The New York herald., 1922-06-25
HAMBURG RESUMING
PREWAR PRESTIGE
,HarbOr, Streets and Hotels
Assume Fresh Appear
ance of Busy Port.
SHOPS ALSO CROWDED
Ship Interests, Last to Feel
Cargo Depression, Now
Face Competition.
IS BIDDING FOR TOURISTS
IS BIDDING FOR TOURISTS
Americans Wanted Badly but
Must Pay Double Rates
for Accommodations.

Special Correspondence to THE New York
HERALD.
HAMBURG, June 10. = Hamburg has
again become the busy port it was be-
fore the war. After five years OF
stagnation, the harbor and the banks
of the Elbe some miles out toward
the sea are dotted with ships from all
lands. But times have changed. For
merly the German ships went out
from Hamburg and competed with
foreign shippers in their own ports.
| To-day foreign shipping lines have
competing with the Germans in their
main home ports for central and east
ern European trade. German ship
pers have been the last 10 feel the
world shipping depression. German
costs are SO low and German home
needs were so great that there were
ample cargoes for the NOW small Ger
man merchant marine.
At present, however, the German
shipping companies such as the
Hamburg American and North Ger
man Lloyd lines are confronted with
intense competition for world trade.
Backed by German big industry,
which now takes an active interest
and participates in German shipping,
the German companies are bending
every energy to regain their pre-war
trade.
Hamburg has the same up to date
business atmosphere the city had before
the war. There are as many ships IN
the harbor. Street traffic is as intense
as ever Shops arc spacious with large
displays of wares. The Elbe River,
canal, railway and now air lines all con-
verge at Hamburg. The modern docf-
ing facilities of Hamburg still nave .eir
old attraction, but the port is different
Hamburg was formerly as solid for
tress for German trade as Heligoland
was against naval attack The railroad
lines which converged at Hamburg were
German lines serving German companies
whose agencies extended over Contra,
Europe, attracting emigrants and trade
to German ships.
Even Japanese Are Rivals.
To-day the Germans must compete
with Americans, British and Dutch and
even with the Japanese for their own
home markets The United American
Lines have their Offices in the Hamburg
American Building and operate parallel
with the Hamburg American Line. Thic
is a latent competition avoided through
an agreement between the two lines but
which becomes real progressively az the
Germans put more ships into their At
lantic service. The Hamburg-Ame
Line Building Is of imposing white stone
and dominates the bank of the Alster.
But now the British Royal Mall has
opened offices in an adjoining building
and diagonally across the Cunard Line
has large central offices. Then there are
several Dutch and Scandinavian lines.
all of which claim equal trade oppor-
tunities in German ports under the term.
of the treaty of Versailles. The jana
nese also have made Hamburg the center
for their European trade. The Nippon
Yusen Kaisha and the Osaka Shcsen
Kaisha lines have regular monthly SER
vices. The Japanese, too, have op,ned
UP a large bank of their own at Ham
burg. At an exclusive Hamburg restau-
rant III luICU L AOuHu Iuii INV
guests Japanese.
out of 16,427 ships which docked at
Hamburg in 1918, 10,341 were German.
In 1921 out of s.401 ships but 4.479 were
German. Comparison OF tonnage figures
in 900 registered tons shows that while
in 1913 nearly three-ffths of the total
tonnage coming into German ports was
in German ships but fifth of II was
German in 1921 In outgoing cargoes
in 1918, S,7s2 out of a total of 1886
in 1000 registered tons went out in
German ships, while in 1921 but 2,03i
out of total of 9,443 was shipped on
German ships. This was less than a
fourth of the total amount of shipping
going out of Hamburg. These statistics
also show that but half as many ships
come to Hamburg to-day owing to gen.
eral stagnation.
asked officials OF the Hamburg
American Line about the present foreign
competition In Hamburg. They told me
that they are only now beginning to
feel the full effects OF foreign compeu-
ton. Until now they have been favored
by the fact that German wages are so
much lower than those on the world
market that they could underbid foreign
shippers even in foreign ports.