Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1920-02-04
American Business Men See
Small Chance for Immediate
Improvement.
LOW MARK VALUE IS CAUSE
Specialization Plans and Heavy Tax
alton Add to Unrest Among All
Classes-Morc Willingness to
work Is Noted.

Berlin.-It has been interesting to
me to observe the reaction upon the
minds of American business men of a
visit 10 Germany. These men have
come here in considerable numbers
during the last four or five months.
Not few of them had previous knowi-
edge of German business conditions;
hence there was a rather pronounced
optimism among them as to Germany's
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 interests
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
see 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 conferred, 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 it 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
1t may be safely asserted that the Ger
man must pay about fifteen-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-
lions 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-
tion and prospects.
And II was precisely this class of
investigators that 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 slighr prospects for any
early improvement of a substantial
character.
What impressed them most was pre-
cisely the depreciation of the currency
fact that nobody could give any au-
thentic grounds for expecting an i'm
provement in II. Not only the depre-
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.
Pessin1ism Everywhere.
Th{s sifration made a daap Fr,nraS
sion upon such Americans as were
able to comprehend its Significance.
Moreover, there was 8 general atrnOs-
phere Of pessimism here that strongly
Influenced their minds-pessimism as
TO business and politics, pessimisrn as
to taxation schemes and specialization
programs. pessimism as to the labor
situation, pessimism as to the ultimate