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Show BANKRUPTCY POSSIBLE. Some of the industrial and political leaders of Great Britain fear that Ger-i Ger-i many -will be driven' into bankruptcy and bolshevisni if the boycott is to be maintained. The economic side of the case is stated by these British leaders as follows: Great Britain looks to France to re-, turn largs sums of borrowed money with which we, in turn, can pay back America what we owe her. If Germany goea bankrupt, France will be in a very critical criti-cal financial condition. In fact, it is not saying too much to state that German skilled labor and the great factories of Germany must be kept working in order to put Europe on her feet.. It is merely because financial conditions condi-tions are so bad in England, France and Russia, all of which countries are flooded with paper currency backed by gold reserves re-serves of 10 per cent and less, that German Ger-man currency has any value at all to- , day outside Germany. Few people seem 1 to realize that, unless Germany regains j her export trade, she must go bankrupt. : She now has no iron or metal mines I worth mentioning, except zinc. After I supplying France with the promised amount nf coal under the Deace treaty conditions and by the greatest economy in household consumption, Germany wall onlv have sufficient coal to operate her factories at about one-third their capacity. ca-pacity. She certainly has valuable pot- ash mines, but the export of potash alone will not pay the indemnities she is committed com-mitted to, much less the foreign materials she must purchase from abroad for her own needs. Therefore, tha only wealth Geriuany has ia the workmanship she can put into imported raw materials, and it is only by the purchasing of iron ore from France and Sweden, and other raw materials from abroad, and the exporting of finished articles, that Germany can pay the Indemnities we ask for. There is just a3 much prejudice in the United States against purchasing German products as there is in England. At the same time it is rcaliz3d that the Germans must find markets some-.where some-.where if they aro to fulfill their financial fi-nancial obligations. This country did not demand indemnity on account of the war, but Europe owes us nine or ten billions of dollars which we naturally natural-ly expect to receive in duo course of time. But we cannot afford "to take it out in potash." Indeed, it is highly probablo that we shall protect our infant in-fant potaBh industry by means of the tariff to such an extent that local producers pro-ducers will be able to supply tho home market. At least that is what we should do regardless of tho fact that Germany must have trade or go into bankruptcy. |