The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1923-02-07
GERMAN MARK
HASYALUE0F
$4,000 TO 81
Industrialists Raise Cry That
Nation Stabilize Exchange
Promptly
IMPORTS ON INCREASE
Yield of German Investments
Abroad Show Acute Fall.
ing off
IMPORTS ON INCREASE
nv Associated Press)


Berlin, Feb. 7.-German trade
and industry close the fourth cal
nCar year following the war with
feeling that, though much wa
er has flowed under the bridge,
title has been salvaged from the
ush and swirl of the current.
factory chimneys- smoked stead
" and machinery hummed brisk
during 1922 throughout the
meth and breadth Of the land,
ct the marks catastrophe de-
recitation made earnings mere
hadows of what they were form
rly. =,
AS the new year opens, the cry
roes up from all sides for sta
' ,ilization of German currency.
Traders and industrialists alike
lived through hectic twelve
months in 1922, owing to- the
marks fantastic fluctuations. 1T
commenced at approximately 100
to the dollar in January, mounted
gradually to 457.50 in July, then
went on a mad rampage averaging
1.16O in August and reaching 5000
and higher in November. ION Jan.
IL the mark was quoted in New
York at over $4,000 to the dollar.)
Upset Calculations
These wild maneuvers so upset
business calculations that scarcely
n nook in the national economic
structure was left untouched by the
uncertainty in wholesale and retail
Investments. A vicious feature APP
reared in the tendency to quote
prices in the steady, high-valued
currencies of other countries, such
as the dollar and pound sterling. "A
natural reflex to the marks contlnu-
ed fall was a proportionate rise in
the cost of supplies. Gradually the
practice grew of basing quotations
to the buyer, not on the cost OF &C
tual production, but on wnat II
would cost to replace the article in
the sellers stock.
Taking the figure 1 as basis, fol
the year 1918, the official index fig
ure on costs Of living, exclusive OF
clothing, rose from 1850 year age
to 4OO47 in November. The whole
sale index, reckoned on the same
basis, went from 34.87 last Decem
Der to 56601 in October.
Artificial Imitation
In many quarters abroad the Ger
man currency depreciation was at
tributed to purely financial causes
res ulting from artificial imitation
rather than to economic conditions
as German experts claim. The latte
support their belief by pointing to
gold. reserve of some 1,0OO,OOO,OO
marks in the Reichsbank, sufficien
to cover doubly the paper currenc.
in circulation. They further cal
attention to the fact that, when n
new notes could be printed for tel
DAYS in October due to printers
strike, the mark continued to fall il
the exchange rates, despite an acut
shortage in currency.
Imports Grow
From the herman point OF VleN
the monetary depreciation IS re
suit OF Germany passive trade bal
ance. The surplus OF imports owe
exports grew constantly larg
Throughout the year. THIS lopside
state or affairs came fully to Agh
when the government began lssuin
the figures on international trace J
terms OF gold marks. Prevlousl
these reports had been quoted !
paper denominations, and an actlvlt
favorable to Germany sometimes az
peared, only to prove iiiusory latel
The total surplus OF imports
the ten months ended with Octobe
amounted to 1869, 100000 goldsmark
9elng the dit1 erence between DIVA
10000 and 3,214,IUO,OOU. In Janu
Try the surplus was 5.S million gol
marks and IN February GIT mllhoi
With March, it jumped to 1881 mil
lion and in October was PALS MI
lion. The highest surplus for an
one month up to that time was 81
million in July, when the import
went. beyond the 566,000,OO0 mar
for the first time, amounting
684.8 million gold marks.
Investments Shrink
In addition to this passlvlty, ther
was falling off in the yield of Gel
man investments abroad-this ha'
ing exceeded 1900 million gol
marks before the war-and an IL
creasing amount of interest to pa
to foreign investors in Germany b.
cause of new property acquired b
them. acre.
The export trade suffered great
through factors indirectly throw
into the industrial situation by II
marks depreciation. Prices Of m
teriai, which jumped sensational
from day, to day, made it impossib
Tor German factories to bind taen
selves with fixed stipulations for d
liveries very far in advance. Ths
also had to deal with frequent d
mands for increased wages, brougl
on BY the higher costs of livir
among workmen. As result
their uncertainty in concluding al
fulfilling contracts, tne manufac
urers lost numerous orders in fo
eign countries, especially Americ
and executed many at financial 8
criices. They were often forced
demand large payments in advan
on goods to be produced.
Efa fEys II. s,sss n - - !. 81 - &fw'9s