Evening star., 1935-07-28

lists of world renown, important f1lm
artists, representatives of the world
famous Leipzig fur trade, of the Ger
man ready-made tailoring trade and
of the diamond trade.
Now the wholesale manufacture Of
the German ready-made tailoring
trade has moved to Amsterdam and
London. A number of important spe-
cialiSt manufacturers that the Ger
man refugees wished to establish in
France have been opened in Holland.
The fur trade has been transferred to
London.
According to Dutch statistics no less
than 4.500 Dutch workers have been
directly or indirectly employed as
result of the activities of German
refugees. And this is avowedly addi-
tional work which has been given by
the refugees.
Drawing up the profit and loss ac-
count of the refugee movement in
France, it will be found that the finan-
cial charge amounts at the most to 9
or 10 million francs. Against this
must be set the money brought by
German refugees to France and that
sent to them by relatives and friends
in other countries. If one considers
not only the purely financial side, but
also that of national economy. then
the picture is still more favorable.
All the sums collected in France and
abroad have, as have already men,
toned, gone to benefit French econ
omy. 1t is estimated that altogether
a sum of 450,0O0,000 francs has been
spent by the refugees in France from
their own means. This is in addition
to the sums collected for them by
charity, which also we're spent in
France.
The criticisms which I have made
of the methods of French bureau
cracy should not under any circum-
stances be regarded as minimizing the
feeling of gratitude which the German
refugees cannot but feel for France.
France, apart from Czechoslovakia,
has been the only country which has
given admission without any difficulty,
papers. France has also given the
refugees the greatest freedom of move
ment within the country.
Free to Engage i'm Trade.
Refugees who possess the financial
means can. as result of the free eco
nomic principles which rule in France,
establish businesses and trading con-
Germs, whereas in some other countries
Switzerland. for instance-these
possibilities do not exist. That refugees
have, owing to ignorance of the French
laws, lost large sums which they had
invested in France, is not the fault of
the French government.
The total situation of the German
refugees in France is, however, not
satisfactory at the present. This is
partly because decisions, dating from
the beginning of the nineteenth CEN
tury, still apply to them.
officials hitherto have always been
ready to take responsibility and decide
according to their sense of justice. But
as result of the recent political
scandals, officials hesitate to give, on
their own responsibility, decisions
which they fear may be wrongly
judged in some later public proceed
ings.
So Of late everything has been done
according to the letter of the law. And
that is hard and unyielding. will give
concrete example.
An emigre had lived for two years
in Paris. He had invested several
million francs in a number of enter
prises useful to French industry.
Suddenly he received notice to leave
Reason: He had come to France with
a transit visa. Despite this he had been
allowed to stay; but it had suddenly
appeared that he had received a
carte didentite, although people with
transit visas should not be given per-
mits to stay.
Naturally, the refugees without
means suffer terribly from these ir-
regularities. In recent months even
entirely political refugees have re-
ceived notice to leave, although they
had given no cause for blame. The
Aryan emigres and those whose grand
mothers have a few drops of Jewish
blood are very much worse on than
the Jews; there is a certain look Of
solidarity among the Christians.
Right of Asylum Upheld.
It must, however, be emphasized
that the French authorities have al
ways upheld the principle of the right
of asylum-that in no case must the
emigres be driven back to their own
country. And it must also be empha-
sized that not single case is known
in which the French authorities have
agreed to extradition proposals of the
German government, not even in ap-
parently criminal cases. In all cases
the French government, considered
that the criminal offenses had been
invented in order to get political
emigres back into the power Of the
German government.
But the situation of the emigres Is
not made any happier by their being
driven out into other European coun-
tries. Often the new country sends
them back to France.
Gases are known to me Of refugees
being smuggled into Belgium at night
by the French police, and then during
the day being smuggled back into
France by the Belgian police. This
tragic farce is repeated again and
again.
The greatest hardship for the desti-
tute refugees consists in a refusal Of
the labor permit.
One cannot expect France to allow
her national economy to be damaged
for the benefit of emigres. But it must
be emphasized that il Is question OF
such q relatively small number Of
people that to give them a productive
position would not mean any burden
on French industry.
The position Of German emigres In
France I have thoroughly studied,
with the assistance of experts. On the
basis Of these investigations, sub
!