"What the Lloyd has achieved under the Wiegand régime far surpasses anything accomplished in the past. "The Hamburg-Amerika Linie, meanwhile, had been alive to the needs of the times; and the consequence was a healthy competition between these two steamship companies--by far the biggest the world has ever seen--practically on all the seven seas. This competition, by intelligent compromise, was restricted within reasonable limits, the guiding spirits of the two concerns consciously adopting the policy implied by the strategic principle: 'In approaching the enemy's position we must divide our forces; in attacking him we must concentrate them.' "It would not be correct to say that this atmosphere of friendship had never been clouded--it would, indeed, have been tedious had it been otherwise than it was. Up to now, however, Wiegand and I have always been able to maintain pleasant relations between our two concerns, and in the interests of both of them it is sincerely to be hoped that this spirit of mutual understanding will continue to animate them in the future." CHAPTER VII THE TECHNICAL REORGANIZATION OF THE HAMBURG-AMERIKA LINIE In another chapter of this book the big passenger boats of the Hamburg-Amerika Linie have been described as the outcome of Ballin's imaginative brain. This they were indeed, and in many instances it is scarcely possible to say how far the credit for having built them is due to the naval architect, and how far it is due to Ballin. He was profoundly against employing _one_ system throughout, and on accepting the views of _one_ expert exclusively; and this aversion was so pronounced that he objected on principle to the nomination of any technical expert to the Board of his company. The company, he said, is surely going to last longer than a lifetime or two. Besides, it must try to solve the problem of perpetual youth, and therefore it cannot afford to run the risk of staking its fortune on the views held by one single man who is apt to ignore the progress of his science without noticing it. The same dislike of onesidedness induced him to encourage to the best of his capacity a healthy competition among the various shipyards, and to avail himself of the experiences gained not only by the German yards but by their British rivals also. At an early stage of his career close business relations were established between himself and Messrs. Harland and Wolff, of Belfast; and a personal friendship connected him with the owner of that firm, Mr. (now Lord) Pirrie. Acting upon the example set by the White Star Line, Ballin made an agreement with Messrs. Harland and Wolff as early as 1898, by which the latter bound themselves always to keep a slip at the disposal of the Packetfahrt. The reason which prompted Ballin to make this arrangement was, as he explained to the Board of Trustees, that the company's orders for new