Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-04-01 | Page 6 | How Germans Won

HOW GERMANS WON. It has developed since the beginning of the war that the system of long credits built up by German traders in eastern ports, to which most non-Ger-nians have accredited the German success suc-cess in securing trade from old established estab-lished British interests, was fostered to a great extent by British export and financial houses. Now the British commercial com-mercial interests in Hongkong, and the far east in general. ,have set to work to break up the system, since thev have discovered just how- the German traders trad-ers were aloe to sell Geni.an goods in China to the exclusion of the British traders. They did the ip.me thing, in tro t, witlt American manufactured products, prod-ucts, which was a eorn'fcra'ively easv matter, since the Americans did not have the machinery for financing their trade, represented by "n,vp,tnru'o houses,-' nnd, particularly, the discount market, which has" ma lc such houses possible and profitable. There have been some disadvantages in the German system, but in the main it it-is worked out very well or it would nofj be necessary neces-sary lor the Britisli to be taking measures mea-sures to regain 1,,-t trad- in the orient. In order to meet all competition, American Ameri-can exporters must be placed on an equal footing with European exporters, British as well as German, ami we shall need a u'eneral discount market in this 'oiintry on which accepted bill, can be sold at a low rate 0f :ntere-t. Such a market exists for handling ordinary commercial paper without regard to the extensive credits in the orient and South America. Manifestly we ni,,st make allowances fr credit's, if ue are to cng.T.'e extensively j foreign trade.