Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1922-08-17

N TA0HlNGION, ~. C., August IL. - SO
wv much has been said to the business
men of the United States and other
countries about the bugbear of German COM
petition that the department of commerce
has made special investigation of the sub
ject. 1t has led to the conclusion that there
is nothing to fear from Germany in the for
eign trade field.
The basis of this conclusion is the high
cost of production of German goods which
compete with American goods in the world S
markets. The facts assembled by the Ameri-
can government make it clear that storiees of
extremely low costs of production in Ger
many are erroneous and that the American
workmans job is not menaced by the COM
petition of the Tcuton.
What makes the German cost of produc-
ton appear low and what has enabled Ger
many to make show of competing with the
United States, Great Britain and other for
eign traders with indications of success is
the fact that German industry is subsidized
in various ways. These subsidies, it is true,
enable certain lines of goods to be exported
at low figures, but in an economic sense Ger
many is the loser and the actuoI cost of pro-
duction cannot be lessened by such book
keeping legerdemain. If the German govern
ment is subsidizng industries in order that
they may produce cheaply, Germany is none
the less paying the cost because the taxpay-
ers must furnish the funds with which to
pay the subsidy.
Inc railways or Germany nave been sub
sidized to the extent of $4,000, 900 marks
a year. This has meant that the government
has paid to the railroads what otherwise the
industries would have had to pay, adding the
amount to the cost of production of their
products. Nearly o,000,000,000 marks have
been paid in the last year as subsidy to the
telephones and telegraphs. Here again the
industries are spared cost by virtue of its
assumption by the government.
Public utilities have received billions in
Government subsidieS and this means that
they have been enabled to charge lower rates
to industries for power.
Save Also in Rents
An extremely important indirect subsidy to
the industries prodr cling German goods has
been the body of laws limiting the prices of
goods for internal consumption and the rate
OF house rents. By keeping rents down, the
government keeps wages down and there
fore contributes to the cheapness of produc-
ton. Before the war, the average German
workman paid about Is per cent of his week
y wages for house rent. Under the re-
strictive laws which have forbidden land
lords to increase rents, the proportion OF
weekly earnings paid for rent has decreased
materially.
1t will be seen that If a manufacturer
workmen have to pay only low rents, the
wages for which they can afford to work
need not be high. There has been strong
pressure from the landlords upon the Gov
0AAtAOnI @uChoI4Il0o " p0AlhAC lHCIodoeS III
rent, but this has been met with the state
ment that to increa~e rents would mean a
general increase Of wages and consequent
increase in the cost of production of Ger
man goods.
1t is recognized that these conditions can
not long obtain. The taxpayers and the
landlords will weary Of paying large per-
centage indirectly Ct the cost OF production
of the German factories. The German peo-
pie have stood solidly together in attempting
to keep down production costs and enable