organising ability in commerce and industry are practical men, who
look at the war and the days to follow the war in the cold light of
debit and credit. This being the case, the honest opinions
expressed by Arthur von Gwinner, President of the Deutsche Bank,
are worthy of serious consideration. His chief points were:--

1. The belief cherished by the mass of the nation that a Central
Europe Economic Alliance will amply compensate us for any
shortcomings elsewhere, and enable us to sit back and snap our
fingers at the rest of the world is too absurd to be entertained by
serious men. Our trade, import and export, with Austria-Hungary
was as great as it could be for many years to come, and it was only
a small part of our total trade. After the war, as before, the
bulk of our trade must be with countries now neutral or enemy, and
we must seriously consider how to hold and add to this trade in the
future.

2. The solution of the labour problem will be vital in the work of
reconstruction. We must make every provision in order to forge
rapidly ahead immediately after the close of the war.

_No German, except for necessary reasons of State, should be
allowed to leave the country for a number of years after the war_.

3. Before the war 3,000,000 Russians came to us every year at
harvest time. These must continue to come.

4. We have done wonderful work in scientific agriculture, but the
limit of productivity of the soil has undoubtedly been reached.