a German port. A great deal of them did not stop there but were transhipped to other countries; In reality, Germany was not a good customer, taking merely certain crude imports which it could not do without. The other American imports were sent on, in German vessels or over-, German railways, to contiguous and other foreign lands. The" Germans were paid for transportation and for etendiag credit facilities, and the-ramifications of this kind of business were very extensive, riven oottton was exported to Great Britain via Germany. A typical instance of German re-exports is given in a recent report from the American Consul General at Christiana, Norway. -1.0 tells of how, before the war, American leather was obtained by Norwegians through leather firms in Hamburg and Frankfort. One inducement was the credit terms offered by the Germans. Not only did the latter grant thirty days’ credit, 'and, in some instances, four months’ acceptances, but under their system, the Norwegian importer was able to allow his customer to inspect the goods before paying for them, a privilege which was highly regarded. Now, Norwegians are guying their American leather direct, and will continue to do so provided exporters here will act as fairly as the Germans did. The same holds true as .to other things than leather , and other countries than Norway. ' •