The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-02-01
Frederick Haskin's Letter
Hugo SHINES.

I New York, Feb. IAN exasper-
ating feature of Germany's inabil-
ity to pay its war debts, at least IN
the eyes of its victorious neighbors
is the present enormous prosper
ity of one GeFman-Hugo SHINES
The old Germany of the Hohenzol-
lerns is crushed and beaten and
bankrupt, but the new Germany
which is largely under the control
of SHINES, is quite lively and Wig
orous and by no means poverty
stricken. Yet it cannot be attached
by its creditors, because, while the
idea has been suggested, the allies
do not feel at liberty to attach the
property of a private individual.
Its really quite annoying" ex-
plains an American who has just
returned from Europe. "The al
lies have found themselves in much
the same position as the creditors
fers all of his valuable property to
his wife a few days before declar-
ing his insolvency. OF course, Ger
many did not act deliberately; but
the fact remains that the majority
of its natural and industrial re-
sources seem to have passed into the
hands of SHINES during the war. 1t
was a case of when the allies got
there the cupboard was bare"
Just how much of Germany Stin-
mes owns is not precisely known.
Some say he owns practically all
of it. Others assert that his wealth
estimated. One hears all sorts OF
strange and fantastic rumors con-
corning him. There are those who
insist that he plans for the rein
statement of the Hohenzollerns
with himself in the position of pre-
mier, while others declare that he
is working for the complete social
ization of the German state. Some
see in him the most stabiliZing fac
tor in the new relations of Europe,
and others point to him as 1.-THE
new shadow on the world" At any
rate, whatever may be his secret
aims, he is unQuestionably the most
picturesque and disturbing person
ality in Europe today.
His Many Enterprises.
In the first place Europe is not as
accustomed to billion-dollar cap
italists as we are here in America,
and the sudden rise of such phe-
nomenon against the general, pow
erty-stricken background of Ger
many is sufficiently novel to attract
attention all over the world. In the
second place, SHINES has not lin
tied his activities to one industrial
line, but is engaged in a wide Tar1-
ETY. of enterprises, including min
ing, coal trade, ocean and river
shipping, electric power plants, gas
plants, export and import, lumber
mills, iron and steel foundries, no
tells, tourist travel, the development
of health resorts and the publica-
ton of newspapers. He is said to
own a chain of 60 newspapers, scat
tered throughout Germany and
neighboring countries.
Indeed, there is no important in
dustrial enterprise in Germany, to
all accounts, with which Hugo
SHINES is not connected. To keep
the concerns in which he is inter
ested going he can use his own
coal, his own steel, his own timber.
He is gradually accommodating a mer-
camille feet which, it is predicted,
will be twice the size of the pre-
war feet of the Hamburg American
line, and which will be entirely
outside the control Of the allies. "
He is reported to have an agent, or
a staff of agents, in every import
ant foreign port, many of whom are
not openly but secretly in his en-
ploy. His agencies in Russia are
said-to be particularly important
and powerful, and it is believed
that his clever negotiations with
British capitalists are responsible
for the fact that the soviet govern
ment has been recognized and that
Russia is once more in CONNER
cial communication with the world.
In short, SHINES appears to be O.
whole nation in himself.
His Sudden Rise.
1t is no wonder, then, that he has
captured the Imagination Of Europe,
and that even the German people
marvel at his energy and ability
since the man was
known before the war. His
rise has been sudden, and achieved
solely through his own extraordin-
airy ability and effort AS an Amer
lean newspaper man puts it, "Stin-
mes burst like a comet upon the
postwar world" Yet
he is not what we Americans call
self-made man, for he inherited a
fortune, as well as his
business genius, from his