The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1897-06-02
Tho Industrial Progress of h Ger
man Empire.

In q volume Of commercial statistics COM
piled by Mr.. w. S. H. GAsrRELL. an ATTACKS
to the British Embassy in Berlin, we find
some remarkable data relating to the recent
development of Germany's industry and
trade. The subject is one of peculiar inter
est TO us, because the great expansion of
the German export traffic has been effected
at a time when the home market for Ger
man products has been protected from
foreign competition by high tariffs. Since
1891 the German empire has made no fewer
than ten commercial treaties In the hope Of
securing certain advantages In foreign
countries, but 1t should be noted that in
these treaties the Germans have made no
departure in principle from the strict pro-
tective policy which prevails among them.
They have merely lowered in special cases
particular customs duties at home, and pre-
vented the increase of others abroad, or OBJ
tanned certain reductions there.
While Mr.. GAsTRELL puts the best face
he can upon the matter, he admits that the
relative positions Of the German empire
and Great Britain have been to n considera.
BILE extent reversed of late years. Formerly
the principal exports of Great Britain to
Germany were manufactured articles; lat.
terly they have consisted largely of raw
materials, which are returned in the form
of manufactured goods. not only for re.
expectation, but actually for British con.
sumption. Moreover, the principal exports
| of Germany to Great Britain are manufac-
| tured articles similar to what Englishmen
| themselves produce; indeed, some of them
| are counterparts Of England's staple prod
| ucts, such as woollens and worsteds, all
kinds of underlinen, clothes, printed and
dyed cottons, ir~onmongery, corner and an.
| gle iron. paper and glass. 1t may we'll
s~tartle, In truth, the ordinary Englishman
to discover that woollen textiles constitute
at present Germany's chief export, and
that third in Importance on the list
(beet sugar being second) stand cotton
goods. Fourth come silk manufactures;
sixth, machines of all kinds; seventh,
iron wares, and eighth, clothes and un-
derlinen, all manufactured products, in
most Of which Englishmen have hitherto
supposed that they controlled the markets
of the world. In the fifth place, strange to
say, stands coal, Of which, in 1895, Ger.
many exported no less q quantity than
1O,36O,O 900 metric tons. valued at nearly
1927, OOO, 900. In 1855 no German coal or
coke came to England; ten years later
24,295 tons of the former and 1.25O of the
latter were sent over. The United States
buy the larger share of Germany's ex.
ported woollens, namely, 5,456 tons,
or IT per cent. Of the whole, but Eng.
and comes second, purchasing 1855
tons, or 10 per cent, and she takes
nearly all the woollen hosiery, or 1,436
tons. OF the German cotton goods exported,
the United States are the principal con-
sumers,r receiving 1888 tons, or21 per cent,
but England, again, Is second with 8 1874
tons, or II per cent, and she buys over half
of the cotton hosiery, or 1928 tons. The
export of wearing apparel from Germany
to England rose from a valuation of $4.-
OOO, 1000 in 8 8 to one Of 81, 200, 900 in
1893. The development of the cotton in.
dustry in Germany has, indeed, been phe.
nomenal, especially since 1887; in 1895
the number of spindles was over 4,672,-
900, of which there were 1,4OO, OOO
in Alsace-Lorraine. The figures given
for the iron trade are equally en-
couraging to Germans and depressing to
Englishmen. OF angle, bolt, and rod iron
the exports from Great Britain in 1895
were smaller by 10000 tons than they had
been in 1885 during the same period the
German exports of similar commodities in
creased by 142, 900 metric IONS. AS regards
!, bar iron, the comparison is even less favor
able to England, which country in the pc
riod named lost 1O1 900 tons, as against
Germany's gain of 100. DOC tons.
Although shipbuilding is a relatively new
a industry in Germany, we learn that it,
r yards are greatly increasing their outpu
every year, and they are said to have fu
, more orders than they can possibly execute
a In 1894, out of a total of II ships built TO
the British mercantile marine, 81 were con
I structed in German yards and only 10 in Brit
r ish yards. 1t is true that in 1895 the tonnag
built in Germany was 5000 tons less thai
. in 1894, the figures being 1O1 400 and III,
r $50; but it was still a most satisfactory re
n suit when one compares it with the AS, 2O'
n and 66,47O tons of 1892 and 1893, respec
q lively. 1t appears that of the many contract
q for merchant vessels recently offered to Ger
man shipbuilding firms, only n few could b
accepted, as the orders in hand will not b
a completed until the close of 1897. We ar
told that a meeting of shipbuilders and iron
masters was lately held in Hanover for tn
IA purpose OF advocating the use of German In
n stead of English materials in the shiI
v building yards, even though the forme
e should be for a time more costly. 1t is sal
y that the owners of German iron work
nave agreed to increase largely thei
establishments and output in order t
It be able to supply all the nece'
It sary iron work; and, moreover, tha
they have announced a willingness t
IT work without profit, or even at a sligf
loss, to begin with. The State railways al
to cooperate by making lower speci.
freight charges on these materials. 1t
obvious that such steps, if carried on
must further decrease Great Britain's e.
NJ portation of metals and of the manufa
10 lures of metal to Germany, and must ais
% reduce the already restricted market
10 other parts of the world for the products