The Washington herald., 1921-08-08
SHINES MAY HAVE
REACHED DCLIMAX0F
CAREER, IS BELIEF
Quick Rise to Power in
Central Europe Ap-
pears Ended.
TO BE SUPPLANTED
Belief Prevails That He May
Be Succeeded by Herr
Rathenau.
Qsrsisn csrrsspsndsbes Of The w.shingten
Hsr.h and New York Eyening Post

Herald and New York Evening Post)
GENEVA, July 22.-The quick
,ise Of Hugo SHINES to power in
Central Europe may be attributed
in large degree to the clamor for
raw materials that sprang up In
Germany after the armistice. There
was q shortage Of coal and iron
at that time in the midst Of wave
Of Industrial prosperity. As a ruler
in the realm of these two minerals,
SHINES enjoyed almost unlimited
credit among bankers and in the
stock markets. and by the aid OF
this credit he acquired control OF
furnaces, steel mills. shipyards, pa
per factories, and newspapers. He
was able to employ the credits OF
the concerns already acquired for
purchasing new enterprises.
The climax OF SHINES conuuests
was reached when he secured con-
troll of the Siemens group. the we'll
known electrical concern. Later
came his acquisition of the Alpine
Montan iron deposits IN Austria, ana
this may yet prove to be the first
nail for the Industrial kings comm.
The purchase Of this enterprise in
volved an enormous outlay in 1tas-
ian lire. and brought him no great
credit in the Vienna stock market.
Since this last operation very Mt
tie has been heard here of Herr
SHINES.
A New Star Appears.
A new star has now appeared in
the German financial armament in
Herr Rathenau. A year ago Stin-
mes at Spa, as the moutapiece o.
German industry. was entitled to
speak to Lloyd George and BRAND
in the traditional tone OF the Ger
man Junker. Today his rival. Heff
Rathenau, the lord OF the Allge-
meine Electrizitaet Geseilschaft, is
minister of reconstruction. and talks
with the French and British minis
ters in the well-known polite and
agreeable tone of the German COM
mercial traveller. AS a result, the
"A. f. c." becomes now the most
| important single factor in German
economic life. The general business
condition has entirely changed
There is no longer a scarcity of coal
! and iron. Steel mills are running
on part time. and the producers of
finished products are the masters of
the hour.
Three weeks after Herr Rathenau
became minister of reconstruction.
it was noted that careful pRpara-
tions were being made to set up the
Nv ~ hA
"A. f. G." With the help Of Dutch
credits. secured through the oppor-
tunities afforded by the German
loan in Holland. and arranged
through the Berlin banking house
of Mendelsohn. which has close re-
lations with Herr Rathenau. the "A.
E. G." has already acquired a ma
| jority of the shares OF the Rhein-
Metall, and this concern has planned
an issue of bonds in order TO obtain
| funds for buying a controlling in
| terest in the Krupps. This would
give the producers Of finished goods
the control of mines. furnaces, and
steel mills, thus reversing the usual
process OF the basic industries alb
sorbing the finishing processes.
Prom the point OF view of the
general public this may have rs
advantages. 1t might have been
dangerous for Germany's industry
II the producers OF finished prod
ucts, like the Siemens group. had
fallen under the control of captains
of industry who had no other in
terest in them than to sell them
raw materials. There Is a Que--
tion. however. whether the fact that
the new German combination is A.
nanced by foreign capital. mostly
Dutch. but to some extent also
Swiss. will not lead to certain COM
plications in German foreign policy
At any rate. the foreign investors
may be counted on to use their in
tiuence to prevent the use of their
funds for anything smacking of a
militaristic venture.