The herald., 1919-08-21
Vikings, scudding about in
their little sailing ships to
plumber, pretty we'll controlled


3 plumber, pretty well controlled
commerce q dozen centuries
ago. In the course of their scuddingS
they founded on the north coast of the
island of Sjaelland, where nature had
provided protected harbOr, a town
which they called KObenhavn, or "mer-
chants haven" and which is now
known to the world as Copenhagen,
capital of Denmark.
The merchandising done at this ha-
ven consisted largely in those days
of receiving stolen treasures from the
big blond raiders and providing the
sea rOvers in return with mead for
their drinking horns. The traders
flourished and eventually began to find
some outlet beyond their own country
for their increasing stocks, and thus
Copenhagen grew to commercial i'm
portance, so much so, in fact. that it
became one of the influential members
of the Hanseatic league and rival
of Hamburg, Bremen, Lubbock and the
German North sea and Baltic ports.
In the Thirty Years war Germany
was torn and plundered and COpenhag-
en- took a squirt ahead of its German
rivals. King Christian ", recognizing
Denmark's opportunity, promoted
trade. In 1920 he built on one of the
waterways which cut into the city a
house, and that striking, many gabled
structure still is used as a stock ex-
change. 1t is of red tapestry brick and
is surmounted by a spire formed by
the twisting together, ropelike of the
bodies of four great copper dragons
This spire, green with the verdigris of
centuries, may be seen on clear days
far out over the Oresund, that sep
arates Denmark from Sweden.
Germans Got the Trade.
But in later days the Danish trad
ers lost some Of the aggressiveness of
Eric the Red and old Christian, while
the north Germans became more and
more the merchants of the Baltic and
the North sea. Then came the theft
by Prussia of Schleswig-Holstein and
later the digging of the Kiel canal.
Copenhagen became an easy-going city
of glorious past, while the ships from
the seven seas anchored at Hamburg
or Bremen.
The world war, however, gave Co
penhagen another opportunity, and
now the cid Merchants Haven" hopes
again to take mercantile sea honors
from the castle banner Of Hamburg.
Regarding Copenhagen's aspirations,
Albert E. Haase, writing in the New
York Times, says:
The war made Copenhagen q clear
Ing house for Europe. AS the capital
Of one of the most important neutral
European countries 1t became q politi-
cal center of great significance. Chang
ed conditions brought prosperity and
a new class of business men assumed
control. The financier supplanted the
producer.
Denmark's financial system was.
even before the war. sound. Her meth
DDS for mobilizing her credits had long
been accepted by the financial world.
Old banks expanded and new banks
came into existence. 1t is reported
that deposits grew to almost four times
their pre-war amount. Insurance rec
Ords Of old Denmark were shattered
in a manner that never had been
thought possible; for Copenhagen be-
came the place in which American and
European insurance companies placed
their reinsurance, a business which
had once gone to the central powers.
On the heels Of this increased finan-
cial power came a positive assertion
Of initiative on the part of the Danish
business man. Worldwide trading or
CARNATIONS came into being and Co
penhagen became the home of these
organizations, the branches Of which
were chiefly in countries at war with
Germany. Among these organizations
is the Transatlantic company, which
was started in 1916 to compile infor-
nation regarding foreign trade and to
Invest capital in firms engaged In for
eign trade. This organization has, so
far, succeeded in associating itself with
seventeen importing and exporting
companies. Another important organ
ization Is the General Commercial
Company, Ltd, started In 1917, which
differs from the Transatlantic company
only in that 1t is concerned chiefly with
Russia and South America.
Though increased financial power
and strong commercial organizations
free from German influence are sources
OF strong assurance to the Danish trad
er, yet the free port has been the foun-
dation of the confidence upon which
they have placed their hopes. Their
confidence in Copenhagen's free port
has not been lessened by the constant
warnings that Sweden and Norway will
not stand with folded arms while Den
mark attempts to gain supremacy in