EVERYDAY LIFE IN GERMANY.

Waikato Times, Volume 121, Issue 20266, 7 August 1937, Page 15 (Supplement)

EVERYDAY LIFE IN GERMANY.

(General Allardice in Spectator.)

THE CASUAL FOREIGN visitor m Germany to-uay is per naps strucit Jay tne outward appeal ance or prosperity ot which He sees eviuence all round; but there is a great deal more below the surface than above it. The fact that English travellers in Germany have registered marks, thereby getting some 20 K.M. per £1 instead of 12 K.M. for £l, which is the normal rate of exchange, is liable to make them think that prices are generally lew, calculating everything on the basis that 1 R.M. equals Is, whereas it really is the equivalent of Is Bd. But when commodities are valued at the correct rate of exchange (Is 8d), it becomes much more difficult to see how the people manage to exist at all, when one sees the Disparity Between Wages and Living Costs. Wages are paid by the month and all taxes are deducted before payment, and as every income over 600 R.M. per annum is taxed, this means that the vast majority of the population is taxed. There are some seven different taxes, which absorb roughly 25 per cent, of the total income, so that out of a salary of 160 R.M. per month, which is a good salary for a skilled workman, he only gets actually 120, or, in English money, instead of getting his £3 6s (approximately) per week, he actually gets £2 10s (approximately). Similarly, after taxes are deducted a secretary (girl) for unskilled work which does not need any particular training earns from 60-80 R.M. per month (equal to £5-£6 13s or £1 ss-£l 13s per week). A skilled shorthand-typist earns from 100-135 (£8 6s£ll ss) per month. A good clerk earns from 120-150 (£lO-£l2 6s) per month; a shop assistant 120-140 (£lO-£ll 10s) per month. With these salaries the people are expected to live; luckily rents, at least in the provincial towns, are low. But the prices of food and clothes compare very unfavourably with prices in England. This winter, like last winter, there has been a shortage of butter and fats throughout Germany; butter costs 1.60 R.M. per 600 grammes, approximately 2s 6d for the English pound. The butter available is divided up equally. Everyone has to put down his name on a list at the shop where he usually buys his butter; the amount supplied to the shop is then equally divided, but on Some Days There is None. There are three qualities of margarine which cost respectively 63 pfg. per 500 grammes (Hid per lb.), 98 pfg. (Is 63d per lb.) and 1.10 (Is 8d per lb.) Macaroni costs 60 pfg. (Is), vermicelli 70 pfg. (Is 2d). Coffee, which is almost the national drink and is drunk in Germany as tea is drunk in England, varies in price from an article at 46 pfg. (9d per lb.) which is not coffee but a mixture of roast barley and other roast cereals to 8.60 R.M. (or 6s 6d per lb.) when it is really coffee. Already there are fears that there will be a coffee shortage in the near future. The price of bread is difficult to compare with the price of English bread, since it is entirely different in quality, for a large amount of rye-bread is consumed; but the price has increased recently, though it is mainly the quality that has deteriorated, and since the middle of March it is illegal to make bread out of pure wheat; it must be mixed with 7 per cent, maize. But even before that proclamation was made the quality of the bread had deteriorated. The prices of materials, silks, wool, etc., have greatly increased, especially in the last eight months. It is No Longer Possible to Buy pure woollen materials; they are no longer made, for all woollen materials must contain a certain percentage of wool made from wood pulp, and the quality of .woollen materials, always more expensive in Germany than in England, has greatly deteriorated, and at the same time greatly increased in price; for example, a winter overcoat of tweed-like material costs from 120-160 R.M. (i'lo-£l3 6s) whereas in England a vastly superior quality coat could be bought for at any rate half the price. Another example is shirts; it is almost impossible to buy even an average quality shirt for anything under 8 R.M. (13s) and a good shirt costs 12-18 R.M. (£l-255). Shoes are comparatively cheap and range In price from 8-24 (13s-£2) though nothing ander 10 R.M. (17s 6d) is much good; nevertheless shoes are one of the cheaper things in Germany. But there is now a shortage of leather. For example, the price of a

Peep Beneath Surface :: A Blind Alley.

small leather suitcase which last August cost 14 R.M. (22s 6d) had by December risen to 24 (£2). In addition to the high cost of living and taxation, there are periodical collections during the winter months for the “ Winter-Help-Work.” This takes the form of a street collection, and everybody is stopped and has to give a minimum of 20 pfg. (4d) in exchange for which he receives a little badge, which differs each time there is a collection, and which excuses him from further contributions. In addition to street collections, there are collections once a month from house to house for sugar, coffee, flour, etc., and on one Sunday per month everybody must eat a meal consisting of only one dish, and what is thereby economised is Collected By the State; in actual practice this means that, at any rate from all except the really poor, they collect 60 pfg. (lOd) per person from every house. For the last three years there has been a gradual increase of price in every type of article or commodity, but the rise has been gradual and has to a certain extent not made itself felt so strongly as if it had suddenly taken place. That the rise of prices has been gradual is due to the rigorous control exercised by the Government. All trades are organised as corporations, with councils composed of members representing the Employers, Employees and the “ Party,” i.e., the National Socialist Party as distinct from the actual Government. Each superior trade council fixes the price at which goods are to be sold. The rise in price is due to the shortage in Germany of foreign currency, which is earmarked for buying armaments and necessary raw materials for armaments, and the “slogan” “ Guns before Butter” is not merely a catchword but an actual fact, though it goes far beyond butter, and includes almost anything which must be paid for in foreign currency. This restriction in foreign currency is ruining many businesses, for whenever imports are required, the importer has to apply to the Reich Bank for foreign currency, and the Reich Bank will only supply the amount it thinks fit, depending on whether it will be of use to the State or not. The fact that Germany Has No Credit Abroad, and very little foreign currency, has resulted in great efforts to find substitutes, especially for wool, cotton, rubber and petrol. Many substitutes have been found, for example sugar is being produced out of wood and woollen materials can be produced out of wood pulp, but these woollen materials are certainly inferior. In the shops, if one asks whether materials are made from real or synthetic wool, no answer is given. Recently a great drive has been made to find substitutes for metals, and here there has been a certain amount of success, for example, “ Presstoff,” a new 100 per cent. German product. From it are made objects which were formerly made of aluminium, lead and tin, and which now are made out of a purely German product, whereas aluminium, lead and tin articles contain 7 per cent., 50 per cent, and 56 per cent., respectively, of products which must be paid for in foreign currency. Presstoff, a form of bakelite, has been particularly used for water-pipes, gas-pipes and even ball-bear-ings. Another German product, “ Leichtmetal,” is replacing brass for handles of doors, glass is being made to replace metals for filters, etc., and a synthetic rubber has been produced which is said not to be damaged by steam. Petrol is also being produced out of coal, and sold for the same price as real petrol, 35-40 pf. (7d--8d) per litre, or 2s 7id-Ss per gallon. It is said that, so far, it is not satisfactory for aircraft. There is no doubt that life is becoming More and More Difficult, and that it offers remarkably few prospects. At the moment Germany is in a blind alley, distrusted by all who could help her, and offering no scope or prospects to her younger generations to whom war may seem to be the only source of salvation, for, if they won, all would be well again, and if they lost conditions could hardly be worse. This feeling will come in spite of a very genuine dislike of the idea of war which is felt by the Germans individually, and there lies the greatest danger.