New-York tribune., 1919-11-30
Low Value of Mark Draws
Merchants From Many
Lands and Retail Stores
Are Fast Selling Out
Harvest for Smugglers
u. S. Alone Is Backward
in Taking Advantage of
Teutons' Financial Plight
By William c. Dreher

Counter" and similar captions are
now frequent in the German press.
The articles thus captioned tell of a
remarkable but quite natural demand
for German goods by foreign buyers.
due to the heavy depreciation of Ger
man currency. For although prices
have risen TO a very high level in Ger
many, they are still far from being
as high as would be justified by the
low level of the German market. The
mark has fallen to about one-eighth
of its normal level. This would justify
an eight-fold increase in all prices in
Germany, which would still leave them.
for the foreign buyer. at the same
level as before. Yet the general level
of prices has not risen half as much
as the mark has fallen. Many prices
are now only twice as high as year
AGO. and not a few others have risen
still less.
This creates situation where for
eign buyers can get goods in Germany,
so far as they exist here at all, at
much lower prices than are paid
abroad. And they have been taking
advantage of this situation TO an ex-
traordnary degree. Particularly with
in the last two months buyers have
been coming into Germany from all
neighborng countries and even more
dist INT lands TO buy goods.
Buy in Retail Stores
Many of them refuse to wait till the
goods can be manufactured and sold
to them at manufacturers prices but
crowd the retail stores and buy az the
higher prices ruling there everything
they regard as salable abroad. One
hears of streams of Danish and other
Scandinavian merchants who come here
and fill trunks with opera glasses and
other optical goods, leather bags, knit
ted goods, drugs and medicines and
large variety Of other things, to carry
them away as baggage; and they re-
turn to make a handsome proht on
their purchases.
Up to week ago the hotels here
were overcrowded by this stream Of
travellers. but last week all passenger
traffic was stopped on the German
railways for eleven days until coal
and potatoes for winter consumption
could be hauled to the cities; and tins
caused a sudden cessation Of the hveiy
buying in the Berlin shops. The hotels
also note the relief Of pressure Tor
rooms.
OF course German manufacturers are
also profting by the present deprecia-
tion Of the mark. which leads to neavy
orders from abroad. One biz concern
here that manufactures chiefly locomo-
tiyes and boilers for steam engines re-
ports that it has almost no German
business, but is filled up with foreign
orders.
Foreign Buyers Active
From the cutlery and hardware dis
tricts in western Germany come re
ports that foreign buyers are taxing
everything they can buy there. Inc
Dutch are disputing the ground with
English, French, and even South Amer
lean buyers; and the cutlery trade
it is asserted. is booming as never De-
fore.
Even the necessaries of life are sold
abroad at a moment when the Ger
mans do not know how they arc 10 1--we
through to the next harvest. IL sufhces
for the outward smuggler 10 know tnat
he can sell grain across the frontier
at far higher prices than he can get
from the government board that Is
the only authorized purchaser IN Ger
many. and so even wheat and rye are
smuggled across the frontier AT the
same time the German government
buys grain abroad at the worlds mar
ket price and sells it to the people at a
heavy loss. hoping to make up the dli-
ference later through taxation stil 20
be levied Textile goods, now especially
needed for clothing the home popuia-
ton, are also smuggled out OF the conu-
try to get bigger profit
Export Trade Increases
tn. result Of this Is that Germany's
export trade has undergone remark
able increase within a half-year. Last
snring the sales Of German goods
abroad amounted to only about 4OO.-
100000 marks (about sl0O,OO0,OoO( a
month. BY August the total reached
733.o0O 900 marks (about SlS3,25O.OOO), },
and now it has further risen TO S2oo'-
600 900. But as imports are above TWO
billion marks the balance against Ger-
many is still more than one billion;
and that Is what continues TO welgn
heavily upon the value OF the marx
abroad.
A great manufacturer here has just
furnished the press with some inter-
esting figures, illustrating how the
Germans are undertaking foreign
manufacturers in outside markets. IN
Spain the bids on certain hardware
were as lpAlOWSs w. N'-o
20 pesetas; but the German bid was
only $50 pesetas. German manufac-
turers offered crane in Sweden for
10000 crowns (about $1,000 whereas
the price Of the Swedish manufacturer
was 200 900 crowns (sl00,000). Ger
mans are selling railway cars IN Swift
zeriand for $4,000 marks, against a
French price of $4,000 francs; but the
Swiss franc is worth more than tve
times as much as the mark.
Naturally this cheap selling abroad
is causing much talk in various coun-
tries about taking steps to check IT
In even so liberal "a country as Switzer-
land steps have been under discussion
about even closing the frontier against
German goods; and in England, France
and Scandinavian countries il has been
suggested that the duty on imports
from Germany be raised to such al
extent as to counterbalance the depre-
citation of the mark.
Try to Raise Export Prices
Efforts have also been made in Ger
many to establish export prices at a
higher level than for the home market
but these have not yet been successful
chiefly for the reason that German
traders buy the goods in their own
name and then sell them abroad.
few manufacturers have accord
ingly begun TO require the signing OF
A pledge by every German buyer that
he wants the goods for his own use
and will not sell them abroad. II is
also urged in manufacturing bodies
that the general home prices be raised
20 the level actually prevailing abroad,
thus placing the German consumer on
The same basis as the foreigner; but