German Firms Plan Branches in England

According to a dispatch in the London News Chronicle today, the Nazi government has authorized the opening of eighteen German factories manufacturing women’s clothes in England on the following conditions: fifty per cent of the materials to be used in the English branch factories must be of German origin; a trustee representing the German government must supervise all financial transactions, and there must be no dismissals of workers in the home factories in Germany.

By establishing branch factories in England, the German firms hope to be able to compete in the sale of goods to the British colonies and dominions and in the English market.

Sir John Gilmour, British Secretary of State for Home Affairs, declared that preliminary inquiries on the establishment of the German factories have been received. He said that he had complete powers to prohibit the establishment of factories in England by foreign firms until a bill now before the Parliament permitting such factories had received royal assent.

Earlier reports in London newspapers stated that eighteen German clothing firms were planning to remove their plant to England altogether.

While ostensibly the German clothing firms would like to move their factories to England to meet British competition, it is felt here in industrial circles that the real object of the German manufacturers is to escape the boycott on German-made goods, which is known to have seriously affected German trade.

Establishment of German branch factories in England would enable the Germans to place “made in Great Britain” labels on their goods and would thus circumvent the boycott, since it would be almost impossible to identify goods labeled in this fashion.

Tariff regulations in most countries of the world merely specify that goods must be clearly marked with the country of their origin.

Strenuous opposition to the German plan is expected from British industrialists, particularly the Manchester cotton goods factory owners, whose mills were idle for years and even now are working on a part-time basis.