Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1919-07-11

! Sche idemannn idea to fill the coun-
try full of paper money to meet emer-
gencies arising from the refusal 10
sign peace. Before Scheidemann quit
all the officers in the government
J army received three months pay in
advance as did also all the officials
/ When Bauer came into power he
/ ordered the government mint to stop
work on the 10000. 600 900 marks. This
! does not mean that the mint was
| closed. 1t is still going full blast
/ launching new wagon loads of brown
and white slips of paper upon the ma
| ton.
Summarizes Situation.
Vice Chancellor Hellferich estimat-
| ed in the beginning of 1914 that Ger
! manys wealth amounted to a total
| Of 35n. 900. 100000 marks ($S7,500.-
! 10000, including all personal prop
/ erty, clothes, furniture and the like.
| Toward the close of the war the
German bank published a report that
| Germany had spent only Is per cent
| of her wealth in the war and that
So per cent of these $50 600 600. 900
| marks still remained in Germany. The
! report in question explained that
! Germany's war expenditures having
| been mainly within the borders of
/ Germany the money involved had re-
manned within the country. which.
| therefore, was no poorer than before.
Loss of Territory Costly.
This would leave Germany 900. ooe.-
900, 900 marks 5000. 600, 000). The
loss of Alsace, however, reduces this
sum by 10.000,000,000 marks G2.400.-
! o0O, O00), according to the pre-war es-
innate. The loss of Silesia also re-
moves 30,O0O.000,000 marks. ($7.5oO.-
! zoo, 000). according to the same pre-
twar estimate. The loss of the Saar
TERRITORY and all other occupied or
tplebicited territories amounts to an
bother $40, 600. 000, 900 marks. figuring on
| the statistics current before the war.
With these deductions Germany's total
wealth appears 230,00o,000,0OO
marks (S57. 500, 900 ,000). To pay in
.erest on her 50.000,000,000 marks
| 1871 SOC, 900. 000). TO meet 100000, 0o0
marks (s1,500. 000.000) deficit in the
railroad situation. deficit mounting
weekly; to maintain the army az
i 900. o00,OO marks (s5oo.ooo.ooo)
month and raise other budget items
necessary TO run the government Ger
! many has 230000o 600 marks II can
!taX. Another 1o.00o,o0pooo MARKS
! IS. 500, 900 0OO) must be deducted from
! his total. owing to the widespread
| activities on the part of wealthy Ger
imans in getting their negotiable Tor
tunes outside the country. ZEN pilhoh
marks is the normal estimate In TINS
I
creased tenfold since l last wrote OF
them.
Fortunes Mainly Under S., 5000.
| OF the e2o, 900. ooo, 900 marks t$s5,..
/ ooo. 600. o0o) remaining two-thirds or
| that sum are made of fortunes under
| q. 1000 marks (s5,000). The govern
ment has proposed tax OF 20 per
cent on all citizens. Investigation has
revealed that such a tax is impos-
| sible. in view of the fact that two
| thirds of the German people. although
owning 10000 marks or less per per-
| SON. would be entirely unable to pay
J a tax of 1000 marks tS500) or less
per head. This in turn Is due TO the
| fact that the ordinary German house
holds furnishings and clotheS Would
i today assay at 10000 marks ts5,ooo)-
! A man with four suits has the equiv
aIept of 1000 marks tS1.000D before
/ the war The bed linen of poor fam
| iIy today is valued at 1000 marks
! (s5oo) on an average and furniture
| "a workingman employed at 100
| marks S25) or less per week may
! easily possess fortune" of 10000
| marks This workingman cannot turn
in a suit of clothes as the eauiVaIent
of 1000 marks or dining room
table nor can he pay the 1000 marks
(S5OO) or 5000 marks (sI25o) he
earns per year.
Governments Tax Plan
Therefore the government plans to
institute sliding scale of taxes.
placing the tax burden upon fortunes
above 10000 marks; in other words, IL
is endeavoring to raise the deficit
by taxing one-third the 100000, 100000
marks or some $4,000. 100000 marks
(s1S750 600, 000). From these 1900
OoO, 900 marks which represents the
of no no
tion the government must raise an
annual budget of from 10000. 600. 900
81. 500. 000. 000b to 10000 100000 marks
ts1O. 10000. 000), which is the sum
needed at the present rate to run
the government. This money will
remove the various deficits. such as
the railroad. military and institu-
tionai deficits. On the contrary. the
deficits, owing to the abnormally
high wages. to the disintegration of
German industry and to the lack OK
materials, etc, will continue to in
crease. 1t does not require a shrewd
economical brain to see that $1,000
OO0,0 900 marks taxed 10000, 100000
or 10000. 000, 900 marks each year and
confronted by an unhealthy Industrial
situation will not survive long.
Problem Is Dark.
For a French franc eco cents) one
can today obtain 2 marks so pfennigs
go cents) and for an American dol
lar one can obtain from II to II
marks $3.50 to s4.25). In short. a
German mark today is actually worth
in the neighborhod of or Z cents.
Removing 5o0.0O0.000 marks of goou
security from under this currency
would almost leave il fat on its back.
How is Germany going to survive?
The problem is one of the darkest rid
dies confronting the government to-
day The socialists and radicals argue
that an entirely new system of finance
is essential to meet the emergency
a new distribution of wealth and
wholesale confiscation of private prop
erty by the government
repeat that the foregoing resume
deals with the situation exclusive q
the indemnity problem.