New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1917-04-10
~ CARL ". ACkERNN\


coo~s,. 1917 TIE Tribune Ascension
Registered ~ s-,ordaa.e vi'n 81, g'9rs '.'
canada 1917. TIC T-rIae A.-oia'.
The food dcpots are by far the most
successful undertaking OF the govern
mcnt. I'm Cologne and Berlin alone
close 20 100000 poor arc being TED
daily by municipal kitchens Last oc'o-
Der ! went through the Cologne FOOD
department with the director. The cry
has rented O. number Of large vacant
factory buildings and made them INTO
kitchens. Municipal buyers 90 through
the country to buy meat and vcge-
tables. This is shipped to Cologne. and
in these kitchens 1t IS prepared ~
women workers, under the direction OF
volunteers.
4 stew is cooked each day and sold
for - pfennigs about eight cents a
quart. The people must give up their
potato. fat and meat cards 20 obtain
iit In Berlin and all other large cities
the same system is used. In one Htchen
I'm Berlin, AZ the main market haiI'
10000 quarts a day are prepared.
In Cologuc this food is DISTRIBUTED
through the city streets by munlcipal
wagons. and the people get 1t almost
boiling hot. ready 10 cat Were II not
for these food depots there would be
many thousands Of peopl who "ouIG
st2rvc because they could not 0uN ana
cook such nourishing food for the price
the CITY asks. These food Kitchens
have been in use now almost a year
and. while the poor arc obtaining 1000
here. they are becoming very Urea OF
the supply. because they must eat
stews every day. They can have no'h-
ing fried or roasted.
Feeding the Middle Class
In addition to these kitchens the
Government has opened Throughout
Germsny "mittlestand kueche,' res
talrant for the middle classes. HefSe
Government employees. with Sma'i
wages, the poor who do not keep mouse
and others with little means. can Cd
tain n meal for 10 cents, consisting OF
a stew and dessert. But II is very
difficult for people TO live on TINS iood.
Most every one who is compelleo D!
circumstances 10 cat here Is losihg
weight and feels under-nourlshed All
the time.
A few months ago. after one OF my
secretaries had been called 70 INC
army. omploved another. lie nad
boen earning only 81 a week and had
IA .upport his wife. On this money
they ate AT the middle class cafes. IN
xix months he had lost twenty pounds.
Because the food ia so scarce ana pc
cause il lacks real nourishment peoPis,
cot all the time. II used 10 be sara
lofore the war that the Germans were
Tho bigpest eaters in Europe mat lhey
ato even meals a day. The blockade
las not made them less eaters. tor they
fat every few hours all day loug now
hut because the food lacks rats ana
sugars they need more food
Restaurants arc doing big business
because after one has eaten meal
a. any leading Berlin hotel at ] oclocan
in the afternoon one is hungry ny D
o'clock and ready for another "meal',
Last winter the Socialists Of Munlch,
yho saw that the rich were having
rlcnty of food and that the poor were,
visiting as best they could IN 1000
Kitchens. wrote Chancellor Won Beth-
mann-Hollweg and demanded he I'M
mediate confscation of all food IN Ger
many. even that in private residences
Nations Leaders Safeguarded
Tho socialists demand was, as are
most others, thrown into the waste
basket because men like the Chancellor,
President Batocki Of the Food Depart
rent. wealthy bankers. statesmen ana
army generals have country estates
where they have stored food Tor an III
definite period. They Know tnal 10
lnatter how hard the blockade plnche5
tbe neonle il won't starve them.
when the Chancellor invites people
to his nalace he has real coffee. whit,
road plenty Of potatoes, cake ana
r'eot Bcing a government official NJ
con oct what he wants from the lC9d
Jcnor+mcnt. So can other officials
Therefore. they were willing 10 dlsle-
1ard tho demand Of the Bavarian So
cislists. 49,.
But the Socialists. although they
cont oct publicity when they start
scmetbiug. don't give up until they &C
comnlish what they set out TO 90
Ijrst they enlisted the Berlin social
,sts. and the report went around inc
nconle that the rich we're going 10
Conenhagen and bringing back food
vbIle the poor starved. So the govern
mont had TO prohibit all food from
g, ming into Germany by way OF Den
mark unless IT was imported by the
government. To-.
That was the first success OF the ia,
varia, Socialists. Now they have had
,rotbcr. Batoch is reported as having
announced that all food supplies VIII
no confscated. The Socialists are re-
aponsiblc. ,u
Excepting the very wealthy and those
who have stored quantities Of food tor
tho siege" every German Is under
rourishcd. A great many people are
starving. Tnc head physician OF the
Kaiscrin Augusta Victoria Hospital, IN
Berlin. stated that $4,000 children dIed
i'm Berlin i'm 1916 from lack of food.
The "Lokal-AnzeICcr' printed the item
and the Foreign Office censor prohlb-
tied me from sending i 20 New ora
But starvation under the blockade ~
O slow process. and 10 has not yet
reached The army. When ] was on the
Somme battlefelds last November ana
IN Rumania in December the soldier
we're not only well fed. but they had
Injuries which their families at home
did not have. Two years ago there was
80 much food az home the women sent
food boxes to the front. To-day the
soldiers not only send but carry guam
titles Of food from the front to their
homes. The army has more than the
people.
II is almost impossible 20 say
whether Germany. as nation. can be
starved into submission. Everything
depends upon the next harvest. the
length Of tho war and future military
operations The German government, ]
think. can make the people mold GU.