PUZZLED NAZIS

Taranaki Central Press, Volume IV, Issue 389, 22 March 1937, Page 6

PUZZLED NAZIS

BIRTH-RATE PROBLEMS The Young Professionals. “More marriages and more chil dren” is." one of Nazi Germany’s outstanding slogans, but hov.' to apply it to everyday life mystifies good Nazis. The possibilities of carrying through this slogan have been largely discussed in the ‘third Reich. Tj|iie discussion has . shown that it will be extremely difficult to increase the number of German citizens at quickly a? desired. For practical economical reasons an engineer in Germany cannot marry before the age of 30, and the same may be said of almost all professional men in this countary, Ltates a German correspondent. Yet Nazis confess increased birth rfate is the only military, economic and racial safeguard for the future of Germany to protect the nation from being swamped by high birth rate nations of Eastern Europe. In a letter to the Deutsche Allgetneine Zeitung one of its readers recently worked out an interesting example, investigating the marriage possibilities of an engineer in Germany.

A l.ony Wait. The modern young man rarely leaves school before the age o£ 19J, alter going through four yeart of elementary school and nine years of grammar school. Then he will have to tlake up practical work in a fac tory for about one year and a haf* Either before or after this period the State Will fofee him to serve half a year in the labour service and two years in the a. my. A minimum of 4iV years’ studieu at a technical high school if. 1 necessary to enable him to pass the final State examination for’ his engineer’ll degree. Then the young man must find an apprenticeship in some’ firm. It will take him a further two years of practical work until he is financially in a position to marry. The tame is sjaid fir almost all professional men. Some of them may have to do less' practical' work, hut. that will be outweighed by even longer studies. The Government has made many provisions to encourage marrying and to increase the birth rate, Nazis tax bachelors l (and “old maids” to help big families. They cut the tax bill of married couples, giving them an extra reduction for each child. The Slate's “dowry loan” .fo encourage young couples and to remove women to the home has been extremely successful. It vacated jobs, it increased the purchases' of home equipment and helped the 'birth bate. The Stfate dowry loan is -given only, to applicants who are employed or can otherwise guarantee the return of the money, in very small instalments. Six hundred and fifty thousand couples received a total amount of a hundred and sixty million dollars 1 until October last year. Their debt is reduced for every new-borit chtM.

A Culture Drawback. ! Statisticians have already warned I the Nazis about one special drawback in their population polcy. They declared that the Government’s mar riage encouragement practically helped only the working classes, whereas’ the educated classes were neglected. Men of science warn that this policy will automatically reduce the general standard of education wnd culture in Germany. In view of the described situation, and considering the extremely low wages in Germany., young men were rather startled by one particular point in the admission rules for the courses of the Nazi “Schulungsburhen”'or "training castles.” Selected young men are trained in these modern castles to become the future leaders of the party organisations. The point which bewildered the future “Fuhrers” was not the fact that-they had to go in for parachute tumping to prove the courage required for their coming political tasks. But the daring young men were much more alarmed about a passage stating that it would be held against them if they 'Were not married at the age of 25, because that proved "lack of enterprise and weakness of character.”