Note 21 — Chapter XX · GERMANY FROM 1918 TO 1923

So far as productive capacity is concerned German shipyards have more than returned to their pre-war position. The new Deutschland, just completed, was the largest vessel launched in the world in 1922. In 1922 Germany was an easy second to Great Britain in building, her shipyards turned out 187 vessels of 526,000 tons. Not excepting Great Britain, every country except Germany turned out a smaller tonnage in 1922 than in 1921. In 1928, if the record of 1922 is kept up, Germany will have completely recovered from the effects of the war on her shipping. Similar reports from credible sources have come to me concerning airplane building. Germany is again leading the world in production of light motors, and has invented a new Diesel engine. The activity of Germany in Russia is emphasized by the concessions agreement signed at Moscow on May 18, 1923, by which the German Eastern Relations Society received 2,000,000,000 acres of forest land and the exploitation of the Moscow-Rybinsk Railway. German firms lead the field in export and import privileges in Russia.