Evening star., 1918-02-03

III er the war are partly bluff
" 81 and partly genuine.
~ The military autocracy and
the industrial autocracy are agreed on
some points. One of these is to seek to
impress the outside world that Germany
will emerge from the war economically
strong. On another point they are not
agreed. This is as to how far the Ger
man people can be fooled about the
prospects. The industrial and CONNER
cial leaders. knowing the futility of de-
ception, are willing that the German
people also should know how Ger
many's trade future is endangered. The
military autocracy insists that they
shall not know
There is another point of divergence.
The commercial and industrial leaders
want the whole world as their future
trade field. just as it was before hos
tilities began. The military autocracy
would have the German people content
with the prospect held out to them of
grabbing Russian territory and of con-
trolling. economically, the countries
from Berlin to the Persian gulf
They have some support in this prop
II
whose leader is Frederic Naumann.
This was the idea put forth in his book
Mid Europe" There are signs. how
ever. that Naumann's support has lost
much of its force. Part of the popu-
1arity of his book was due to it's ap-
peal to the megalomania which OBJ
sessed all classes of Germans during
the first two years of the war
The hard-headed Industrial leaders
and financiers were not carried away
by Naumann'S rhetoric. Even of their
Judgment had not shown them that the
mid-Europe scheme could not be real
lied even as military dream, yet their
view OF world trade was a genuine in
ternational one. Recent events have
further interfered with the nilitarist
propaganda because the British sue
cesses in Mesopotamia and Palestine
show that the Berln-to- Ba gdad plan is
dead Turkey may continue vassal of
Germany. but Turkish territory in Asia
Minor in any peace settlement Will not
he within the grasp of Germany The
knowledge of this fact undoubtedly
mas stirred the Industrial leaders to
further activities for trade elsewhere.
While all news that comes out OF Ger
many in the German newspapers. not
only because of the censorship, but also
because of the publication of false
news, is under suspicion, something NAV
be CLEANED about what Germany is do
ing to prepare for trade after the war.
1t appears that there is some ship
building in progress possibly enough to
replace the merchant ships that were
sunk or captured by the British navy
during the first months of the war, and
also those interned by the United
States and subsequently taken over
But this is doubtful. There has been
which is bottled up in the German
harbors. but it is evident also that
there has been a persistent effort to
fool the German people as to the actual
which will be available when
ever peace comes
Some other parts of the program for
trade after the war seem to have a
more substantial basis, but one which
is only negatively means of saving
German commerce, since 1t requires the
transfer of German Industries to other
Under this plan German
capital will continue to get it's profits.
but German labor will have to move
away from its present habitations and
become domiciled in other countries.
The plan of the German industrial and
leaders is to take the curse
off German products after the war by
seeking markets for them as the prod
ucts of other countries. Whether when
peace comes 1t be on comparatively
free economic basis, as President Will
son has limited in some of his state pa
pers, or on a basis which strips Ger
many of much of the freedom she for
merly enjoyed as a prchaser 'of raw
and as a seller of manufac-
tured products, the German commercial
leaders recognize that 1t will be difficult
to sell German products in their own
garb. In time the abhorrence of all
that is German may die out, but this