The Washington socialist. [volume] (Everett, Wash.) 1914-1915, 1914-08-13
UNITED STATES COMMERCE
CONFRoNTS FORMIDABLE
COMPETITOR.
Increase OF Twenty Per Cent In Ger
man Mercantile Marine
Since 1910.

oil SibhS lull' Nuut WIN inc ueVelOp-
ment of domestic manufacture in
Japan, China and India, and the sue
cessful competition of England and
| Germany for the trade of South Amer
lea, Australasia, and Africa, the for
eign trade of the United States can
hardly be expected to expand In the
future as 1t has in the past On the
contrary, n positive decrease in the
value of exports per capita must be ex-
pected, despite the prominence of
American manufactures In certain spe-
cial lines.
Germany and England are both put.
ting forth strenuous. and successful,
efforts in getting in ahead of the
United States in foreign countries.
The Democratic administration can.
not be charged with responsibility for
the prevailing hard times, nor could a
Republican administration create trade
and prosperity when no markets can
be found for the products which the
workers create and do not get.
Times are hard in Germany, and, in
fact, everywhere else. But we must
concede the Fatherland is giving the
rest of the world hard run in the race
for trade, and that the u. S. must soon
take back seat, so far as rate of
trade expansion is concerned.
Germany is placing $4,000 and co.
O0O-ton vessels in the North Atlantic
at the rate of two or three a year,
says Mr.. Frederic William Vile, in
the London Daily Mail. A German
commercial invasion of New Zealand
ports is also impending, we are told
German freight-vessels OF the finest
modern type have banished obsolete
cargo-boats from South American SER
vice, and the lions share of trade with
Brazil and Argentina has already
fallen to Germany. Big steamships in
groups of seven are being laid down
for the Australian and Far Eastern
trades with Germany.
Mr.. Vile closes with the following
striking statistics:
Figures, people say, talk. Never
have they told a more eloquent story
than the statistical record of German
shipping. In 1900 the kaisers mer-
camille marine totaled 2,495,3S9 tons.
Today it is more than $780,
900 tons-and is the second largest in
the world. The German mercantile
marine is, of course, far behind Great
Britain's tonnage of roundly 19,500,000
but it has increased 20 per cent since
1910 as against Great Britain's in
crease of IA per cent.
Including the $4,000 ton bigger sis
ter of the Vaterland and Imperator
and seventeen other ocean
going vessels now on the stocks
(Which include three 21000-ton ships
for the South American trade), the
neutrality-suspicious. line has tonnage
of 1,360,360, contained in 1876 ocean
going vessels. In 1886, when Her Bal
lin joined the 'Hapag,' as the Ham,
burg-American line is called, it's capt.
tai was G750,000 and gross profits
were G125,000. Today the capital is
G9,000,000, and in 1913 the line earned
&2,926,050. While the recent general
meeting was voting to increase the
capital from G7,500,000 to 100000
O00-it had been quintupled between
1897 and 1913-a shareholder suggest
ed that at the present rate the COM
pany's capital in 1927 would be G25,-
100000. 4 hope So quietly rejoined
that event that conditions will make
such capital extremely useful
"The North German Lloyd's ocean
fleet of 101 vessels accounts for gross
tonnage of 982,857, including two lin
ers of $4,000 and $4,000 tons soon to
enter the transatlantic service, and
fourteen vessels being built for the
Australian and Far Eastern trades. In
1888 the Lloyd's capital was 91,000,-
600. 1t is now G6,250,00O.
The Hamburg-South American line
controlled by the 'HapagO owns a
fleet of thirty-seven liners, soon to in
clude two 19,000-ton vessels. The
Hansa Line of Bremen, which cOncen-
trates on India and the Far East, OPP
crates sixty-three ocean vessels with
a tonnage of 419,258, and is building
/ fifteen new ships. The Hansa pays a
| 20 per cent dividend, a striking testi-
monial of the success with which Ger
man shipping is at work on the other
side of the world"
prosperity" does not depend upon
| President Wilson's administration, nor
can it be produced by the Republicans,
or the Progressives. What the mas
| ters call prosperity" depends upon
trade expansion, and this means of OBJ
tanning revenue for American indus
tries is being relatively curtailed,