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The Schacht trick has been a feat of State bookkeeping, does not involve the printing of marks of different kinds. In the main, Dr. Schacht's procedure has been simply to hold or "block" in Germany payments owed to a foreigner and refuse to transfer them to him abroad. The foreigner was told that he could use these "blocked marks" to buy goods in Germany or could sell them to someone else in his own country who wished to do so. Obviously the foreign creditor could sell his blocked marks only at a discount and the effect of this was the same as a subsidy enabling the German exporter to boost sales by quoting lower prices. As the system grew it became so complicated that Dr. Schacht's books now have entries representing some 20 different kinds of marks in actual use in three broad classifications : the Registered Mark, the Securities Blocked Mark and the Credit Blocked Mark.
Of late U. S. citizens selling to Germany have been accepting part payment in so-called "Aski Marks." "Aski" is composed of the initial letters of Auslander Sonder Konto fur Inlandszahlungen, meaning "Foreign Special Accounts for Domestic Payments." In practice the "special" feature of Aski Marks has been that they were only released or unblocked for transactions which the Nazis consider "essential." Last week these were killed, so far as the U. S. is concerned, when Dr. Schacht completely suspended payments in Aski Marks. He also killed "Barter Marks." In the past more than 50% of all German-U. S. trade has been conducted in Aski Marks for "essentials" and Barter Marks for "nonessentials." To wipe out these two was to deal deadly blows to trade. Yet Dr. Schacht followed with a third wallop which put out of action even ordinary Registered Marks.
With U. S.-German trade thus apparently due to sink toward zero, U. S. citizens this week could still buy at reduced rates for travel in Germany Tourist Marks. In Washington and in Berlin technical experts believed that surely President Roosevelt and Chancellor Hitler will now find it necessary—as foreseen by foxy Dr. Schacht—to open negotiations and make a brand new deal on U. S.-German trade.