The Richmond Virginian. (Richmond, Va.) 1910-1920, 1917-10-20

~ s@AA 49, 40 v"
OF course, the Prussian Junkers ex-
cuse the imposition of the tariff on
food and the regulations made to pre-
vent the entry OF Iooostuffs on the
ground that German agriculture must
be encouraged--frst, In order to ena-
bic the population to subsist In time
of war and blockade. and. secondly. In
order to encourage the peasant class,
which furnishes the most solid soldiers
to the imperial armies.
The nations and business men OF the
world will have to face after the war
a new condition. which we may call
socialixed buying and sociaiixed SELL
ing.
Not long after the commencement OF
the war the Germans placed prohibit
tive tariff upon the import OF certain
articles Of luxury. such as perfumes,
etc, their object. of course, being to
keep the German people from sending
money out of the country and was.tn 9
their money on useless expenditures.
At the same time a great institution
was formed called the Central Einkauf
Gesellschaft This body. formed under
government auspices OF men appointed
from civil life, ID somewhat similar to
one of our national defense boards.
Every import of raw material into
Germany falls into the hands of this
central buying company. and II Ger
man desires to buy any raw material
for use in his factory he must buy II
through this central board.
CENTRAL PURCHASING AGENCY
FOR CENTRAL EMPIRES
have talked with members of this
board. and they all unite in the belief
that this system will be continued
after the war.
avsyy
wishes to buy an automobile or pearl
necklace or a case of perfumery. he
Will be told You can buy this IL you
can buy II In Germany. But IL you
have to send to America for the auto
mobile. II you have to send to Paris
for the pearls or the perfumery. You
cannot buy them." In this way the
gold supply of Germany will be hus-
banded, and the people will be either
prevented from making comparatively
useless expenditures or compelled to
spend money to benefit home industry.
On the other hand. when a man de-
sires to buy some raw material-for
example copper. cotton, leather. wheat
or something of that kind-he will not
be allowed to buy abroad on his own
hook. The Central Einkauf Gsscll-
schaft will zee that all those desirins
to buy cotton or copper put In tneir
orders On or before a certain dato,
when the orders are all In the ouanti-
ties called for will be added UP By this
central hoard and then one man will
he in A position. representing board,
to go to America to purchase the t.oce. :
oC0 bales 81 cotton or 2oo,0oo.oeo
,unds of copper.
The German idea IL that this one
board will be able to force the sellers
aoroad to compete against each other
In their eagerness to sell The one
German buyer will know about the
lowest price at which the sellers can
sell their product. BY the buyer 3
standing out alone with this great
order the Germans behave that the
sellers one by one will fall into MS
hands and sell their product at a
price below that which they could OBJ
tcin II the Individual sellers of Amer
lea were meeting the individual buy
ers of Germany in the open market
When the total amount Of the com.
modify ordered has been purchased II
will be divided up among the German
buyers who put in their orders with
the central company. each order being
charged with it's proportionate share
of the expenses of the commission
and. possibly. with an additional sum
for the benefit Of the treasury of the
empire.
GERMAN CRITICISM
OF BATTING CORPORATIONS.
Before the war German manufac-
turer took me over his great factory
where $4,000 men and women were
employed, He showed me great guam
titles of articles made from copper
and said I'VE buy this copper In
America. and we get IL cent and
half a pound less than we should pay
for II because our government permits
US to combine for the purpose or buy
ing: but your government does not
allow your people 10 combine for the
purpose OF selling. You have got lots
of silly people who become envious oil
the rich and pass laws to prevent com
bination. which is the logical develop
ment OF all industry"
The government handling OF ex-
change during the war was another
example of the centralized power OF
the government for the benefit of the
whole nation.
In the first year of the war~when
desired money to spend In Germany
drew a check on my bank In New York
to triplicate and sent a clerk with II
to the different banks In Berlin to OBJ
tain bids In marks, selling IT then
naturally, to the highest bidder. Bat
soon the government stepped in The
Imperial bank was to fix a daily rate
of exchange end banks and individuals
were forbidden to buy or sell A. ar
ferent rate. That this fixed rate was
a false one, fixed to the advantage OF
Germany, proved at time when the
German offciaf rate was $50 marks
for a dollar, by sending my American
checks to Holland. buying Holland
money with them and German money
with the Holland money, in this man.
ner obtaining marks STA for each dol
lar. And just before leaving Germany
/ sold a lot Of American gold to q
German bank Mt the rate OF t.41 marks
per dollar. although on that day the
official rate Was 5.52 and although the
buyers of the gold, because the ex-
port of gold was forbidden. would
have to lose interest on the money
paid me or on the gold purchase until
the end OF the war. What the Ger
mans thought OF the value OF the mark
IL shown by this transaction.
COMBINE FOR
SELLING ABROAD.
The only thing that can maintain q
fair prfce after the war for the pro-