The Indianapolis times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1922-1965, 1929-03-19
Our Foreign Invasion

Americans are buying up the world at lively rate.
Last week it public utilities This week it is for
egn electric and automobile industries Next week it
will be something else
Of course the foreigners object just as we would if
1t were the other way around But there is nothing
particularly in the processexcept that the
richest nation in the world doing it today, while
Great Britain the richest did in the last century,
and Holland ara Rome and others before her
We own the rest of the world now to the extent of
about Besides the foreign debts to our
government private American investors own $1600O-
100000 worth of foreign bonds and industrial stocks
So the world is pretty much working for us and our
profits That, by the way, is one more good reason
why the real interests of the United States depend on
world peace.
The conflicts arising from Americas world owner
ship are illustrated by foreign expansion developments
This week.
General Motors Corporation acquired for $30o00-
900 major interest in the Opel company which
rfactures As per cent of al German automobiles and
which dominates the market in several neighboring
countries. This hookup is in addition to General
Motors twenty -four plants and 5000 distrbu
tors in more than hundred countries.
1t is reply to general European expansion by Ford
and other American companies, and to promotion by
European companies III Ietandtdon Tic SlSlI Ielidl-
ing large German companies reported planning a
combine against foreign invasion"
There are also rurnors that General Motors is ne
gotiating for the French Citroen Company, which
rumors cause CONSERVATION in France
Despite all that foreign companies, and sometimes
foreign governments, can do to fight American COM
petition our automobile exports in 1928 were the
largest ever and in January this year increased to
s47OOoOOo or 4S per cent over January of the last
banner year.
Ford tried to mitigate the ati-American feeling re-
sulting from this expansion by selling stock in his new
British company only to Britons. but Americans soon
bought much of the stock from the British.
British resentment reached its high point this week
when the British General Electric tried TO exclude It's
American stockholders from participation IN new
bonus stock issue Americans already had acquired 90
uer cent of the stock in this powerful British concern
though their voting rights curtaed by the 100
per cant Britons" last September.
The attempted discrimination against majority
American stockholders this week has caused such
financial and diplomatic furore that the action Is ne
;nu nostponed and a compromise attempted. British
nancers fear that such discriminatory action by the
British Electric Company might be used In other
countries as precedent against control cy British
capital
The French government is reported protesting 10
se limited states government against alleged monop-
olstic control of oil by an international comone
headed by Standard Oil.
At the same time the movie war has been carried
into the new takie field with the British, Germans
French forming sloooooooo international trust