The Bemidji daily pioneer., 1920-01-22
LITTLE HOPE IN
GERMAN OUTLOOK
American Business Men See
Small Chance, for Immediate
- Improvement.
Low MARK VALUE IS CAUSE
ooeTaIlxation Plans and Heavy Tax
alton Add to Unrest Among All
CIasses-More Willingness to
Work 10 Noted.

6erun.-4C HAS Decu lulcAcotAS ~
ne to observe the reaction upon thu
minds Of American business men OF
visit to Germany. These men have
come here in considerable numbers
during the last four or five months
Not few Of them had previous knowl
edge Of German business conditions
hence there was rather pronounced
optimism among them as to Germanys
economic future.
They knew. some Of them, the Ger
many that existed before the war
They knew or had heard Of the Ger
man capacity for hard and intelligent
work, for applying science to business
and production and for organizing
manufacturing and trading INTEREST,"
Effectively. Americans Of this kind
fancied that they would find the same
Germany of ante-bellum times. SO
they came with cheerful spirits as to
their own business prospects; they
felt sure they would be able to sell
goods in large quantities here.
All Disappointed.
One Of these Americans called to
zee me yesterday. had met him
some three months ago, soon after his
arrival. Since then he has been most
ly at Hamburg. There is where the
import trade of Germany before the
war was chiefly centered, and he
thought, after his disappointment
here, that his best chances would be
among the big importing houses
there. But he came back here again,
disappointed.
The general trend Of his report was
that 1t is practically impossible to do
business here with American goods
owing to the vast depreciation Of the
German currency. The dollar is now
worth about As marks, which gives
the latter less than one-tenth of Its
normal value Add to this the further
fact that all American goods are now
very high in America itself, besides
high freight and insurance rates, and
It may be safely asserted that the Ger
man must pay about flfteen-fold the
pre-war prices for many American
things.
But high prices and the difficulties
Of doing business were not the only
things that disappointed the American
travellers. Some of them came not to
do business at all. but to look into the
general financial and business condi-
tions on which all business must de-
pend. They came, In other words, to
talk with bankers and manufacturers
and get their point Of view, to look
with their eyes into the business situa-
fion and prospects.
And 1T was precisely this class Of
Investigators thnt took the most cheer
less view of Germany's plight. The
situation was regarded by them as far
worse than they had expected and as
offering but slight prospects for any
early improvement OF substantial
character.
What impressed them most was pre-
cisely the depreciation Of the currency
already mentioned, together with the
fact that nobody could give any au-
thentic grounds for expecting an i'm
citation of the mark, but also Its violent
fluctuations in value. seemed to them
to exclude all hope for Germany to
get substantial financial assistance
from abroad. for neither lender nor
borrower could undertake the risk in
volved
Pessimism Everywhere.
This situation made a deep impress
able to comprehend its significance.
Moreover there was general atmos-
phere of pessimism here that strongly
Influenced their minds-pessimism as
to business and politics, pessinism as
to taxation schemes and Specialization
= programs. pessimism as to the labor
situation, pessipsm as to the ultimate
outcome Of peace negotiations. Alto
gether, therefore, the conclusion was
reached that Germany is in far
worse position than is believed by
Americans Mt home.
The German outlook as the new year
opens for business, discloses but few
factors that make for confidence. One
good factor, however, appears on the
surface; namely, what seems to be a
more reasonable attitude Of the labor
ing people. The last great strike here
that Of the metal workers which end
ed about three, weeks ago, is thought
to have EXHAUSTED the capacity of the
Berlin workmen to wage any more big
strikes this winter. 1t was so unwisely
begun and carried on by the leaders
that the radical elements have been
somewhat discredited. Saner counsels
are. therefore, expected to prevail in
the Berlin labor orgaizations during
this winter.
A greater willingness to work Is also
reported from most sections of the
country. There Is still considerable
malicious lettering by radical com
munist and Socialist workmen; but the
wiser workmen are losing patience
with those elements and are denounc-
ting them openly. The growing willing
ness to work is also shown by vol
untarv return to Dayment by the piece