Evening star., 1918-08-08
GERMAN SPECTATORS BRAG or.
STORES AS PEOPLE GET LITTLE

I we couldn't eat them-I gave up In
| terest in substitutes and commenced
| to patronize the spectators, figuring
| that 1t was better to risk the PEN
alties imposed by the law for such
violations of the food regulations
than to ruin our health through un'
dernourishment.
For a long time we were permitted
| to receive presents" of bacon, ham
I sausages. eggs and butter from Den.
mark. but this was finally prohibited
through the influence of the Contra
Einkaufs Gesellschaft-"'The Centra
Society for Buying Food From Other
| Countries'-which found that 1t was
interfering with its graft.
This society was formed by a com
pany Of clever Jewish business mer
| to buy food from foreign countries
and sell 1t to the people. a small per
centage Of the profits going to the
government 1t not only developed
| into a most successful enterprise
from the standpoint OF profit. its pros.
1t provided a haven for the Stacker
sons of the proprietors and stock
| holders. Just before I left Berlin
this company. to hide its war pronts
bought a building for 5000 900 marks
which it claimed was needed for the
business.
one of the subterfuges resortsd to
by some of the war prohteers toecon-
ceal the extent Of their gains and
escape taxation was to invest their
surplus earnings in works OF art and
other expensive luxuries. AS the
tax assessments were based prtnct-
pally upon the individuals bank de-
posits and the tax-collectfng ma
chinery was very much out OF gear II
was comparatively easy to evade the
law by careful manipulation OF ones
bank account and by. disbursing
n-oat, racaivsd wtfhout having them
go through the bank. A German
whom I knew told me that he had
disposed of an oil painting which had
cost him $500 for no less than $s5, 5,o0o'
the price Of works Of art and an
tiaues having increased to a remark
able extent because OF the demand
for them from tax-dodgers.
Brought Out Worst in Character.
Under the stress of the changed
food conditions the hungry German
soon replaced the honest German.
Germans had always had q reputation
for honesty. but their claims to such
distinction disappeared with the 1000
sunpIy. Necessity soon brought out
ali that was worst In the German
Although the government decreed
a high fine and Imprisonment as pun
ishment for buying or selling any
thing which had been commandeereo.
speculation sprang up on every SIDE
and people Dragged openly OF what
they had stored away.
An officer on a train was overheard
to saw: "One-h half of the women In this
town should be in the insane asylum
and the other half in jail" When
asked the reason for his cryptic re-
mark, he explained: well, half the
women ought to be in jail for ham
g'-hoarding-and the rest OF
them, who are not hearding, must GER
tainiy be crazy" I think the oficer
must have been wrong in his calcu-
lations, for I, at any rate. never ran
across a single German at this time
who might be included in the insane
half. Every patient who came into
my office Dragged about some forbid
den article of food which he or she
had purchased and complained OF the
awful price exacted for 1t.
One speculator used to telephone my
wife regularly. Identifying himself by
the password: This is your good
friend Are you going to be at home
this morning?" Needless to say. my
wife usually managed to be in. as Il
meant food.This speculator looked
like a cutthroat, but we used to treal
him with the greatest consideration
offering him the best chair in the
house and a good cigar. After hi
made sure that no one was listening
at the door, he would reveal what II
was he had for sale. Sometimes he
had fifty pounds of butter at IS pei
pound. Another time 1t might be 200