Evening star., 1926-01-31
GERMANY COPIES
METHODS OF u. S.
America Becomes Pattern
for Many Activities, Ranging
From Industry to Sports.
BY EDGAR ANSEL MOWRER.

By Radio to The Star and Chicago Daily News.
BERLIN. January 3o.-The first
great American year" in Europe is
over. That complex Of factors, per-
sonal democracy. technique. stand
ardization of production produced by
an increase of American power and
prestige as much as by actual in
VeStment of dollars, has bitten per-
haps more deeply into the German
soul than that of any other Euro
pean people.
Today the United States leads the
world in Germany for power and
prestige. America is the only coun-
try which Germans admit Is their
master In various lines and which
they seek to follow. The correspond
ent therefore asked the opinion of
various German specialists on the
progress of Americanization in their
specific fields.
Concerning American spiritual
contribution, Rudolph Eucken. pro-
fessor of philosophy at the University
Of Jena, declares that America has
given much stimulus to the Old
World, but no essential deepening.
Masses Deeply Interested.
The masses, however, are deeply
interested in the life of the average
American. according to konrad Mar!l,
director of the big Fischer publishing
house.
Herr Maril remarked upon the
success of three American books,
"Babbitt," a Life of Henry Ford
and "Tarzan," which. when trans
lated into German, had a great sale.
and also admitted a growing interest
throughout Germany in the sensa-
tional stories wherein thrills take
the place of complexities. The Ger
mans, he said, are AmeriCaniZed in
so far as they have a growing tult
for outdoors and the primitive. but
much of what is now active II Amer
lea has already been lived through
IN Europe, and the rift between
American and German literatures is
still unbridged.
DR.. Albert Moll president of the
Psychological Society, refuses to ad-
init that American supremacy is seen
III such strange psychological move
ments as spiritism and criminal pSy-
CholoEv. He writes in his work on
criminal psychology:
'SWindlerS were not American, and
the methods they employed were not
American, but developed by European
criminals. The most refined pickpock-
GaliciaHs. A few great mediums come
from America, but the greatest are
Europeans. Still, 1t must be admitted
that the impetus to the ocultist move
ment comes from the United States.
Claims Europe Source.
''The maxim that everything ex
traordinary, particularly Of a swim
ding character, has an American
origin can only be advanced by the
ignorant and is easy to diSprove. My
self, during my travels. have been con
vinced of Americans serious contribu
great hold psychoanalysis has in
America shouldn't cause one to forget
that this current had its source in
Europe and should not be exagger
ated.''
Generally speaking. the Germans ad
NIT the necessity for certain Ameri
canization or Standardization of in
dustry. Prof. H. Schumacher of Ber
lin University says:
Americans in the standardization
of their industry have become the
worlds leading country, especially
such American methods as those con
nected with the names of Fred w
Taylor and Henry Ford. This stand
ardizat ton can be considered the most
important single factor that has ap
peared after the war in world indus
try. 1t IS comprehensive that Ameri
ca here is considered a model which
Germany must seek to initiate"
DR.. Karl koettgen, president of the
board of Siemens industries, though
admitting the influence of Heny Ford's
methods. considers II is only partly
true that American methods in indus
try are superior to those of the Ger
mans. in his opinion Americas natu
raj prosperity and better agricultural
methods and possibilities are chiefly
responsible tor American prosperity.
In European countries, he says
the populations won't accept stand
ardization OF types of merchandise
and even in the United States there
is 10 place for a second Ford. Europe
is divided by tongue and customs
walls and must adapt its methods
to specific needs.
Edgar Atzler, director of the In.
stitute for Labor and Physiology in
the Berlin Kaiser Wilhelm Society
writes:
.'Taylorism has had a great infiu