The citizen-Republican. (Scotland, Bon Homme County, S.D.) 1???-19??, 1918-12-05
The Zentrdle.
Brand Whi.ioek,
, E.arvhn1v's Msnari0R.

II ,,scd "a he one OF our most cherished
syperstitions, a part indeed OF outssas
stock lii trade, in the old days OF hauntSt-
pal reform in America that German GLOSS
were Ideally governed. l had accep1ed
all that was written about them and never
had airy doubts until. myself making Gel
tain studies in Germany, ] WAS sotu atsmS
Katfaus In Dresden, when \ innoeenty
incurred what salary the mayor was patp,
that my question was indiscreet. ! fouhu
some police scandals in Berlin OF the Ia
miliar kind, and in another city SON.
population, but I assured myseiI lia.
these incidents must be ~excepeiohai' IN.
determined to be orthodox In reform. WcAe
on believing as before. But II there Is any
analogy between the methods empioyco -
German cities and those that ! opse..su
on the part of certain Geheimrnte tprlss
councillors) in Belgium, y tninK Wy
might much better be muck raked n
our own.
I suppose. now, that German methods
| Impressed US because they We're foreign
! and mysterious and we knew nothihs
| about them. Any machine" IN an AIn en
can city Will gladly govern the CITY, anu
| govern it with more or less efficiency. on
| the same terms. We never put our pese
| foot forward. The slightest isreguiarity,
| the least mistake. is published from .ne
housetops and cried abroad, the weikfh
| always ringing with denunciations OF
some one, and the atmosphere darkeheG
| by the flying missiles OF the UNIVERSE
and r~ecrirninatory accusation charge anu
Indictment that is always going on. NO
doubt 1t all has It's effect as e po sirs
measure and proves us to be a very VT
tuous people, either searching out OUT
own sins with q remorselsss m iHnplac-
able conscience, or else searching out the
sins Of our neighbors. There was mons
Of this In German cities. and there was
none and could be none in occupied Bel
GUM, and 80 the Zentraie had pretty
much their own way.
For such dark, subterranean systems Of
corruption there Is no cure anywhere but
IN the Illuminating influence OF publicity,
md with conditions as they were In Bel
GUM it was impossible to let In the puri-
flying. andsepttc light
l had supposed at first that the Zen
traie was simply another expression OF
wha has been SO widely extolled in the
English speaking world as German eff
cheney and genius for organization, but as
time went on j learned more about them.
They were a mere adaptation of tho
German theory of mechanical distribu-
ton OF product-militarism, socialism and
plutocracy working hand in hand. They
were in reality limited companies to which
the government OF occupation granted
monopolies. hat is, the Butter entrale
Zentraie had a monopoly OF potatoes,
when 1t could get any,, and SO on as to
all sorts OF products.
The zentra,e multiplied: there was 9
zentraIe for everything. in the end, one
even for Jam.
Again and again we made representa-
tons as to the abuses to be attributed
to the Zentrale. There were in the Ger
man administration those who did moi
hesitate privately to recognize their evil
and. in the limited circle where sucf
things were known. they became a scan
dial, but nothing was done, and under tht
civil administration new Zentraie wera
constantly organized.