New-York tribune., 1920-07-25

1t IS just this everyday life that
Harry A. Franck describes with charm
and spirit in "Vagabonding Through
Changing Germany" (Harper'sl. There
was nothing formal or official about
/ Mr.. Franck's visit to Germany in the
spring of 1919. After being dis
charged from the American army he
decided to cross the Rhine and see
for himself what had taken place after
the fall of the Kaiser. Speaking Ger
man fuently, he was able to wander
wherever he wished without EMPLOYING
the cumbersome services Of an inter
prefer.
! The author seems to have been more
Interested in plain Hans Schmidt than
"A Ludendorff or Tirpitz or Ebert or
Soheidemann. He does not mention q
single interview with celebrity. On
Tie other hand, he talked freely with
people of all classes, officers and pri-
vate soldiers, farmers, workers, law
yers and teachers.
Food Shortage Genuine
Widespread and pinching hunger is
perhaps the dominant impression which
Mr.. Franck carries away from Ger
many. In the districts occupied by the
Allies there was an embarrassing short
age of certain articles, especially soap:
bat the general food situation was not
desperate. In unoccupied Germany.
however, especially in Berlin, Mr..
lranck found abundant evidence of
severe and general undernourishment
condition which approached the point
@: semi-starvation in the case of per-
s"ns unable to supplement the made
caate government rations with Illicit
purchases. The author gives the fol-
lowing account of the situation in
Berlin:
Con the streets, especially of the
poorer districts, the majority of those
one passed looked as if they ought to
be in bed, though many household in
cluded invalids never seen in public.
F'locks of ragged, unsoaped, pasty-
skinned children swarmed in the out
skirts. Even such food as was to be
had by those in moderate circumstances
contained slight nourishment, next to
none for weakhngs and babies; while
the most hardy found next morning
that very little Of it had been taken up
by the body. Hasty visitors to Berlin,
we'll supplied with funds, who spent
few days in the best hotels, often with
the right to draw upon the American
or Allied commssaries, or with supplies
tucked away in their luggage, we're wont
to report upon their return that the
hunger of Germany was 'all prQpa-
ganda' Those who lived the unfavored
life Of the masses, even for as short a
time, seldom, if ever, confirmed this com
placent verdict. There were, of course,
gradations in want, from the semi-star-
vation Of the masses to the compara-
tive plenty Of the we'll to do; but the
only ones who could be said to show no
signs whatever of undernourishmen
were foreigners, war profiteers and
those with stranglehold on the public
purse"
Food, or rather the lack of it, plays
large part in Mr.. Franck's work. He
describes in detail the various unpalata-
bic substitutes which appear on almost
every Teutonic bill of fare. Even beer
has dcteriorated alarmlngly in quality
and now ranks below the American 2.75
oer cent beverage in acceptablity.
In Reborn Poland
The author took an excursion into
the eastern provinces which were
taken away from Germany and given
to Poland under the terms of the
! peace treaty. He visited Bromberg,
which was still in German hands, and
Posen, where Polish rule had already
been set up. In the latter city, re-
chrstened in Slavonic fashion, Poz-
nan, he found the Poles exulting in
their reborn nation. The white eagle,
historic symbol of the new state, was
everywhere Men in civilian garb
wore il in their hats or in their coat
lapels; women adorned their bodices
with it; boys and girls proudly dis
| played it in some conspicuous position.
II fiuttered on thousand banners; it
bedecked every Polish shopfront; it
stared from the covers of newly ap-
peared books, pamphlets, music sheets
in the popular tongue; the very church
spires had replaced their crosses
with it."
AS might be expected the Germans
and Poles in Posen feel very diff rent
ly about the change in the city's ma
tionality. Mr.. Franck lets both sides
speak for themselves and then risks
q few personal observations. He be-
lieves that German rule in Posen and
( West Prussia may fairly be credited
with some very substantial material
| benefits, such as good roads; well
planned cities, universal education, etc.
But the Prussian government was so
harsh and tyrannical, so insolent in
its assertion of racial superiority, that
the Poles were kept in a constant
state Of disgffection and welcomed the
first opportunity to sever all connec-
tion with German "Kultur." Now the
Poles are displaying very human
instinct to pay off old scores.