GERMANY: Trend

Around a flashing, sputtering pinwheel of Parisian excitement last week spun this rumor:

“The German cartels [trusts] are preparing to raid the world market for orders by making a 10% cut in the price of all major German exports!”

In Berlin, at the hub of the pinwheel, pertinent facts were seen to be: 1) Rhenish and Westphalian producers of semi-finished iron and steel products cut prices 3% last week; 2) under an arbitral ruling by Minister of Labor Adam Stegerwald (Time, June 9) the Westphalian producers won last week the right to reduce 200,000 workmen’s wages 7½% next month; 3) in a trade circular the Westphalian metal syndicate urged other German industrialists to cut prices and wages, but for the time being this scheme remained a proposal, possibly a trend.