Los Angeles herald., 1909-07-31

O INGAPORE.-Th warmest topic Of
~ the period in Singapore is the
~ question of how much of the
vast sea borne trade between Europe
and the Far East will eventually fall
into the hands of the Germans. Be-
cause of their faculty for finding the
opportunity, anl making the most OF
1t, the Germans are often spoken OF as
the Yankees of Europe. Every Ameri-
can business man knows now success
full the German American citizen Is IN
the United states, and to what quan-
ties his success is due. With the same
unremitting perseverance and self
sacrificing devotion to office hours anu
the details of business that charae-
terizes him in America, the Ger
man in the Orient Is making hgnt
for a lions share of trade, and ne Is
getting 1t. ,.,,
In America where he competes with
others equally as willing to get up
early in the morning and sit up late at
night in the prosecution OF co,h-
mercial campaigns the German wins
laurels In the Orient at pres
ent he competes chiefly with the Dr.
on who can hold his ground by rights
OF SOOaJIeT SONeIGiBlltS SAAANS 49,
when the English. succeeded the FoItu-
guese and Dutch as the largest trauers
east of the Red Sea.
singapore, as 1.-THE second doorway OF
the worlds trade" is not new III M III
portance, but it is of increasing slshll-
icance because of the rapid develop
ment of Malaga, and because ra1lroau
building between the Ural mountains
and the Pacific will, In the lulule'
open to the worlds commerce l",se
markets now inaccessible. Inc IN
creasing Industrial and commercial ae-
tivity in India will also be a factor III
bringing :lore ocean commerce throus"
1.-THE second doorway" n
Until recently the paramountcy Oh
Great Britain as trader in the east
was an established fact. and that she
would remain in possession of her traue
was unouestioned. Conditions unex-
pected ten years ago by students OF
the commercial equations OF the orient
have developed and the Engllsh are
anxiously asking one another 10 what
extent the German advance will go.
If there is one word that VIII aue-
ouately tell the secret of Germany
rapid requirement of an important part
of the business she is seeking, that
word is "adaptability." 81.
The British method has been, MS
torically to invade foreign country
peacefully as a merchant and, eVentu-
ally, to annex the country 10 tne ein-
pire or gain concessions OF territory
sufficient to constitute a firm foothold
and create a sphere of influence wen
calculated to insure the dominance OF
the English commercial houses and
the English marine. The German
method is to learn conditions In the
market and seek to meet them better
than the English have done.
After q preliminary survey, followed
by a closer study of existing oppor-
tunities and the possibility of creating
new ones, the German begins his cam
paign by devotion to business that is
abhorrent to the sport-loving Briton,
whose club Is hardly less important in
his estimation that his counting room.
The Englishman has office hours ana
keeps them. The German mas none.
If there is sufficient work to do he may
be found In his office at midnight. He
pays little attention to holidays. and
his liberal ideas as to how the Sabbath
should be spent do not prevent him
from doing little work on the seventh
day as well as the other six. He cares
little for tennis, does not play cricket
or football or spend his time at the
races. When he is not actually at work
he is planning for tomorrow.
After office hours the English busi-
ness man drives to his club or the race
course or goes home and dons his lawn
tennis suit or riding toggery. After
dinner he puts on his smoking jacket
and spends the evening in resting from
the rigors of a day OF business and
sport combined. He Is conscientiously
following out what he considers the
best plan, and is not consciously over
looking chances to increase business.
He believes with the duke of Yelling
ton that Waterloo was won on the
cricket fields of England, and believes
as firmly that strenuousness In the
tropics Is fatal. That one must, by
proper exercise and rest, keep physical
ly fit Is a maxim he does not violate.
That the rule Of moderation in work
Is a good one for the individual all
physicians and philosophers agree.
That the violation of the rule nets
business to the German nation, possibly
at the expense of the bodily welfare of
the individual, Is plain. and the diff
ference between the German and Eng
lish outlook upon the commercial fu-