The sun., 1919-08-22
j. s. statesmen
DISHEARTENED,
QUIT GERMANY
Upset Financial Conditions
Preclude Possibility of
Business.
MARK WORTH 5 CENTS
Leaders Say That Without
Credit Nation Cannot
Pay War Debts.
SMUGGLERS ON THE JOB
SMUGGLERS ON THE JOB
French and English Goods En-
ter Through "HOle in
Rhine" Charge.
BY KARL II. Won WIEGAND.
StdD Correspondent Of THE Sun.


COPYRIGHT. 1918, all rights reserUed
BERLIN, Aug 10 (delayedD 1t is
impossible to do business In Germany
under existing financial conditions, in
the opinion Of the majority of Ameri,
can business men who have come to
Germany and with whom l have
talked. Not a few have returned to
New York convinced that concerns
which hoped to sell to Germany in
large quantities will have to wait
until something is done 10 stabilize
the German mark, which is steadily
declining, with payment yesterday of
twenty marks for one dollar by some
dollar buyers.
While the mark has reached its
lowest level the prediction is made
that it hasn't yet reached bottom.
Various causes contribute to this
condition. chief of them being the
extraordinary taxes and the persist
ent report that the Government will
call in all paper money, either to be
In order to force hoarded money into
the open for just and equal taxation.
This has resulted in verituble reck-
lessness If not panic among many
people, causing them to buy foreign
money, especially American, Dutch or
Swiss, at any price whatever in order
to get rid of large part of the Ger
man capital, which they figure would
be taken from them anyway.
Much EStravaE giant Buying.
With the lifting Of the blockade
there is also much eXtravagant buy
ing of imported articles which have
been smuggied over the western
border and which Germans have been
deprived of for several years. Large
quantities of such goods have been
smuggled into surrounding neutral
countries, where they are offered for
sale cheap. All this has helped TO
depress the mark.
Still other causes are the utter lack
of production, due partly TO the lack
of raw materials and partly to dis
inclination to work and an unending
series of strikes Parts Of the coun-
,l
English goods coming over the Rhine
despite German efforts to keep them
out. Romantic tales are told of
wholesale smuggling by carload lots
through alleged bribery.
Under the heading '"The Hole in
the Rhine" the Berlin ZeituH0 says
the frontier In the west has prac-
tically ceased to exist, and it urges
that this hole be closed "if the Ed
terte desires that Germany shall be
able to pay"
THE Allies" the paper says. must
quickly come to the aid of the Ger
pan Government in establishing the
old customs frontier. Every days de.
lay impoverishes us by millions more,
and at the same time diminishes all
prospects for regulated cancellation
of our Indebtedness"
some Americans Buying.
While some Americans are placing
buying orders here advantaSeonsly
because of the favorable exchange
rate. this buying is said to he re,
stricted largely to the things which
can be made with raw materials that
DO not have to he drawn from outside.
With the value of the mark so low
1t Is declared to be impossible to buy
raw materials outside at tremendous
cost and then manufacture and ex-
port them at profit. As yet no
feasible plan has been hit upon to
stabilize the mark. Increased pro-
duction and export, by means of
which a somewhat proportional bal.
ance could be established, so far ap-
pears to he the only way, and that,
IL is declared, can only be achieved
through the awarding of many mill.
ions of foreign credits to Germany
from abroad.
GERMANS SEND MEN TO RUSSIA.