Yarn Export to Germany The stoppage of Lancashire's yam export
to Germany .is a serious thing for both countries ; and we can only hope that the reported agreement between the British and German Governments regarding trade payments will set the wheels moving again. Failing that, some 50,000 operatives will remain out of work here, and a much larger number will be displaced in Germany. It is, of course, entirely a question of getting payment (for the past as well as the future) in face of the German Govern- ment's restrictions upon the foreign exchange. The fact seems to be that the German textile industries, which draw both their wool and their cotton from abroad, can only pay for their imports if Germany maintains her exports at a better level. Since the Nazis came into power, the mills have experienced a boom, owing to the enormous demand for uniforms. But this, which fundamentally meant importing an increased amount of foreign materials for home consumption, alleviated unemployment at the cost of worsening the foreign exchange. That boom is over now and the arrangement said to have been reached for financing future trans- actions does not cover past indebtedness.
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