Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1914-09-20
THE CITY HALL AT BREsLAU.

ming and weaving. worsted spinning.
wooden manufacturing. linen and jute
spinning and other branches of the tex
tile industry paid 81. 100000 in dividends
on nominal capital Of ss1 500, 900 The
lowest dividend was 81 per cent and
the highest 12.1 per cent.
The iron and steel industry Is the
real measure of Germany's material civil
OF Great Britain. The floating trade
rests on it, for it furnishes a large share
of the exports. Iron and steel products
come more keenly into competition with
similar products of other countries than
almost any other articles.
The progress of the German iron and
steel industry is often cited, and with
some Justice. as an example of German
capacity for overcoming natural OBJ
stacles. In this case. the natural
obstacles were the lack of raw materials
which could be easily assembled
The coal deposits are ample The bulk
of the coal comes from the Rhen1sh-
Westphalian district, and in this district
the Ruhr basin is the chief source of
supply. Silesia, in eastern Prussia, Is
the other source. Germany imports less
than 20000.O00 tons and exports double
the quantity, SO that in any given year
the native supply Is sufficient for all
for coaling the merchant marine when in
German ports
The lack of ore beds in German ter
ritory was pronounced until the an
nexation Of Alsace-Lorraine. The Lor-
raine deposits then became available.
along with those of Luxembourg, which
is a member of the German customs
union. In late years some ore also
has been drawn from the adjoining
Meurthe-Moselle districts in France.
Should victory crown the German
arms. there is little question that the
ore beds Of the Meurthe- MSselle dis
trict would be strong incentive to the
were the ore beds of Alsace-Loraine in
1870. Swedish and Spanish ore in many
millions of tons supplement the pro-
direction Of Luxembourg and Lorraine for
the German blast furnaces
Notwithstanding the necessity of
depending so largely on foreign ore
supply, Germany. with its coal deposits
as basis. has taken front rank in
forms. A few. years ago it passed
Great Britain in the production of pig
iron, and since then the world-rivalry
between the two countries has been
more pronounced.
Great Britain herself had to take
large quantities of the surplus prod
ucts of the German iron and steel
mills, while in her own dependencies.
competition, from Germany. British
owned railways in the Argentine Re-
public frequently bought steel rails
from Germany, Brazil and Chile and
other South American countries, where
British capital predominates, are also
good customers of Germany.
In the orient England's political ally,
Japan, in some years has been a very
heavy buyer Of German steel rails and
other material. In the finished prod
Ects the English industry probably has
suffered more from German COMPETE
ton in cutlery than any other single
article.
-
The German iron and steel production
has produced several notable captains
of industry. The elder Krupp. be-
cause of the great gun works at Essen.
was the best known. One of those who
came a little later. and who is still
living, Is August Thyssen. Herr Thys-
sen is often compared to Andrew Car
negie. He is bold and aggressive prob
ably the most daring figure that the
industry has produced
Another captain of industry is
Prince Henckel of Donnersmarck. He
is immensely rich, but his enterprises
are not confined to iron and steel alone
the terror Of the syndicates and trusts
which never know whether or not his
mines and works will be in the COM
bination. When they are in, it is al
ways on his own terms.
The iron and steel industry does not
its human equation. The human fac
tor is a mechanism and not a mind.
The individual in the German indus
trial organization is as of little con-
sequence as in the military Organise
ton.