GERMANY AS A LAND OF PLENTY.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XL, Issue 12536, 6 May 1915, Page 2

GERMANY AS A LAND OF PLENTY.

•'All twaddle, this starvation talk," says Maximilian Harden, the editor of ■the brilliant Berlin Zukunft, and his opinion coincides with that of several British editors who for some time past have been saying that, despite all reports to the contrary, there never has been a serious shortage of food, in Germanv. The British idea is .that these starvation tales "have been engineered to arouse American sympathy," but Herr Harden is quite of another opinion. He thinks that it is a campaign merely intended to arouse hatred of England," and l having ' branded it as an untruth, he proceeds to tear it to pieces in ' h.W characteristic fashion. He says:—

"Even in the brains of serious-"Ger-man folk there has grown up the crazy theory that the German standard of living' has depreciated. Everywhere, appeals, lectures, instructions, warnings about our food. Eat K. and KK. bread. (The Paris wits are making fine jokes about it.) Never scorn dry crusts. Cook your potatoes in their skins. Save your kitchen refuse. Don't let the grocer's boy cross your threshold. If we don't eat the pigs, the pigs will eat us. No flonr on Sundays! Take your bread tickets to the restaurant! Tlie patriotic duty of the housewife! The bread-ticket in the palace of the Hohenzollerns! Warcookery! Nationalise the potato! War cook-books! "Female busybodies with an itch for notoriety tell us what a delightful morsel can.be made from the eye*and tail of a herring (God punish England). Eat your mess yourself, you advertising chatterbox. "All this twaddle injures Germany. Are we in danger of famine This firebrand was merely meant to inflamo the hatred against England." The editor- of the Zukunft then proceeds to investigate the real state of affairs and paints the following vivid picture of actual conditions:—

"Even- if the war were to last ovei another winter, we should' never be reduced to the -traits of the Parisians in 1871 who had to serve up dogs, cats, and rats as meals for human beings. Nay. Hundreds of thousands live today more lavishly than in peace times. They live even disgustingly well. In peace time the husband drank or loafed. Npw he is with tlw colors, and sends home the pay he can not use, while the landlord and many a cred : ito>must wait for their money. Churches, societies, clubs, and private persons open their purses wide.

"AVhat's for dinner Roost goose, apple pie, meringues with cream, canned asparagus, trout, chocolate, and cake. Off goes the woman to Tietz's. Jandorf's. and other department stores bargain-hunting. She drops m on the fortune-teller. ('You will receive a Jotter.') Next a vis:t to the movies. (' Her Last Dance.' 'The Submarine Guardian Angel,' ' The Latest AYar Films.') This is no uncommon da v.

"Plenty of employment. Foodstuffs packed to the ceiling. Cakes enough to withstand a siege of children. Milk, fruit, bacon, beer, fish, vegetables, tongue, sausage, wine, cheese—everything the daintiest feeder could wish for. All the streets are bright. All the cafes are full at 4 p.m. Two dozen theatres open. Hundreds of movies. Concerts, circus. Spring jackets, and ' between-season ' hats. AYhy. the thing is like a fair. And yet German lips prattle about famine!"

Herr Harden, it might be said, is almost too picturesque to be reliable, but next comes the A r ossische Zeitung. the staid and reliable. "Aunty A 7 oss," as the Berliners call it, with ample confirmation :

"We are well provided with the means of living and our financial and industrial armor is as sound as ever. In spite of war. German trade and industry are well provided with work and willing hands, <and even the traffic in luxuries has not entirely ceased. The transport of goods on the railroads is only a little behind its normal volume. Our mines have no lack of skilled workmen. Our smelting-furnaees are working up to 62 per cent, of their capacity, as compared with 55 per cent, for the American furnaces, and the regulated output of the ironworks enables higher prices to be obtained all along the line. AA'e may truly say that there is no crisis.

' "Best of all. is the position of the Reichsbank. AVeok by week, a steadystream of gold reaches it from our home exchange. The gold reserve .since the beginning of the war until now has stood at an enormous sum. The paper money of the bank is covered to the extent of -IS per cent, by gold, a fact which we can view with all the greater pride since the paper of France is only covered to the extent, of 40 lier cent. In the same way, our 'Three per cent.' State loans stand at 70J, whereas the French Rentes are down to 68',."