Great Falls tribune., 1921-02-27
DIGEST ,s. st
Foreign Press

l g
! Compiled and written in the
Paris Bureau 81 the Consolidated
Press Association. ut 8 Place du
Palais Bourbon, Paris (YIIl.
France, and Transmitted directed
to The Tribune.
HAMBURG, a PORT OF FOREIGN
| SHIPS.
Tho once German port Of Hambur,
has been de-Germanized, saws tn.
Berlin Tageblatt.
1.-The first impression that is fell
on visiting Hamburg is that. Of bus,
port, which after being dead for nearly
five years, has come to life again.
But this illusion is deceptive, al
the great vessels that are anchored
proudly, mast beside mast, in the river
are flying foreign flags. Nearly every
nation is represented in this port. Be.
sides the English, who, as formerly
are the most numerous here, Ameri.
cans and Japanese are to be seen, who
were formerly very rare guests, for
the simple reason that they possessed
only small amount Of tonnage Nu-
81 in all, according to the returns at
the beginning Of December, have set.
tied in Hamburg, 80 as to keep up
from there regular service with ali
the great countries. England alone
has %, Holland ii, and in this for
eiegn competition even Portugal and
Cuba are represented. The German
commercial fleet disappears almost en-
tirely among all these other countries.
The ships which remain to her after all
that she has given up are just suffic-
lent to keep up the navigation along the
coasts of Holland, Denmark, Norway
and the Baltic.
"After the declaration of war, the
net tonnoge registered for the Gel rman
commercial fleet was 8 million "a. To-
day after giving up so many ships to
the entente, there are only about half
a million; Of this half million 100000
tons are only fit for navigation with
neighboring countries. The German
navigation countries. however, have
not been discouraged. First the Ham
burg South American Steamship Co.,
and the German-East Africa line char
tered ships flying the German flag.
Later an agreement was made between
the Hamburg American line and the
Hartman line, and other foreign nav
igation companies made agreements
&s
has leased for 25 years the whole
'Rofshafenkai'. As this line consists
of a number of navigation companies
this agreement is of very great import
ance from an economical point OF
view. The American line consists of
the international Mercantile Marine
Company the Red Star Line, the
White Star Line the Dominion Line
and other less important ones.
Taking these circumstances into
consideration. the port Of Hamburg.
because of this arrangement is already
too small and to bring the port up to
the level to present requirements from
q technical point of view. is a source
of great concern to the state of Ham
burg. Demands from manufacturers
who wish to establish warehouses
there have to be refused. Every
where the limits of the port cause in
These difficulties arise largely from
a want of organization. The whole
river from Lauenburg to Cuxhaven is
one from an economical and trs nspcrt
point OF view. But from, a political
point of view It is divided into 3 or
4 distinct districts: Hamburg, Altona
and Harburg compete with one another
instead of nationally distribute the
Mostly the docks depend
on triple administration and are badly
arranged. The people Of Hamburg say
it would be more sensible il Harburg
was to become cae port for wood and
coal, Altoona for fish and coastal navi- |
cation, and the rest cf the traffic |!
should be centred in Hamburg. and the |
port Of Hamburg itself needs many !
1T would be better" the writer |
goes on 'if the Elbe port were ruled !
BY one single company and that this /
port were under one political authority. |
It would then be possible to undertake
lrgent reforms, which, in the interest
,f the German Empire. would help
much towards the revival of Hamburg's
To-day, more than ever. Hamburg
s going to act as economic interIne-
liary between Germany and foreign
Countries. The port Of Hamburg has
aiken care to stipulate in questions
# the establishment OF foreign com
,anies that the cost of constructing
he wharfs must be paid by foreign
irms and that these wharfs shall re-
urn to the state Of Hamburg after a.
certain period.
This is policy" concludes the
writer. (which from one point Of view
It least puts foreign countries at the
erv'ce OF the revival of Germany.
"The future of Hamburg is still
hroudcd in mist. but slowly this is dis
'ersing, and the outlines Of a new or
,anization begin to appear"