Evening star., 1932-04-03


ed today by the Carnegie En-
dowment for International Peace.
In the preface DR.. Nicholas Murray
Butler, president of the endowment,
writes:
"The worldwide economic depression,
accompanied by unemployment to a de-
gree unprecedented in history, renders
particularly timely the six objective and
scientific studies contained in this docu-
ment on the subject of economic con-
ditions in Germany from the points OF
view Of agriculture, industry. transpor-
tation and communications, public
finance, and banking and credit. The
several authors, who are eminent pro-
fessors of economics at six important
German universities, made their inveSti-
cations under the auspices OF the Ger
man Research Union-also known as
the Union for German Science-which
undertook this systematic and scientific
survey for the purpose of determining
the underlying causes of the prevailing
high rate of interest in Germany and
the effect on the economic life Of the
country.
"A volume containing the complete
results of the investigation is being pub
liShed by Gustav Fischer at Jena under
the title Causes and Effects Of the
High Rate of Interest in Germany"
Max Sering. professor OF economics at
the University Of Berlin, writing on
Agriculture" says:
THE World War left the German
people in a much worse economic con-
dition than they had ever known. The
losses of territory reduced the area
under cultivation by Is per cent, and
the forest area by IL per cent, Ger
many's net loss of population amount
ed to 7.6 per cent, If we take into &C
count the return of about 1.6 millions
of Germans from abroad and from bor-
der territories. The average available
area Of fertile soil for each member Of
the German nation was thereby sharply
contracted.
In spite of these difficulties the
farmers of Germany have been able not
only to attain but to pass the pre-war
level of intensive cultivation. The har-
vests from 1923 to 1880, inclusive, were
approximately as great as in the last
years prior to the war. The live stock
resources of the country have again
been built up and afford greater pro-
duction than before the war.
Some Needs Oversupplied.
:. German agriculture today provides
not merely the required supplies on a
large scale, but even furnishes a sub
stantial oversupply of rye, oats and
potatoes. The demand for meat is
mostly covered by home production, but
; the hog supply is excessive and sub
stantial volume of corn, barley, vege-
tables, dairy products and animal fodder
must be imported
THE fact that the soil of Germany,
by no means fertile on the average, is
. now giving a greater return than before
! the war is an accomplishment hardly
: Lee hill %Ia1z ~ Izn nIo fna1
, electrical, steel and machine industries,
, although far less recognition Is accorded
to it by the general public
Scientific and technical advances
have had very wide influence through
. experimental stations, courses OF in
Struction and special advice. All this
has contributed to the result that farm
ers in the years since the end Of the
, occupation of the Ruhr, and finally OF
) the Rhine, have found it possible more
and more to adapt their enterprises to
! the changed conditions. In this period
there has been drift to relatively cheap
, means of production, such as the use
! of commercial fertilizers and fighting
plant diseases. The mechanication OF
, agriculture has made great progress.
But it must be boEne in mind that
the areas capable of a very highly de
veloped cultivation of the soil in Ger
many are extremely limited"
Kurt wiedenfeld, professor Of eco
nomics, University of Leipzig analyzed
the industrial situation in part as
follows:
THE war and all the developments of
the postwar period completely upset
this harmonious development of indus
try and capital resources. From top TO
bottom the industrial structure was split
and endless gaps appeared that have
not been closed A great deal of terri
tory was taken from Germany, and the
loss of most of it represented for indus
try within the country far more than
might be signif1ed ordinarily by the
shifting about of political frontier.
How great blow to German 1ndus-
trv was involved in the nearly universal
liquidation of German property abroad
after the war needs hardly to be men
toned. And yet a brief reference to
this is indispensable in view OF the fact
that new buildings and warehouses, as
well as other equipment had somehow
to be procured in order to start up
business again in foreign markets.
obviously, the capacity for export
trade of all industries was at1ected py
these different factors, but particularly
affected were the industries deallng
with the more characteristic hlgner-
1 -
this class of industries really thor
ough knowledge of the technique OF
production is required and the ADVICE
not merely of an agent, but also OF an
expert as to the uses to which the COM
modify may be devoted must likewise
be secured
"a very substantial volume Of the ex-
port trade of Germany consisted OF OBJ
jectS in this general category, and this
trade has regularly required as much
since as before the war, the existence
Of fully informed agencies in foreign
markets ready to furnish information
and substitute parts and the like on the
shortest possible notice.
Reorganization Impossible.
at is no less true of English firms
and those of the United States Of this
class in their foreign operations. 1t
goes without saying that the re-estab-
lishment of offices and agencies through
out the world in the first years after
the war was altogether impossible for
German manufacturers. AS result
the export trade in general tended to
be shifted in not inconSiderable de-
gree from especial types of manufac-
ture, in which Germany had either ex-
celled or at least equaled foreign styles
and standards, to semi manufactured
products or mass products destined to
enter the world market merely in gen.
eral competition.
1T was natural that this develop
ment should bring about marked shift
in the equilibrium within the German
industry itself.
But the technical difficulties in the
way OF the normal restoration Of indus
try have been nothing compared to the
tremendous obstacles constituted by the
mass of reparation obligations with
their paramount command over the re-
sources of German capital formation.
Today many branches Of the quality Of
Germany have been unable to stand up
under the load of economic and physi-
cal burdens imposed upon them in con-
sequence of the Versailles Treaty, and