Some of the Reich's old armorers admire our methods, but are readyto do business with Russia if we don't provide them with markets
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An Englishman whohad spent manyyears in Germany gave me a friendlybit of advice in Düs seldorf :" If youreally want to knowwhat is going on here, talk to business-men. You can ignore the politicians.They are just mouthpieces, who don'talways understand the real forces be-hind them, but the' economic elite'[ by which he meant the businessmen]are shaping present- day Germany ."
This seemed sound advice, andI took it. I roamed the Ruhr and theRhineland , and talked to merchants,entrepreneurs, bankers, and manufac-
turers.
I had met Herr B. a machine- toolmanufacturer employing about threehundred workers, a few years ago whenI was in military government. OneSunday afternoon I went to his villa,and we had a long talk. He was, asusual, immaculately dressed. He ad-mitted that business was excellent. Isaw hundreds of empty wine bottlesneatly stacked against a wall in thegarden, and he told me that his cellarwas full, as usual. Everything was goingfine, but he would have liked a bit moreexport trade. He wished the British would relax some of their controls, ashe could have sold plenty abroad. Stillhe didn't want to complain: The plantwas operating on three shifts. No, hehad no trouble with labor. The workerswere docile and co- operative, thoughhe could not deny that they earnedjust enough to live on.
At this point his father came inan old gentleman with a Hoover- typecollar, a goatee, and lively blue eyes.Half a century ago he had founded thebusiness that his son was now running,and he still kept a shrewd eye on it.
" Well, well, well," he exclaimed." Sowe have an American visitor, how in-teresting.... Always did want to meetAmericans . Why? I'll tell you why,young man. Because they're smart.Real horsetraders, that's what theyare. You deal with them, and if you'renot quick and sharp you lose your pantsto them. Look at the way they cameout of this war. Everybody was ruined,but the Americans ended up with allthe money in the world. Kolossal!" Hisson tried to nudge him into silence,but the old man would not stop." Don't shush me, son; you always saythe same thing I do, so why aren'tyou frank with your visitor? Truthdoesn't hurt anybody," he said." DieAmerikaner will end up owning theworld. What smartness! What cun-ning! I say, let's learn from them."
While America is the businessman'smodel, Britain is his object of scorn.For one thing, he knows that the British standard of living is lower than theGerman . For another, he considersthe British unfair competitors andeconomic inferiors. Germans find agrim Schadenfreude in the fact thatthe British victors eat less than they,the defeated. Opinion is practically
unanimous that the British went to warwith Germany twice for one, and onlyone, reason- fear of German compe-tition in the world markets. Moral orstrategic reasons are ignored. All overGermany one hears a repetition of thesame argument:" The British indus-trial system is antiquated and its world-market position is based upon privilege.Given any kind of a chance, we canoutproduce and outsell them every-where. They know it and so they fearus. That is why they are determined todestroy us. That is why they are nowdismantling our industrial plants."
This line of thinking, it must be ad-
mitted, antedates Hitler and Goebbels .It has deep historic roots, going backto the days of old imperial rivalries.
Has there then been no change inthe German mind? I believe that thebusiness community has changed inone essential- it has reduced the scaleof its ambition. Responsible Germans no longer think of conquering theworld; but they are certain they candominate Europe , at least economi-cally. They are aware that the earthis now shared by two super- powers.But they know that they have the finestand most productive industrial plant inEurope - and that they have a wonder-ful bargaining position between thetwo super- powers.
This was brought home to me by agroup of Ruhr - Rhineland industrial-ists and businessmen. A textile manu-facturer, whom I had known duringthe war days, phoned to ask whether Iwas willing to meet some of his busi-ness associates at a private party inDüsseldorf . They were anxious thatI should hear the" objective point ofview" of German businessmen.
We assembled after dinner in the
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The Reporter, October 11, 1949
15