The New York herald., 1921-09-04
GERMANY FIGHTING
FOR WORLD TRADE
Efforts Are RedOubled to
Reestablish Its Merchant
Marine.
HAMBURG THE CENTRE
Yards Busy With Work on
Vessels in All Stages Of
Construction.
THE CENTRE
LARGE GAINS IN TONNAGE
One Line Extends Activities
Through Pools-New Kind
of Freighters Being Built.

OF FreighterS Being Built.
SpecidI Correspondence to THE New YoRx
HERALD.
BERLIN, Aug. 24.-"We must have
our own ships. merchant marine in
proportion to our population and trade.
and not be dependent upon foreign
ships to reach world markets" This
assertion by a prominent Hamburg
shipper is one which the correspondent
heard with slight variations in Ger
man shipping circles everywhere.
There was no menace in his tone, no
talk Of world domination. Indeed
felt in conversation with these mer-
chants, most of whom, no doubt, had
backed Tirpitz In his dream of plant
ing the German flag everywhere, that
they now most studiously avoided a
tone which might give offence abroad.
have visited a number of German
ports. Everywhere, notably in Ham
burg, found hard work and little talk.
People were obviously too busy meet
ing their immediate needs for ships
and trade to have time to build am
bilious dreams for the future. They
have no illusions about the fact that
Germany lost the war. and are not now
talking about revenge. After five
years blockade, stripped Of ships and
obliged to begin building again from
the foundation up, Hamburgers have
problems enough meeting hard reali-
ties without going out Of their way to
look for more
Hamburg Streets Crowded.
The contrast between the streets and
docks Of Hamburg to-day and two years
ago is much like that between Pompeii
and modern Naples. Two years ago the
port was dead, doing 10 per cent of its
normal business. Wharves were bare Of
ocean liners. Only an American grain
ship or two were to be seen. About the
docks and streets hung groups of hum
cry, restless-eyed longshoremen and sail
ors out of work, and only held back
from rushing the town hall by barbed
wire entanglements and machine gun
squads at important points
To-day found Hamburg the centre Of
bustling activity despite world shipping
stagnation. Streets were crowded Peo-
pie complained that their new railroad
station is not large enough. spent two
hours finding a room in a hotel Un-
employment was less than 1t has been at
any time since the armistice. Picking
up daily paper found four columns
of ship dockage locations as compared
to as many inches in the papers Of two
years ago. Eighty companies (fifty-eix
q year ago) have now a regular ship SER
vice to Hamburg. True. only some six
teen of these are German. But every
ship to Hamburg means business of some
sort for, the port, whether handling of
German goods or transit across to
Czecho-Slovakia and eastern Europe.
Shipping reports showed that in the
last six months more than 1000 ships
have cleared the port OF Hamburg with
q total registered tonnage of more than
100000 tons. or 58 per cent of the pre-
war business. Shipping in July was 68
per cent Of 1913 business.
In a small tug l zigzagged in and out
among the wharves and building yards
Of Hamburg No doubt Germans heave
gdghs OF regret to see most OF the ships
there flying American. British and Jap
anese flags. But these foreign ships all
mean foreign money pouring into Ham
burg
Many Ships Being Built.
On one side of the harbor with traffic
carefully organized were ocean liners
and the free port On the other were
river steamers and barges handling
cargoes between the sea and the far
interior Of Bohemia. reached by the Iclbe
and networks OF canals.
The shipyards were not idle. Packed
one upon another, despite delivery of
the largest dry docks to the Allies.
nearly all Of them had ships in some
stage OF construction. A giant crane
at Bloem & Voss shipyards lowered over
the Bismarck. the worlds largest liner.
on model similar to the Vaterland,
Just nearing completion. True, this ship
goes shortly to the White Star line. A
FORMER German marine officers voice
choked when he mentioned this to me.
But he cleared his throat and shrugged
his shoulders when his newly acquired
practical shippers turn Of mind came to
the surface, and he concluded: "A
passenger ship of this size will be a
white elephant in world trade to-day.
After ALL we can build other ships better
adapted to our needs"
Nearby docks contained series of
smaller freighters ranging from 1000 to
5000 tons, built on lines adapted to
carrying a maximum amount of freight.
They are built for the small freight SER
vice of the Immediate future. They get
sufficient cargoes while many more dis
tinguished ships are gathering barnacles
In ports throughout the world.
Every fortnight one of these is
launched from some yard in Hamburg
These receive old German names, Ger
man crews and German cargoes. Al
ready they are carrying the German flag
Into foreign ports with shipments at
rates which foreign lines with higher
wages and currency cannot touch.
saw one freighter being charged for
Mexico two others for South America,
and several for Africa and the Far
East.
Tonnage Gaining Rapidly.
The German merchant marine is evil
IDENTIFY coming back. A brief contrast
OF statistics emphasizes this fact better
than words. Before the war Cerrnanv