Life in Germany

Levin Daily Chronicle, 6 August 1918, Page 1

Life in Germany

HOW THE WORK IS BEING DONE. EVERY MAN, WOMAN, AND CHILD UTILISED. In the fourth year ot llio war tho Germans arc not worrying as to whether the man of 55 is lit for military or national service, writes finest Lionel Pyke (the last Briton peniiittcd to leave Germany) in the "Han -JSl'ancisci Chronicle." Nearly three goal's' ago the German High Command adopted a simple plan for utilising their man-power. All cxcept tho maimed, the halt, and the blind were roped in to do work of national importance. The streets of Berlin are not crowded with able-bodied citizens strolling along, blissfully believing that the w;ar is being won for them. No, indocd. The High Command gave them a sort of junior partnership; the wage was only five shilling a day, it is true, but every Hun was given to understand very plainly indeed that his private feelings and interests did not matter in the least.

There are no crowds of comparatively young men flocking into the railway stations at Fricderiehstrasse, Zoological Gardens, and Licter Barnsholf. No nimble young porter is waiting to take your luggage or call a taxicab; there arc no taxicabs, for one thing. No., a knicker-bockcrcd, plain-faced Hun female surlily graos your belongings, throws" them into a carriage, and, in common with all Germans, waits with outstretched hand .for the tip.

ALL MEN UTILISED. Piccadilly and the Strand, with their well-lillcd restaurants, would cause the average German to go into an apoplectic lit. Liverpool Street and King's Gross stations at night would make him wonder if the stupid English were not really more idiotic than he ever hoped f6r. I do not know if the Germans will ever get the opportunity to read this, but I hope they will. Then, perhaps, another nail will be driven into the coffin of the official liars whose business it is to amke thtir long-suf-fering countrymen believe that England is at her last gasp.

i Fancy telling the German War Office a man of certain age is no use to the nation! Anything on two legs between tho ages of 15 and 60 is useful to tho Germans. Men of 50 guard the prison camps, some of theni too weak to stand the weight of their rifles. There is no such thing in Germany as a business house pleading that a young man is indispensable to them; it would be lese majesto of tho worst description. There are no complaisant tribunals to listen with sympathetic ears to the tale of a small wife and a large family. You cannot'do those things in Hu land; sentiment is entirely dead about sueh matters.

Every young man in Germany .'.I for the trenches has to go; his place.-is taken by ono of the fifty-year-olds. The streets do not teem with hale and hearty men discussing what their brave boys are doing at the front. War is a business with the Germans, and it is a. Business in which every German is

compelled to take more than a passing interest. I ALL CITIZENS EXAMINED.

It is the proper utilisation of his nan-power which makes the German ;uch a formidable enemy, and accounts for the position lie is in to-day. There 's no time wasted in discussing whether a man is physically callable of working for the nation at 50 years of age. Two eyes, two logs, and two arms —that is all the high command asks cor. He is soon found work essential to tho winning .of tho war. Once a month all able-bodied citizens are medically examined, and the doctors are not ;o obliging as ours. You are not asked '.f you have ever suffered from any particular disease. The past does not inierest the German.

There ate over 2,000,000 prisoners of .var in Germany, most of them liug; .dans. When I left Berlin they were still to be seen about the streets, drivng carts, cleaning the streets, repairing the tramways. I do not think the gentle German has any intention of letting them return to their native land )'ct awhile. Women and children do uost of the work in the big stores. Sven the men of 50 and over cannot 'ie employed there. The administrative departments of the Army are carried on by badly wounded men. There are no "cusliy" jobs there cither. Men up to 45 are put into the trenches, those up to 50 lines of communication, escort prisoners, dig trenches, man the medical services. In Buhleben wo had a mixed jollection for a guard. There . were commercial travellers, bank clerks, porters, and farmers (who had frequent Jeave). Highly skilled people like druggists and opticians were all employed in working for. the army. ARMY FOOD APPALLING.

The streets of Berlin are not filled with young men who should have been ] lighting for their country three years »go. Most of those I saw during my numerous visits to the German capital had been discharged and were sporting the black and ,white ribbon of the Iron Cross. There ar c no "On War Service" badges to be seen in Berlin. The whole system is so beautifully simple. Either you are in th 0 army, or, for some very good reason, you are not. You may bo on "civil dienst" (civil duty), in which case you receive live marks a day, as compared with the thirty-three pfennigs the privato soldier received, although even then you are not guaranteed the greatest inducement any German can bo offered —that of three, square meals a day. Food in the German army is apparently appalling, judging from the rations I saw supplied to the prison guard in Euhlcben. The food was so bad that tho men used to search' our offal tubs for scraps left froni our meals. From the Gorman point of view the question of man power is purely one of business. I do not think thc-War Office has ever thought of a man being physically lit for work. If lie is able to earn liis living in civil life he must bo able to work for the army, so the army takes him. The present age limit in Germany is 4S, but men up to <>0 are by the authorities if required. NATIONAL FEELING VANISHES. National feeling in Germany has entirely disappeared, or, at any rate, is almost imperceptible. The Kaiser-Hiri-henburg-Ludcndorfl* conspiracy has over-awed all free thought in the country. Elderly women take the exploitation of their menfolk quite calmly; they realise that the var i? the only tVing that" matters in Germany now. Mothers rvillingly allow their bov.H of 1-1 and 15 to lie employed on Government work; it releases a man for the front, and, according to the German idea, that is

work of national importance. Boys and girls of comparatirely;'tender years carry on an enormous amount of work in Bci'lin to-day. Many of tho shops I used to visit werc r entirely staffed by young people. The. waiters in the iiotols are young boys and very, old men with, pirhttjis, an" occasional' dis-' charged soldier. Germany has only; ono .business on hand to-day; *that is th« ; winning of the war.' Will English -people never realise this? Will ! thoy r acver, understand, that all -Gcrman'.'in|:terpst.s are submerged in the national interest' of emei'ging successfully from t'ho- \v;ir?