The sun., 1919-11-03


II to be true only IN part. The agent -
n Belgian. He was intsrnsd in Germany
during the war and accepted the post
OF representative Of a large German
manufacturer of leather goods the
prices he quotes are so per cent below
those demanded for British goods OF
similar character and quality.
Virtually every German article pre-
pared for the British market either
lacks trade stamps, Indications OF origin
and the name Of the manufactures or
bears the deceptive legend Made In
britain" This latter trick frequently In
resorted to by German manufacturers
for reasons that are obvious
THE suns correspondent purchased
two knives, both made In Germany. one
bearing no distinguishing trade mark
and the other boastine the stamped In
scription Made in Sheffield" IL u
necessary TO 70 no further than the Of
Ace of the Board OF Trade for proof.
There Il is admitted that these articles
have been permitted entrance to Eng
land that the policy OF trade resumption
may DO furthered.
Just why the Board of Trade should
condone the small receptions to which
the German manufacturer stoops, how
aver, II not made clear. The knives
spoken of above are sold Mt extremely
low prices. The FIRST mentioned,
equipped with composition handle, 10
retaiied at one shilling three pence the
second. having a metal handle, IL sold
for three shilling These prices are 40
per cent lower than those demanded for
similar British made goods Of the same
quality.
Board OF Trade survey.
The Board of Trade ia making a sin
in German made goods and 70 keep
British manufacturers Informed about
the Industrial activities OF Germany. To
this end the Board of Trade has issued
survey OF the economic position OF
Germany as reflected in the Leipzig
Fair OF this year The Board Of Trade
is careful TO extend its efforts only in
behalf OF such German products as may
be handled by British merchants profit
ably and without danger to British
manufacturers.
by way Of summarizing the impress
sions gained at the fair. the Board OF
Trades report says:
zone Of the most striking features Of
the fair was the large number OF foreign
purchases, mostly Dutch, scandinavian
and Swiss. although there were con-
siderable number Of Americans present.
These foreigners had not come for merely
sightseeing purposes but were there TO
buy German goods. and on all sides one
heard from the Germans that In most
cases n was only the lack OF coal or raw
materials which prevented much greater
sales.
ut appears that at present labor Is be-
ing paid from 200 TO 400 per cent. more
than pre-war rates for an eight hour
day Cat presently as against generally a
ten hour day in the past. in return for
which labor does about two-thirds as
much work Lack of food and the high
percentage OF war cripples contribute in
part to the drop in output per man.
charlottesville whole fair showed
the desire OF the German nation to work
and recover itself but everywhere one
was struck with the hopeless depend
ency of Germany on foreign raw mate
rails and increased coal output. In fact.
with the German glass pottery. textile,
leather, toy and many other industries
closed down. or operating at S per cent
or 10 per cent. of their normal output,
due to inability to purchase raw mate
rails at the present value Of the mark,
the fair gave direct evidence Of Germany
being at present in a very difficult posi-
tion."
Leipsic Fair Reviewed.
Speaking OF the fair itself the report
says:
Some 10000 firms. mostly German.
exhibited. and there was a record atten-
dance of about $4,000 people, about
20 per cent more than In any previous
year. The secretary of the fair stated
that there were come 1000 foreign buy
ers present.
THE general impression gathered
from conversation with representative
exhibitors was that nearly all branches
of German industry are on Che verge
OF bankruptcy. due principally TO the
shortage Of coal and secondly to the