Evening star., 1940-10-15
Reich S Conquests
Preceded by Smart
Economic Coups
Shrewd Selling Gained
Britoin's Customers,
Stowe Declares
BY LELAND STOWE,

Chicago Daily News Foreign Correspondent.
BUDAPEST, Oct. 15.-It is easy
enough to see that German military
occupation is swiftly Transforming
Rumania into another Denmark and
thereby sets a momentous precedent
for the rest of Southeastern Europe.
Down the Danube now rolls a field
gray tide, the Nazi torrent Of armed
might, and one cannot foresee
whether even the Dardanelles will
eventually prove capable Of restrain
ing it.
But one of the most important
aspects of this new era of German
military domination of the Balkans
is likely to be ignored in the head
line fuss over Nazi troops parading
in Bucharest, the arrival of scores
Of German airplanes at Rumanian
airports and the like. The way to
Germany's armed but unresisted
conquest has been paved by years of
incredibly energetic, economic con-
quest.
AS DR.. Hjalmar Schacht so clearly
understood when he perfected the
Nazis' barter system, nations become
economic prisoners of a master
race" long before they are made its
political puppets. Having made the
livelihood of millions of Balkan
peoples overwhelmingly dependent
on Hitler's Reich, the final stage of
NaZi imperialism now unfolds natur-
ally-even with flowers of tribute to
the conquerors. In truth, there is
not much left for these subject"
peoples to throw except flowers.
So perhaps, it is an apt moment
for Americans to consider what the
British never learned and are now
paying for so dearly, beginning most
emphatically, with this cold fact:
For years, now, the smartest,
keenest, most industrious business
men in Europe have been the Ger
mans. They started as underdogs
and completely reversed most of this
continents selling and purchasing
habits.
Today the Germans are not only
the smartest businessmen in Eu-
rope; maybe. just maybe, they are
the ShreWest and best organized
travelling statesmen in the world.
You can put this in your pipe, Mr.
Self-Satisfied American Tradesman,
and take long series of reflective
puffs. Perhaps totalitarian methods
OF competition appear grossly un-
fair Nevertheless. and anywhere
on this globe, you've got to get up
aWfully early in the morning to
close a deal faster than the Ger
mans-and maybe you've lost the
habit of getting up that early.
Anyhow, the British lost that
habit, and here are a few samples
of what has been happening to
them in the Balkans for years. The
Bulgarians used to buy iron hoops
for their pulp barrels from Great
Britain, but iron got scarcer last
year and the British said they
couldn't promise delivery within six
months. The Bulgarians needed
iron hoops very urgently. The Ger
mans stepped in and closed a deal
in "a hours, immediate delivery
guaranteed Another slice of Brit
aims Balkan market was gone.
Then the Bulgarians had to get
tin for their big food-canning in
dustry. But the British were afraid
they might sell the tin to Germany
instead of using it themselves
Meanwhile, the Nazis stood to lose
a lot of Bulgarian canned products.
What did Hitler's businessmen do
but supply Bulgaria with tin, vital
material for armaments, and right
out Of war-arming Germany.
Last January the Germans learned
that big British-Bulgarian deal
for coffee, cocoa and tea was about
to be closed, Supposedly, Germany,
in the middle of a war, was in no
position to export these important
foodstuffs, but the Nazis were going
on the principle that you win GUS
toners and then you keep them.
They inquired what prices the Brit
ish were asking. Then they offered
to sell coffee, tea and cocoa at the
same price and deliver in carload
lots weeks before the British could.
Actually, dozens Of German freight
cars reached Sofia only six days
later Not having these products
themselves, the Nazis went out Of
their way to get them from the