The Washington herald., 1921-03-08
DENMARK PLANS :
TO EXTEND ACTIVE
FOREIGN TRADE
Transformed From Debt.
or to Creditor Nation
!. By War.
HAS GREAT TONNAGE
Surpassed by Only Great Bri-
tain and Norway; New Fa-
ciIities Being Added.

Transformed by the world war
from q debtor to a creditor nation
with heavy ownership of foreign Sc
curities. Denmark Is now making
plans for q considerable extension oil
an already active ofreign trade. Her
merchant marine. already with
greater tonnage per capita than that
of any nation save Great Britain and
Norway. Is being enlarged; great i'm
provements are taking place in the
harbor of Copenhagen. and the large
free port at that harbor Is installing
many new facilities for handling
and transhipping goods.
These facts are set forth In an
article in the current issue of The
Magazine of Wall Street, by Roger
Mlsen, technical adviser of the
Royal Danish Legation, which con-
tains statistics never before made
public in this country. They are
. arousing much interest among ship
pers and international bankers, and
officials Of the committee on organi-
ration of the Foreign Trade Financ-
ing Corporation. the nationwide
movement to further American ex-
port trade, say that Denmark Is set
ting an example which this country
would do well to emulate.
Not Rich In Natural Assets.
Unlike the United States. Denmark
Is not rich In natural resources. She
has no coal, iron. oil, no extensive
forests and practically no water
power. Her only natural Industry
is agriculture. She has to import
practically all her raw materials
and many manufactured articles, as
well as fertilizers, corn and oil cake
and feedstuffs to keep going her
agriculture. Nevertheless she las
become almost self-contained as to
manufactured goods, has built up
considerable export trade in oleo-
margarine, rennet, cheese, cheese
coloring. cement, furniture, porce-
lains and faience. machine tools,
hardware and enamelled goods,
Diesel motors, mining and agricultu-
raj machinery, and electrical articles,
while she Is the largest exporter of
butter in the world, and second only
to this country IN the value of ex-
ports of meat products.
Recently j. Austen Chamberlain,
chancellor OF the exchequer, de-
clared to the British Parliament
that Denmark was the only coun-
try in Europe other than Great
Britain that paid her way. Her
national debt is about $50 per
capita. compared with $3.50 for this
country. Her national wealth is
estimated at about 1855 per
capita. while that of this country
is put at something more than
81, 900. The krone, considerably
below the normal rate of exchange,
has in the last three months ap-
preciated considerably in American
money.
Copenhagen a Great Port.
Copenhagen is one of the three
great ports in Northern Europe.
Petrograd is now practically a dead
city, while Hamburg will feel the
affects of the war for years to
come. Copenhagen. at the very en-
trance to the Baltic. possessing a
modern free port and havins
steamship lines to all parts of the
world and cables to strategic CEN
ters in Europe and Asia, has vast
trade possibilities for the future.
Even now more tonnage enters that
harbor than enters any in this
country save New York
The Danish merchant marine now
Is nccl Vi nlOTc IMAM oVOsVV lOuSs
with more ships building. The
United Steamship Company is the
largest shipping concern. with more
than 100 vessels plying to European
ports and a subsidiary company.
the Scandinavian American Line,
which maintains transatlantic
routes to this country and South
America The East Asiatic Com
pany operates a large fleet Of mod
ern motor ships; moreover, it in
vests Danish capital In commerce
and development projects abroad.
with branches in Siam, China, the
United States. Siberia. Chile and
South Africa The Great Northern
Telegraph Company Is a third link
IN Denmark's world commerce
chain. with its cables to Europe
and the Orient and its other lines
between China and Japan and along
the China coast. These three great
companies and many other lesser
ones in the same line of opera
tions have been financed amply by
the banks of Copenhagen.