The Brookings register. [volume] (Brookings, Brookings County, S.D.) 1903-1971, 1918-12-19
CHAPTER XVII.
The Economic Situation in Germany

The Economic Situation in Germany.
By the spring Of 1916, butter and
meat had become extremely scarce in
Berlin. My wife had remained in
America, where she had accompanied
me in the summer Of 1915, and during
her absence | dined at hotels and res
taurants where the food was still
rather good. In June, 1916, | left for
America again and just as | vas !eav-
ing meat cards were issued for the
first time.
| returned to Berlin with my family
in October. 1916. Conditions had
changed considerably for the worse
during the summer. / found that
every one who had the money had
bought up every available pound of
food and soap which had nor already
been Communicated by the govern
ment. Butter, potatoes, eggs, milk,
flour, sugar, soap, bread and meat and
dry groceries were all rationed and it
was now no longer necessary for woIn-
en- to stand in line in front of the
shops, sometimes all night, to await
the morning opening.
Shopping By the card system was
very complicated and the quantities
permitted by the ration cards so small
that a w~ell-balanced mea. was On i'm
possibility. TO dine In "A restaurant it
was necessary to take a whole pocket
full of cards and make q careful analy-
sis of them before ordering the mea-
ger meal which the law allowed.
Empty boxes were used to decorate
the depleted show windows Of the
shops. The fact that they were empty
was not known to the public and very
often the windows would be broken by
hungry mobs who couldn't resist the
sight of what appeared to be so much
food. This led the government to or
der the shopkeepers to label the boxes:
Empty Boxes" in order to avert such
disturbances and riots.
There was simply nothing to buy In
the food line except substitutes, and of
thsse there were hundreds, each worse
than the last. The remark: "If things
get much worse, we shall SOOn be eat
Ing rats as the Parisians did in 1870"
brought the rejoinder: "Well, that
wouldn't be so bad what I'm dreading
Is the time when we shall have to be
content with rat-substitute |"
When we finally had cards for cof-
fee-substitute l gave up interest in
substitutes and commenced to patron
lie the spectators, figuring that 1t was
better to risk the penalties imposed by
the law for such violations of the food
regulations than to ruin our health
through undernourishment.
For q long time we were permitted
to receive presents" Of bacon, ham,
sausages, eggs and butter from Den
mark, but this was finally prohibited
through the influence of the Central
Einkaufs Gesellschaft (The Central
Society for Buying Food From Other
Countr1es) which found that 1t was
interfering with their graft.
This society was formed by O COM
pany of clever Jewish business men to
buy food from foreign countries and
sell it to the people, a small percent
age of the profits going to the govern
ment. 1t not only developed into a
most successful enterprise from the
standpoint of profit, its prosperity be-
ing augmented by graft, but 1t provided
a haven for the Stacker sons Of the
prOprietors and stockholders. Just be-
fore / left Berlin, this company, to
hide their war profits, bought a build
ing for three million marks, which they
claimed was needed for the business.
One Of the sub%terfuges resorted to
ceal the extent of their gains and es-
cape taxation was to invest their sur
plus earnings in works of art and other
expensive luxurieS. AS the tax assess
ments were based principally upon the
individuals bank deposits and the tax.
collecting machinery was very much
out of gear 1t was comparatively easy
to evade the law by careful manipula-
ton of ones bank account, and by dis
bursting profits received without hav-
ing them 60 through the bank. A Ger
man whom I knew told me that he had
disposed of an oil painting which had
cost him $500 for no less than $S5, 1000.
| the price Of works Of art and antiques
having increased to a remarkable ex-
tent because of the demand for them
from tax dodgers.
Under the stress Of the changed
food conditions the hungry German
soon replaced the honest German. Ger
mans had always had a reputation for
honesty, but their claims to such dis
tinction disappeared with the food sup
ply. Necessity soon brought out all
that was worst In the German char
acter. *
Although the government decreed a
high fine and Imprisonment as pun
ishment for buying or selling anything
which had been Communicated, specu-
lators sprang up on every side and
people Dragged openly Of what they
had stored away.