Budapest, 10th of March 1920
Hungarian Factory Industry and the American Capital.
A leading article of the socialist paper "Népszava."
The world war shook the economic situation of the whole world. The countries involved lost all the raw material which was an important factor from the point of view of capitalistic mode of production, and all of it was used up for manufacturing man-murdering instruments.
Americas intervention helped to prolong the war and to annihilate the economics of Europe, spoiling its buying power, so that to drive Europe or at least the countries taking part in the war into the yoke of American capital.
Not only Central Powers but also those of the Entente perfectly lost their importance in the worlds market, as they are fully occupied with rebuilding the destroyed territories. The possibility of this exists in the countries of the Entente, but not in those of Centr. Eur. had least in our own. The American capital wants now to profit of the bad situation of these countries and drive them into the service of the dollar. Wants to make simple workers for hire not only from the workmen but from the industries and from commerce itself. The one should work for him only against cheap Crowns, and the other should buy from him for good dollars the articles produced for cheap crowns.
Now it experiments with Hungarian industrial interests, to which it wants to supply raw material to manufacture it with cheaper [labor] than the American in its factories our of work against paying the wages for the work done. The raw material had the manufactured goods are the property of the American capital. The factories, the Hungarian industries is the possibility to start the factories again, and the hope to be in possibility once in the future to make themselves independent once again later from the American capital and start to manufacture for their own account and for their full profit.
Some economists have already recognized the faults of this scheme, but the government wishes to further it with all means.
It is not the first experiment of American capital, it has tried the scheme in all countries whose industry was ruined by war. So it last tried it in Germany, were the textile trade was marked out to manufacture the raw material for hire. The manufactures were just as ready to deliver the raw material the industry to the American capital as they are here, and to be eternal [laborers] for hire, but did not put one big obstacle into their accounts, and that was the organization of the textile workers, which recognized the whole danger threatening the industry and did everything to prevent it. [page 2]
The [labor] organizations not only saw that this was no help for the German textile industry, but that it also makes it impossible to help the inland need for the products [of] the industry by this system. This would make simple "home workers" from the workmen as well as from the industry, and the American capital would sell its products wherever it could get the best price for it. But as it would be in the interest of Amer. capital to uphold this situation as long as possible, they would do everything for [stabilizing] it.
The German trades unions found this dangerous and therefore were looking for means of not only preventing it, but also the satisfying of the urgents needs of the inhabitants. The central of the German trades unions using its international connections procured a credit in Sweden and the central [organization] and other economical interests to manufacture the raw materials and now [organizes] manufacture of these raw materials. The agreement was also made to use only the necessary part for paying the credit for sale in foreign parts, whereas the rest must be sold in the country for consumption to help the necessities of inland market. This would leave about 60-[80]% for inland consumption.
The German workmen see the big importance of the reestablishment of German industry, but does not want to deliver it to either American or any other foreign capital. So German textile industry will be buying now raw materials and selling ready manufactured goods with the difference that its buying is made with the help of credit whereas the amount for the articles exported it gets even before shipping them in foreign currency or in other necessary raw materials.
This act of the German central of trades unions can not be followed up in our country without being charged with high treason from the part of those who would make the existence of trades unions impossible.
In any case we recommend to the circles [involved] to think of this before they proceed, as it would take very long time to recover from it, if Hungarian workmen and industries once are delivered to American of other foreign capital.
The Hungarian workman can be delivered to the foreign capital for some time, but this may have disastrous consequences in the future, as the workmen will later be looking for those possibilities for work, where he serves the interests of fewer intermediaries with his work.
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