Germany and State Socialism
Two decrees issued in Germany this week illustrate very clearly some of the consequences of her struggle for self- sufficiency. Last week General Goring, as Commissioner for the Four-year Plan, announced that the State would set up a finance company to promote the mining and smelting of iron ore. The object of the decree is to ensure that none of Germany's iron ore, though of low quality and economically unprofitable, shall be neglected. Thus the State has entered industry directly as a producer, and it is a curious reflection on a regime founded to protect the rights of private property that it should be increasingly forced to acquire them itself. It is not surprising that, if Germany wishes to imitate the Soviet Union by having a Plan; she must imitate its methods alsO. Germany cannot afford to import iron ore ; nor can she afford -to import enough wheat. On Tuesday Herr Darre, Reichsminister for Agriculture, announced that this year's entire crop of wheat and rye, which is expected to be poor, must be surrendered to the Government, to ensure the nation's bread supply. Here again the comparison with Russia during the five-year plan is inevitable ; and as the decree forbids the use of corn or flour for fodder, and as fodder is already short in Germany, it may have serious effects on Germany's livestock. It is not surprising that, with such tendencies at work, German industrialists, including Herr Krupp von Bohlen, and Herr Thyssen, who is also said to be antagonised by the Church conflict, should have met at Dusseldorf to discuss measures for " protecting the interests of private industry."
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