exploited in Great Britain and the Dominions, as well as details of the financial and commercial standing of many of the oldest firms in England-on all these heads information had been assiduously gathered and recorded. London was being used as something more than the centre of the world's exchange. It was the intermediary for placing at Germany's disposal information on every conceivable development in the industrial and commercial world, and particularly in the British Empire. This information was of incalculable service to institutions which make a specialty of expanding the national trade by granting long-term credits.

Something has already been said of the nature of the Reichsbank as a national institution. Several of the card-indexes showed that there had been close communication between this institution and the London officials of the Dresdner Bank, for the margin of the card showed the Reichsbank as the source of the information sought: 'Per Reichsbank-Direktorium Herr

auf Reise' (Per Reichsbank, Directorate, Herr, on tour). Herr August Thyssen, who said on the outbreak of war that 'every far-seeing Englishman must have known that Germany would not for ever submit to England's pressure,' and whose whole attitude to this country for many years has been one of hostility only the more dangerous because veiled, is the giver or receiver of information in thirty-seven cards. Nearly every one in England interested in iron and steel has some knowledge of his effort to 'penetrate' this industry here. Herr Otto Jeidels (pp. 255, 260-2) has given some interesting details of the intimate terms on which Thyssen and the Dresdner worked to promote Germany's 'industry-policy.' Some of these thirty-seven cards simply record the formation of Companies e.g. Ferrum Limited, 198 Winchester House, Old Broad Street. Registered Jan. 7, 1914, nominal capital 25,000l. . . . Per A. Rehder for Thyssen.' (The names of the directors are given, among them being Messrs. Rumscholltel, O. Neidt, M. Prolecker, Wettowsky, S. Nathan and M. Loeser.)

When Herr Thyssen was good enough to unburden his mind last March regarding the way in which the Kaiser and his Government used the financial agents

whom Germany sent into every quarter of the globe, and the inducements held out to them to secure their co-operation in advancing 'national' interests, he must surely have exclaimed to himself, 'Quorum pars magna fui'! Another firm whose efforts to secure a monopoly in England of the market for light steel rails, and whose methods of giving effect to these efforts brought it a most unenviable reputation long before the war, figures largely in these records. Orenstein and Koppel (or Orenstein and Koppel-Arthur Koppel) were seeking or giving information in forty-eight cards. In France this firm was probably the most dangerous of all the German agencies of 'penetration,' commercial and political. One of their branch offices on the eastern frontier was specially commissioned by the German Government to send information concerning French fortifications, and other military intelligence. Since the war, a member of their staff has been proved guilty of military espionage and sentenced to a term of imprisonment.* Aron Hirsch und Sohn, Halberstadt, whose interest in the metal ores of the British Empire was shown by the war to be ganz kolossal, are the principals in seventy-nine cards. And in addition to all the evidence of these records, there has been a long-standing correspondence between these firms and the London branch of the Dresdner, some of it of an extremely confidential nature. In quite 5 per cent. of all the card-indexes, metals formed the subject matter of the inquiry, and cotton and petroleum accounted for nearly another 5 per cent.

It was most noteworthy that many of the records referred to insurance companies and re-insurances. The following are selected at random from a lengthy list:

'(Name of well-known British Insurance Company.) The Company is in good hands and is reported by its bankers to be quite good for their business engagements, including their re-insurances.-Per for Berlin.'

'Deutsche Rückversicherungs-Actiengesellschaft, Düsseldorf (German Re-Insurance Company). The shares are not officially quoted anywhere, and in Düsseldorf are scarcely

Léon Daudet, 'Hors du Joug allemand,' 1915, pp. 302-3. Cf. the same writer's 'L'Avant Guerre,' 1913, pp. 136–7, 195-6.

saleable. Returns for 1912 not known. Dividend of 4 per cent. expected.-Per Berlin for Selves."

'Heckscher and Gottlieb-Re-Insurance Bureau, Berlin; Behrenstrasse 28. The firm carries on business placing contracts for re-insurance, by which it runs no risk, but has a certain and not insignificant connexion.-Per Berlin.'

There are forty-seven companies in Germany and Austria engaged solely in the work of re-insurance; and some of the most valuable information in regard to our commercial and industrial movements has been made available to German houses through these companies. The details concerning numerous consignments of goods from Great Britain, France, and Italy, including the price, destination, and name of the purchaser, and the means and cost of transport, were extracted from the re-insurance policies, collated in Berlin, and used for the purpose of ousting British trade. Even since the war, German companies have been doing re-insurance business, through neutral countries, in regard to British consignments; and the subject has latterly been receiving careful attention from Liverpool and London underwriters.

