The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-11-11
wArCH1Ne THE enRMANs.


 British Interests worried by Their Trade Expansion. Pall Mall Gazette.
 The importance of the situation cre-
 ated by the remarkable development
 that Is taking place in the German
 mercantile marine is by no means un-
 derestimated in leading shipping tir- cles in the city, but there is consider liable divergence of opinion as to tho Acauses of that development aud inc
 best means of meeting the competition
 which is becoming day by day more
 acute.
 The belief most certainly prevails that behind the great German ship ping companies stands the German
 Government. That the Hamburg Amer ican Line enjoys a large subsidy is certain. but what the 1amount really is
 there is no possible Imeans of ascer-
 taining with accuracA
 Sir Dudley ForwoOd shrugged his
 shoulders when a representative of the Pa1l Mall Gazette put the question to
 him today, and remarked that no conn
 pany, without Government assistance, could 20 on doing what the great German line was doing.
 Tt is a curious thing" he continued. "that British shippers work on most amtcabIe terms with their French OVAAASAAs italian anu ONhNE GOAHVSGtVI6s
 but not with the German. The Ger
 mans hold aloof; they cut prices. and take advantage of whatever opportun- ity offers in a way that no other na- tionality would do."
 'Ts there no way of meeting such rivais7"
 certainly. We must fight them with an energy equal to their own; and such report as that of the American Consul General at MarseilIes will have the effect of showing how imperative 1t is that no time should be lost in doing so."
 Another we'll known shipping au- thority was vigorous in his denuncia- ton of German methods.
 This development of the German shipping trade ts not merely commer- cial, 1t Is very largely political. Ger man ship owners are assisted and en- couraged in every way by their Gov ernment, and they do things that no ordinary concern could possibly do Why, believe lt is fact that one important German line has lost about 100000 pounds during the past two years in the Mediterranean alone"
 '"rhe ultimate object to be attained must be deemed worth the expendi- tureT'
 ''Yes, 1t is. and that object is that German goods shall be carried to Ger man III AGEUldn DOll0mS.
 Nor are they content with that ob- ject. They are making their supreme object the erippling, of the trade of London. Only recently a most deter mined effort was made to capture the tea market Mincing Lane has had very severe shock, but, happily, the effort came tp nothing. The~fact, too. must not be lost sight of that the German system means in the end suc- cess if matters are allowed to@ drift Suppose France offered q fair field 1 for shipping enterprise. the English l shipper would rely on getting cargo ss at one or two ports. / Not so the Ger man. He would call/at as many ports | as possible and collect cargo as he | went along, and succeed"
 What about the announcement of a | new monthly service from Marseillos | to the Persian Gulf?"
 That is purely political. There are | signs enough that things are not to | remain as they are at present In Per- ] sia, and when the change comes Ger | u,any is determined to be there"
 "Germany's ambition Is the suprem- 1ry of the German flag at sea-" was inc opinion of the representative of a | great English company.
 Some years ago. when the Atlas 4ine was purchased. English crews, english agents and English officials make way for Germans. Germany is lighting England for Supremacy. Year by year the statistics of German trade go on increasing. while ours remain stationary. It Is a serious matter, ana | sooner or later we must fight for our existence. It can be done. and there are signs that before long the pushfgl