Tensas gazette. [volume] (St. Joseph, La.) 1886-current, 1918-06-21

Servient To it, must be overthrown and To, world :
commerce freed from serious dangers If this is
To he effected the whole German idea of trading
must be modified
Economic penetration has long been recog-
niZed in Germany of the most important
functions of the state. The highest in the empire.
kings. princes, mobiles and hereditary land mag
nates have We'd in showing their interest in all in
dustrial and commercial enterprises of magnitude
and in promoting in every way possible to them the
expansion of German trade while chancellOrs, cab
met officers and members of parliament have prac-
tically been at the beck and call of corporations
and individuals embarkng on new undertakings
on large scale. The state in many lines has be-
the partner of leading promoters and i'm cases
where capital is risked in enterprises, which II
successful must rebound to the benefit of the EN-
pre- that capital is practically guaranteed against
loss. Should the enterprise itself be revealed
practicable. but be jeOpardized ny incOnpetency
dishonesty. the state will find way to step in, to
protect the outside investor and to turn the enter
prise to success. Differently from what occurs in
certain democratic countries. the German
state does not stand alOof from trade and indus
try, does not eye "big business with cold susp
cOn, permit the legislative bodies to modest it
with multitude of pin-pricking laws The kaiser
poses as the friend and associate of great NUM-
tons manufacturers. visits with Westphalian coal
owned by private corporations and lends the en-
enlargement of his presence to the cutting Of
canals. the making of automobiles, or shoes, or
carpets, by private enterprise. The whole attitude
of the state toward trade is different in Germany.
BY instinct, il Is possible that the kaiser, the
princes, the counts and the barOns of Germany
have as little desire to come in contact with the
ordinary mOrtals who are "n trade" as certain I'll
tied Brtons have but in Germany duty to the state
no no ,ut
of all is promote the military might of the state
for in this way alone can Germanys greatness be
assured
But military power in these times is dependent
on economic power The nation with the most
money win wars. is the crude commercial way
in which the idea has been phrased in other coun-
tries. Germany has different notions. but admits
the hard fact that trade and militarism are inter
related And the warfare of today has called
for new methods on the battlefield, 80 1t also de-
mands new forms of aid from commerce. Through
trade and commerce the armed forces OF the nation
can deliver some of their most telling blows. Since
in the present hour. whether one likes 1t or not
the fact is established that the army is more than
ever dependent on commerce, the army must now
work for trade and trade must work for the army
= his reasoning was furnished as the fundamental
justifying motive for the law civil CONSUMPTION
in Germany. and the German government, If Ii
endures is expected To push the principle as vgor
Ously after the war as it does now. Even If Ger
many lost the war. it is affirmed she can count on
triumphing ultimately through her trade methods
How vigorously Germany is working on this prin-
cpe is best realized from the fact that since the
beginning of the war, and to a greatly increased
extent in the past year, the German government
has effected new combinations between leading
manufacturing and commercial concerns in Ger
many engaged in foreign business and Is using the
government resources in the combinations. The
facts in this regard, known from other sources, are
confirmed by the complaints Of the smaller Ger
man concerns left out of the combination and de-
prived not merely of all financial and commercial
participation. but also Of all knowledge of the bus
ness operations in which the government and big
business are engaged. Ii is this apparently estab-
lished fact of the union Of the government with
the most important Of the German firms transact
ing business abroad which is the basis for much of
The concern manifested in the countries of the al
Ii regarding the German method of hari,ilir,
trade "nd commerce and the future evils wEica Il
forecasts