The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1920-02-04
M()RE: ENERGY and
ZIP IN GERMANY
Writer Says There Is Less Lazi.
ness Than in Any Other
European Country.
LOW EXCHANGE IS BIG AID
Gives Germany Advantage in Laying
Her Commercial Lines in Little
Nations About Hcr-Bltecr
at United States
BY HAROLD E. eEcHroL.

In Chicago Post)
Beriin.-l have been tayeling In
central Europe for months. l have
visited farms and factories and stores
and banks and government Offices.
married difference is noticeable 9s
soon as the German frontier is
crossed.
There is more energy and zip in
Germany; there is less laziness; trains
move. regularly; clerks in stores are
well stated; wagons and cars and
freight trains Zone Of the rarest sights
IN Europe) move brlskly; smoke comes
from The stacks Of at least SEINE Of
the factories,
German factory owners say "Made
in Germany" goods can never again
depend on cheapness for sale abroad,
They point out that her sources of ma.
tarial are cut and that the old hong
hours and cheap labor are gone.
Yet Germany bid far lower than
anybody else on contract for metal
uniform buttons for the Czecho-SIo.
yak army recently. could cite sew.
tral other cases.
Germany has a big advantage in lay
ing her commercial lines in the little
nations about her Sentiment aside OF
couise) because OF the fact that her
exchange is very low, like theirs.
From Germany alone. among the
big nations, can the new nations get
values approyimating what their
money represents TO them.
Germanys Bright Side.
That is. for Germany, the bright side
OF bad situation. Her mark is worth
under a nickel, about a sixth of par
She has got to have a credit before she
can buy cotton and copper from Amer
Tea. She can't buy with marks.
GQyerpments officials urge a credit
for the hope il would give the Ger
man people as they enter on hard
winter.
The same pleas. of course, are made
BY the other nations of central Eu
rope, some Of Whom helped the allies
to win the war;
American Observers here say the
Bauer government Is doing the best
It can. but the attitude Of the Prus'
sians in the business world Is:
"You have TO give US credit before
we can pay France and Belgium and
Engandl You're delaying TO give
France and England further head
start y
They hold Uncle sam personally re
sponsble; he's hated for declining &c
rush humbly across with open money
bags.
There are several reasons why the
south of Germany IS leading the north
The Prussian worker had less fire.
dom in the old days than the south
German worker. Now that he hold,
the whip hand, he hasn't as sane ar
idea Of what to do With his liberty.
Prdssian capitalists, too, are, slower
They hate to get TO work for France
and England" as they put it.
British officers in the occupied ares
tell me the big dye works in the
northern Rhine district are kept CLOSED
ty the Germans. The Germans know
the allies cannot yet equal their dyes
especially fixed" blue-and they dc
not propose to start these plants aut
let the allies learn the secrets If they
can avoid it.
What She Can Export.
Germany can exnort some glass
china. potash. cutlery. optical instru
ments. surgical and scientific instru
ments and toys. without importing raw
materials. She needs fTop Americs
principally cotton and copper,
French and British chocolate. soap
toilet articles, etc, are on sale In
the stores everywhere in Germany
The only American goods found gen
orally are prewar stocks.
The French and British occupied
zones are now commercial fronts. Mil
itary officers there and military mis-
sions in Germany give the French and
British commercial travellers and bank
ers every assistance. All of the Amer
lean commercial men and bankers J
met in Germany told me they had
fought their way through in spite OF
the American government rather than
with its assistance.
The Germans realize their overseas
trade will be absolutely dependent or
the allies for years to come. Germany
now owns only 81 per cent of her pre-