The Birmingham age-herald., 1919-12-14

, enough profit to make business witt
 them a desirable risk.
 There is little prospect of immediat,
 improvement in the state of their dy,
 factories. For one thing, they can
 get formaIdehyde, without which vol
 can't make dyes. There is not only
 lack of coal in addition, but a wide
 spread attitude of Encouragement.
 Employers complained to me timt
 and again of lazy workmen. The pro
 portion of productivity per man was
 quoted to me at from 33 1-3 per cent tc
 75 per cent of the pre-war normal. The German workman. for the first time
 feels himself the equal of his em.
 ployer, due doubtless, to the establish
 ment of the republic. If he doesn't fee that way of his own accord, it is con- tinually drummed into him by his fell
 low workmen or by socialist agitators | He wants to demonstrate his equality | and the only way he can do this Is to
 refuse to work except when he feels like it--in other words, to order his | own life
 This condition is not to be reckoned
 with, however, as a permanent condi- 1 tion on the part of the German work l man. It is my own opinion, after sec l ing a good deal of the average work - man in the Rhineland, Frankfort
 Darmstadt and Berlin. that he will come to different conclusion as soon as he learns that his idlness will not feed him.
 q don't expect to see any marked improvement until winter is over. The lack of coal is going to make great trouble in Germany. Conditions won't 1 come back toward normal until the warm weather comes.
 Notwithstanding the present attf- 1 tude of the workman, the industrious ness of the German nation is apparent even at present.
 ''The crops are wonderful. the fields 1 could not he in better condition, and l I found entire families working in the l fields, regardless of weather condi- tions Until the winter is over, the farms and the wine yield -vi1l keep Germany going"
 SERIOUS DANGER IN FUTURE MT. Keene was careful. however not to leave wrong impression. German dyesruffs in foreign countries are not to be feared for a year or more he repeated but he laid stress on the fact that Germany is not by any means down and out.
 'It has been strange war, in one | respect. France came out broken, but victorious. Germany has emerged strong, but not defeated. "Germany will be the most serious trade competitor the United States will have 10 years from now. No mat ter what the indemn Mas may be, no matter how the peace terms may crip- pie her, Germanys recovery will be the most astounding factor of the after l the-war situation.
 Why?
 Because of the Germans tremendous genius and E.s hercuisan capacity for work. No race on earth surpasses the German in the sheer gift for work. No European nation approaches it.
 .The Germans themselves classify the nations of the earth about as fol- lows, in respect of ability to work: One German Is equal to three French men; one German is equal to two Englishmen; one German is more than equal to one American
 GERMAN RAILWAY CONDITIONS
 Germans Say the United States has done big things. because of luck. The United States is vast country of un- developed natural resources, they say, and the prospect of it's development is enough to compel any nation into nabfts of work.
 "But our workmen and our busi- ness men are better they say. Man for man, the German IS superior That's the sort of spirit we have to contend with in facing the Ger many of the future. The Germany of today is a young man who has plunged and lost.
 Germany is not going to fall for bolshevism. All the bolshevists scares that came out of Berlin last spring were manufactured for entente consumption.
 German transpores,,on is in pret- ty bad shape just now. but Germany will not be long in recovering from that. I took no trunk. You can't travel in Germany with any baggage except what you can keep under your eye Railways are disorganized. part ly on account of the lack of coal, owing to the difficulty of Eauling it and also owing to strike in the mines. and partly on account of the lack of cars and locomotives. I saw thou sands of cars and locomotives stand ing on sidings. but they were in rotten shape.
 "The cars you ride in are in much the same condition.E They haven't been painted IT years. and all their fixtures are dilapidated. Except on through. trans between important cities, you can ride cnly in third or fourth class cars. a fourth class car being about the worst thing in human transporta- ton. The passengers pile into them without regard to fNeit capacity, and # you aren't early enough to grab a seat. you stand up.
 'Even at that the trains start on time and you can't say that for the trains in France. You may not get through to the city you start for, but