Neue Freie Presse
- A Manifesto for Free Trade
- Signing of the International Rail Cartel
- Bassermann as Egmont
On 19 October 1926 the Vienna Neue Freie Presse led with an editorial on a newly published manifesto for free trade. It hailed the manifesto as a mighty trumpet blast but complained that it came late, asking why eight years had had to pass since the armistice before such golden principles were taken up. A telegram from Luxembourg reported that the international rail agreement had been signed at a meeting in London; the German delegation asked for time to consult its principals but was expected to sign later, and the treaty rested on the earlier provisional basis. The feuilleton reviewed Albert Bassermann as Egmont, describing a hero who loves life, knows no enemy and walks smiling to his downfall.
Translation
A Manifesto for Free Trade.
… and by other eminent … Vienna, October 19. It is a mighty trumpet blast, but it comes late. Right insights are always welcome, yet the question presses itself painfully upon us: why did people not think this way in time and act on these golden principles? Why did eight years have to pass since the armistice before, in all countries …
Signing of the International Rail Cartel.
Telegram from our correspondent. Luxembourg, October 18. At a meeting in London the international rail agreement has now been signed. The German delegation asked for time to consider, in order to consult with its principals. It can, however, be taken as certain that the Germans too will sign subsequently. The agreement was concluded on the previous provisional basis, with the above reservation.
Bassermann as Egmont.
[?] triumphant over life, which he loves as a lover loves. He loves his victories and his power; he loves people and the woman who gives herself to him. He has no enemy. He believes no enemy. Sleepwalking, smiling, he walks along the edge of destruction. So he falls, and his brightness turns the night white.
Context
Who signed the free-trade manifesto
The document the editorial greets was a round robin signed by more than 100 of the world's leading financiers, calling on European nations to remove their tariff barriers, as TIME reported in its issue of 1 November 1926. Its title was "A Plea for the Removal of Restrictions upon European Trade." American signers included John Pierpont Morgan and Albert H. Wiggin of the Chase National Bank; among the Europeans were Montagu Norman, Governor of the Bank of England, and Hjalmar Schacht, President of the German Reichsbank. TIME listed the presidents of the state banks of a group of countries, with Austria first, each accompanied by a large contingent of financiers, so Austrian finance took part directly in the appeal the Vienna paper was discussing. Even France, which TIME called arch-protectionist, supplied René Laederich, a regent of the Bank of France, and eight other financiers.
The manifesto's case against new customs frontiers
The editorial's lament that eight years had passed since the armistice echoes the diagnosis in the manifesto itself. As quoted by TIME, the bankers argued that the break-up of great political units in Europe had dealt a heavy blow to international trade, as new frontiers were erected and jealously guarded by customs barriers. They condemned states that based their commercial relations on the economic folly of treating all trading as a form of war, and they warned that restricted imports involve restricted exports and that no nation can afford to lose its export trade. The Neue Freie Presse accepted these ideas as right insights and golden principles; its reproach was directed at the delay, asking why people had not thought and acted this way in time.
How Washington and the markets reacted
President Coolidge answered the manifesto from the protectionist side. According to TIME, he reminded the nation that those who lend money are ever anxious for international free trade, and added that the Republican party stood ready to defend those who earn money in the United States with its tariff shield. American signers distanced themselves from any domestic implication: John J. Mitchell of the Illinois Merchants Trust Bank said the manifesto was not intended to have any reference to the United States. TIME judged that the document seemed destined to produce no real effect, yet reported that it caused marked temporary fluctuations on both the New York Stock Exchange and the Berlin Bourse. TIME's account dates from 1 November 1926, about two weeks after the Vienna editorial.
The London rail agreement and the new steel cartel
The rail treaty reported from Luxembourg belonged to the oldest of the large international cartels. The International Rail Makers Association was a cartel for the export of rail profiles, run from the beginning on quotas, and cartel specialists regard it as the oldest larger international cartel; its seat was in London from at least 1926. An agreement among rail producers dated 12 March 1926 is counted as a precedent for the broader International Steel Agreement, which was created on 20 September 1926 under the leadership of Fritz Thyssen, Luxembourg's leading industrialist Émile Mayrisch and others. The paper's remark that the treaty was concluded on the previous provisional basis fits a sequence in which rail producers had already reached an agreement in March before the signature reported in October. The quotas later recorded for 1927 show what was at stake for Germany: 19.5 per cent, or 195,000 tons, against 288,272 tons in 1925. The paper gives only the need to consult principals as the reason for the German request for time; a quota below earlier export levels is one plausible reason German producers weighed the terms carefully. Austria was among the smaller members of the rail cartel.
Albert Bassermann and the role of Egmont
Albert Bassermann was considered one of the greatest German-speaking actors of his generation and received the Iffland-Ring. The Neue Deutsche Biographie describes him as an actor schooled in naturalism, in whose art the psychological dominated, characters were dissected and the effect of milieu was everything; later he achieved mature portrayals of classical roles such as Mephisto, Hamlet, Othello and Wallenstein. Egmont was already in his repertoire: in 1915 he had appeared in the play with Victor Barnowsky at the Deutsches Künstlertheater. The same biography notes that he came to live almost entirely on guest tours, and in the 1920s he also played on the Vienna stage at the Neue Wiener Bühne. The image of a sleepwalking, smiling Egmont who has no enemy and falls in radiance is the reviewer's own reading of the performance.
Original
Ein Manifest für den Freihandel.
und von anderen hervorragenden Wien, 19. Oktober. Es ist ein mächtiger Posaunenstoß, aber er kommt verspätet. Richtige Erkenntnisse sind immer wohltuend, aber schmerzlich drängt sich doch die Frage auf, warum hat man nicht rechtzeitig so gedacht und nach diesen goldenen Grundsätzen gearbeitet? Warum mußten acht Jahre seit dem Waffenstillstand vorübergehen, damit in allen Ländern
Unterzeichnung des internationalen Schienenkartells.
kartells. Telegramm unseres Korrespondenten. Luxemburg, 18. Oktober. In einer Zusammenkunft in London ist jetzt der internationale Schienenvertrag unterzeichnet worden. Die deutsche Delegation erbat sich eine Bedenkzeit, um mit ihren Auftraggebern Rücksprache zu nehmen. Es ist jedoch als sicher anzunehmen, daß auch die Deutschen nachträglich unterzeichnen werden. Der Vertrag kam auf der bisherigen provisorischen Grundlage mit der obigen Reserve zustande.
Bassermann als Egmont.
[?] Triumphator über dem Leben, das er wie ein Liebhaber liebt. Er liebt seine Siege und seine Macht; er liebt die Menschen und die Frau, die sich ihm hingibt. Er hat keinen Feind. Er glaubt keinem Feind. Nachtwandlerisch, lächelnd, geht er am Rande der Vernichtung. So stürzt er, und seine Lichtheit macht die Nacht weiß.