Evening star., 1918-08-10

dren when the war started. The cost
OF living has steadily gone up, as we
| all know. but that professors salary
sasa snsa mss Ss Sas Sns penny Sssn make
extra work, and he has almost ruined
his health through the strain of over
work combined with insufficient
nourishment, for both he and ais wife
had been skimping themselves on food
that their children might get enough.
Goes Into Army to Die.
Some months ago this professor
told me that his eldest boy was within
a few months. of military age, but he
was SO under nourished that IL he
were pulled into the army he would
never be able to stand the strain of
active training. They took him just
the same, and two months later he
died. A few months after that the
youngest child became sick from
under nourishment and he died too.
Then the mother collapsed from grief
and starvation and when she was
taken to the hospital the professor
had to assume entire care of the re.
naming children besides fulfilling his
regular duties.
And now. friends" the speaker
went on, that poor professor has col
lapsed, too. and the children are in
the hands of the authorities. tell
| soos iiCit, tual lHGTc are tnOuSanQS
of other families whose cases are no
better than this one. We and our
children are starving while the land
owners and the profiteers are making
twenty times what they got in peace
time and can buy all the food they
want. How long are we going to
stand it; how long?"
There was not a single member in
that group-and they were apparently
all strangers to each other-who hesf.
| 40 ho ~
not single word was uttered in IA
vor of the government
After the Russian revolution had
resulted in the overthrow of the osar
station discussing conditions. "If we
had any sense and weren't such fools
we'd start the same thing over here"
l overheard one declare. Our gov
ernment is treating us worse than the
Russian government"
have mentioned before that the
German police, although the most
arrogant In the world, were always
free from corruption in time Of peace,
put with the changed living condi-
police yielded to temptation and not
only exacted tribute and accepted
brioes but brazenly appropriated the
loot which they recovered from
thieves and robbers.
One Of the police officers of Berlin
openly admitted to me that 1t was
no longer possible for him to exist on
ms lou marks month in view of the
increased prices of food and clothing,
ana that he was forced to eke out q
livelihood by resorting to corruption.
Police Accept Brides.
The food regulations. which it was
vided an excellent opportunity for
bribery. In return for allowing civil
ians to purchase or otherwise obtain
more than the allotted quantities of
1000 the police were able to extort
On the 1st of August. 1917, three
ROBBERS entered my house. They stole
about $500 worth of gold, platinum
ana silver. besides Q typewriter, some
ceiiuioid brushes and other articles of
condition Of the city may be gathered
from the fact that the band OF bur
glars who had entered my place had
no sooned reached the street than
they were set upon by another band
booty. The first group OF robbers
turned out to be lads Of seventeen
and eighteen. They were SO incensed
at being robbed themselves that they
made a clean breast of the affair to
the whole lot of them were arrested.
The second group of robbers proved
to be soldiers on furlough.
applied to the local police station
Tor the return of my property. They
exhibited some OF IL % me. but told
me that I would have to obtain il
through police headquarters. in an
other part of the city. A few DAYS
later I called there accordingly and
was given the celluliod toilet articles
and other things Of nominal value,
but the gold. platinum and silver
were retained by the police and I was
made to sign a paper to the effect
that I was satisfied with the work
they had done in apprehending the
burglars and with the property that
had been returned to me.
The same night the house of Won
Bleichroeder, the banker, a few doors
from mine. was broken into by soldier
burglars and . large quantity of silver
removed. The police said they cap
tured the burglars. but restored only
banker. The fact that they had cap
tured the criminals ought to be
enough. the police believed, to satisfy
the most exacting civilian. but they
the cheaper articles to the victim Of
the robbery. figuring that as he prob
ably expected to lose all he would be
well satisfied IL he regained part.
Police Seem Lawless.
These and other similar cases sug-
gested the possibility that the police
were working as accomplices OF the
criminal classes. They were certain
ly becoming as much of a menace as
the law-breaking class they were
supposed to suppress.
The dissatisfaction Of the workers
In the factories was becoming great
er every day. The director of one of
the tps ses aoS
that conditions were becoming un-
bearable.
ITS just living in lunatic asy-
lum." he explained to me. IAN ex-
plosion the other day in the vicinity
Of our plant blew out $4,000 marks
worth of window panes and the strik-
ers are demanding 7h cents an hour
increase. What with explosions
blowing our plants to pieces and our
hands constantly on strike, the lot of
an employer is not a very happy one
these days. and it looks as If 1t is 60
ing to be worse"
The fact that these employers were
making vast profits and that the land
owners, mine-owners and agrarians
were using prisoners-of-war to fur
hish labor at minimum cost, was en-
bittering the wageearners to the
breaking point. The longer the war
lasted the worse their lot was be-
coming. Servants were taxed not
only on their wages, but on an
amount which was supposed to be
equivalent to the value Of their board
and the presents they received at
Christmas, while the aristocrats, liv-
ing in plenty. went comparatively tax
freei
Civilian patients in the interior hos
pitals, especially the older ones. died
in such alarming numbers that foul
play was beginning to be limited at
Less mouths to feed meant less of a
burden on the nation as a whole, and
1t was quite in accord with the Ger
man idea that the weak should be
sacrificed for the sake of the strong