84
the had conditions of payment in Germany which crop up con-tinually in the Enquete. The manufacturers had to wait three,four, or six months, and even 12 months and longer for payment.In reality there existed “termless terms”—a “complete anarchyin the method of payment” (37). Sir Walter Raleigh oncesimilarly complained to the English that the economical greatnessof the Dutch was founded on the system of cash payments.
The disadvantages pictured are only to be avoided by progres-sive division of labour. The manufacturer cannot he at the sametime commission agent, hanker, merchant, and retail dealer (38);he needs sound customers capable of paying. He fares best if thesale is concentrated in one market, and ’Change prices simplifythe struggle between buyer and seller. The search for customers,foreign as well as home, and the bearing of all possible risks ofdisposal are in any case difficult enough to necessitate the wholestrength of a man. Tire wholesale merchant alone is in a positionto pay the manufacturer in cash or on sure, short terms. Butespecially where export is in question is the dispersal of sales anoxtreme impediment. The manufacturer cannot follow thefashions in Australia and South America ; the foreign buyercannot travel from mill to mill.
There are undoubtedly at the present time in Germany arrange-ments made for the improvement of this important connectinglink between manufacturers and consumers (39). In Alsace therehas existed from the French period a commission agent (40) formediating the sales, a. function performed in England , later on,by the wholesale merchant. In North Germany exporters haveacted in many cases as sellers on their own account, as, on theother hand, large home houses have begun to attend in many casesto distribution on the inland market. Thus German industrystrives for that greatly advanced division of labour which inEngland has developed itself only gradually, and not. without diffi-
37. Report, pp. 100 and 101. “ Protokolle,” pp. 31,32, 73, 107, 200,211,
223, 202,‘314, 413, 450, 409, etc., etc.
38. “ Protokolle,” p. 434. Even the largest spinning-mills sell lots of100-200 lb., p. 460. Many weaving-mills supplied to measurements in ellsrequired.
30. “ Protokolle,” pp. 51, 20G, 248, 360, 410, 477.
40. There existed in Alsace , before the war, a cloth market, on which thechief articles had a ’Change-like value. Since then it has disappeared, andthe manufacturers of Alsace , in many cases, are just the ones who appear tovisit the retail sellers. Report, pp. 100 and 101. “ Protokolle,” pp. 314, 351.