TOPICAL READING.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9713, 8 February 1910, Page 4

TOPICAL READING.

PROSPERITY. From all sides come authoritative statements regarding the growthj of Germany's prosperity, as shown by the large increase in the sale of Christmas presents to the masses. The manager of a leading hotel states that in bygone days there was a quiet season for the hotel trade in Berlin between the departure of the American and Enelish visitors in the autumn and their arrival in the spring. All that has changed nowadays, when Germans from the provinces crowd the rooms of this establishment throughout the winter, and when the residents of the capital flock to the expensive hotel restaurant, formerly the monopoly of the rich English and Americans who came to Berlin. The proprietors of leading houses of business declare that there has never been such a saason for the sale of articles of luxury - to all classes of the population. Moreover, the general prosperity is unmarred by the misery of the destitute poor, which is such a terrible feature of London at Christmas. Two English visitors to the capital, after viewing the wonderful sight of Berlin's business streets, packed with dense crowds of eager buyers, made a tour by motor car of the outlying and poorer quarters of the capital. After a search of three hours they were obliged to admit that they could not find a single slum, nor had they sighted a man, woman, or child bearing the unmistakable stamp of destitution. They would find no rags and no misery, but everywhere they saw convincing evidences of universal prosperity.