New-York tribune., 1920-11-29
Germans Mask
Ships Output,
British Claim
Construction Is Said To Be
Considerably in Excess
of Indicated Production:
Marine Being Expanded
Information l. Conflicting
Shipping Board Advised Tha,
Work l. Be eung Restricted
I,y Industrial Conditions

A'N Alit'iStt lAi &OIsOiekOuS
Conflicting reports regarding the
status os tHe German shipbuildins in
sustry are reaching this country Ac-
cordinc to some Of these, labor condi-
tons ard lack OF materials arc seri-
ouslv hamperng the output Of the
German shpyards Other advices.
however, Indicate that the true state
IF affairs IS belno camoufagcd and that
notable additions are being made to
he German merchant marine
English advlces, as inStauced by The
LIVERPOOL journal of Commerce, are
that German =hipbuilders are eNercis-
ing great caution to prevent the actual
sgures Of. the tonnage under constYuc-
non i'm German Shipyards from be
coming .r0Wr ~ the puDEc. The tig-
ares are SAID 20 be considerably in cN-
cess ol what Jhey nave generally been
believed go be- Information recently
ecured. 1t is declared. Indicates plsn-
y how Gcrmany's position is being
streug-henca. both by construction and
tv rne establishment OF regular lines
Iae chief difficulty confronting German
shipoNnfrs is reported TO be the
banker coal at German ports
European reports 10 the United
States Ship Board are Of d very
aiferert tenor According to these
sh,pY rg and shipbuilding throughout
the whole of Germany still remain IN
a very unsettled state and the shortage
Of coal and steel, coupled with labor
troubles. is SAID TO be causing grave
concern The Nordde utsche VERT
Gluckstadt is stated to have gone into
bankruptcy. The amount involved being
more tnan a million dollars. Work was
begun only about year ago, but the
failure is attributed largely to the at
tempted soc - zation Of the undertake
ag The yard now closed and all
mployees have been dismissed.
Strike in Danzig Shipyards
Labor troubles are also stated TO be
under way in Danzig. The clerical staff
Of the government shipyards has gone
on strike and the authorities, in conse-
quence- have been OBJ lged 10 give no
ice TO about 5000 shipyard workers
III connection with tae reports Of de-
preston In the shipbulding industry,
however il IS interesting 10 note that
Blohm & Noss. of Hamburg. one of the
arges' concerns Of the kin in Ger
manyd, ha declared dividend Of T per
cent or the common shares for the last
year This compares with q dividend
declaration Of b per cent for l+st year.
This concern is the one trat has been
building the giant liner. bismarck Of
loOJi gross tons. the largest vessel in
che world This vessel is to be turned
ever TO Great Britain as pant OF the
reparaton terms. Although it was
largely completed at the close Of the
var. If is reported that practically no
orh has been done ON 10 since then.
report o fire which broke out or
= recently are conflicting Is 10 the
rravi'y Of the damage done. As CON
iacitl Tor before. tlc war. the Bis
narcs was To- have cost about SD .0OO.-
'Vj; but because ot the Subsequent
~oNances ln the costs of labor and
e-ierit and the sharp depreciation in
ne E~lde the mark, 1T is said that
me I'm .ost viii be about SIS 600 r
roe .r az the rate Of 81. 500 a dead
Weiynt ton, which is tour to 1--WE times
me present cost OF liner construction
IN This country.
Can Produce Large Tonnage
In compensation for the sinking Of
German Uarships al Scapa Flow. tho
Council Of Ambassadors has decided
20 demand from Germany the i'm
mediate delivery OF 1872 GOO tons of
1oeh material. and also the delivery
Ni'nln thirty months of further
amount of dock material. the total of
,.hlcn nas been feNed by the renara-
mons commission at 3.On0 tons.
Indications are not lacking that Ger
many can meet tnc terms Of renarq
non and still be able to turn out hum
ereds Of thousands of tons Of shiopine
or ner own use annually. Accordino
20 the terms she is TO build for Allied
account million gross tons of vessels
"lthln i've yoars. Tho annual produc-
I'VE capacity az the German shinva,d
mas been placed by German authorities
Il from rNH.rN0 to- 1000 900 tons an
nualiy, so tina. even at the lower est
nate she -A .uld be able to meet the
Allies demand and stiil construct two
million gross tons for her own account
the sVe-ycal' period. Recent report
we're 10 the effect that output Of Ger
TAN yards ht been earmarked hv the
nerman goTt mont fer Allied account
Hnd that tnc work was proceeding.
tvldence that work is also progress
ing for German account is seen in tho
&nnounceweut OF the Hamburg. Amer
can Line that two transatlantic liners
we're well under way and would be put
IN the Hamburg New York service with.
'nog comparative,y few months. Othsr
''erman lines are also stated TO have
secured newly built vessels Of good
size aud so'e Of these are already in
service
with homo construction supplement
GO by purchases abroad, there is no
reason 70 doubt that within five years
1ermany can acquire merchant ma
r'ne o. 5000 600 gross tons, or as large
as the one she had at the outbreak o.
'he war wnen she stood second in
rank Of tonnage holdings