The Report of the Advisory Committee under the Trading with the Enemy (Amendment) Act, 1916, published in May 1918, says that it was no part of the Committee's functions to inquire into the genesis of the establishment of German trade in England, or into the sources from which this trade drew financial sustenance. These card-indexes throw a highly significant light on such an inquiry. They show the German bank as one of the important rallying-points of Germans in London, they give point to the indications, of which we have had so many of late, that Germans abroad constitute an imperium in imperio. About one-fifth of the cards were in the German language, about three-fifths in English, and the others in French, Spanish and Italian. But a very large proportion of those in English were headed with German names and referred to Germans in England or the Dominions, showing that the German 'colony,' wherever settled, forms a very valuable intermediary in assisting commercial espionage and in directing the ready money obtained by discounting bills to the right channels.

The German manufacturer here who is seeking to oust his British competitor from a given line of trade goes straight to the London branch of a German bank, not necessarily to be financed, but because he knows that it is part of the bank's business to keep its fingers on the pulse of our trade. In Herr Riesser's book will be found the names of 116 companies, engaged in nearly every kind of industry, with which the Deutsche Bank is connected. All these have agents abroad who are in close touch with the German bank and with the German 'colony.' The card-indexes of the Dresdner Bank show that these branches assist very materially in the appointment of agents; and consequently, in many cases, the credits granted were to commercial houses about whose standing they easily acquired information. Assistance in the appointment of agents abroad for German, French and British firms seems to have been an important part of the bank's functions. It is easy to select from the large number of record cards a few typical references.

A very active and clever man of business, and would make an admirable agent. We would consider him reliable for consignment business.-For Hamburg.'

'4. 10. 12.

très

-Ancien voyageur de la Maison sympathique à la clientèle et passe pour mériter confiance.— For Selves.'

'14. 5. 12.

formerly in a firm of blanket manufacturers who were not successful, said to know the trade and to be well introduced to the trade; can be recommended as an agent.-For Cologne.'

22. 2. 13. Il était précédemment employé chez, la Maison dissoute, ou il acquit une certaine connaissance des affaires. Passe pour actif et connaît la clientèle.'

It was natural that these cards should indicate frequent communication between the London branch and the Deutsche Orientbank, really an affiliation of the Dresdner. They pointed to an exceptionally active interest in Egyptian concerns. The Orientbank had long devoted attention to this quarter and was working vigilantly to take advantage of any opportunity for securing control of the sugar-cane plantations and the high-grade cotton grown there. In 1906 it tried to acquire, through a syndicate, a dominating influence in

the Société Générale des Sucreries et de Raffinerie d'Égypt.' The Egyptian Government intervened and facilitated the re-construction of the Company by purchasing its railway and linking it up with the State railways. The following is a translation from one of the record cards of the reference to a letter of introduction presented by a German from the Alexandria office of the Orientbank :

'Herr, Alexandria, 23. 5. 12. Alexandria, 23. 5. 12. Introduced to us by letter from Deutsche Orientbank, Alexandria, dated 23rd May 1912. According to his own statement, his capital amounts to 12,000l., and he works as a broker in cotton and cotton-seed. In strict confidence, and solely for our own information, Herr remarked that the Orientbank is interested (beteiligt, possesses a share) in his operations, but this information must not be made known.-Reference, Deutsche Orientbank, Alexandria.'

A noticeably large number of cards referred to London stock-brokers and the Stock Exchange. At home German banks take an active interest in bourse transactions, both in their own behalf and for clients. Their operations have been considerably extended since the passing of the Imperial Bourse-law, 1897, which acted detrimentally to the small broker. Consequently the German banks are expert handlers of this kind of business. The Dresdner Report for 1904 refers to its increased activity on the Berlin bourse during the preceding year, and adds that 'Germany would have been in a more favourable position to resume the exercise of its powerful influence in international bourse affairs,' had it not been for the uncertainty attending the development of her commercial treaties. Perhaps the war has not yet opened the eyes of the British public to the extent to which Germans were fastening their talons on our securities and our credit. On July 18 last the Dresdner Bank caused a great commotion by selling its securities and by advising its clients to sell their securities. This was recognised as the first semi-official intimation of a probable European conflagration.' This statement, taken from an address by Sir Edward Holden to the shareholders of the London City and Midland Bank, on Jan. 29, 1915, is of high significance to the student of German Weltfinanz.