New-York tribune., 1920-12-19
Germany Faces
Bread Shortage:
No Cash to Buy
Food Minister Announces
2,33O.O 600 Tons of Grain
Must Be Imported With
Money for Only 100000
Cost of Meat Too High
Z 'eople, Accustomed TO Do
Without Beef, Refuse to
Pay Exorbilant Prices
By William G. Dreher

BERLIN, Dec. 10.--Thc food prob
lem is still far from solution in Ger
many. All meats were liberated from
public control at the beginning of Oc-
tobcr and the famcrs began at once
20 send larger numbers Of livestock
to market, but the prices are so high
that buying has remained light. AL
though the Germans were large cor
sumcNs of meat before the war, COM
non remark among them now is that
,ney have grown 50 accustomed to eat
ing little or no meat that they do not
find it necessary now. Hence the buy
ing Of livestock is so light that many
animals brought to market have been
shipped back.
The food regulations. however, have
not been entirely abolished, as a num-
Der of hotels have found to their cost
Bread, butter and fats and milk are
still under control and issued only
against cards. The hotels in question
had become particularly bold in dis
regarding the regulations, so the police
surrounded them ono morning and
seized much contraband food.
In all the hotels bread cards arc
now handed cut with scruDulous re-
gard for the regulations; also hotels
that had been serving white rolls sud
denly have discovered that they have
nothing except the common black
bread of The shops. AS a result IF
the raid one largo hotel was dcbarred
from serving food altogether.
Grain Supply Low
The bread question is still serious.
The rye crop was unusually small.
while wheat was Of about the size
that has become the standard in re
cent years. But as rye, the principal
bread crop, is scarce much grain viii
have to be imported. Up to November
the grain deliveries amounted to only
G22 900 tons, which compares Wit
G32 O00 tons on the same date of 1919.
The Food Minister says it will be
necessary to import 2;33o,ooo tons.
Money has been set aside to pay for
1000 tons, but for the remaining
100000 tons the means Of paymen,
arc still to be found. 1t viii call for
] , O0O. 100000 marks. but where the
money is to como from the Finance
Minister does not know.
The milk situation also is desperate.
In a memorial just published by the
Prussian Welfare Minister it is as
~ertcA tnat the supply Of milk is only
ane-third Of what was regarded as nor
ma requirements before the war. The
0~--jO ci''- vo'''>'77 snt h"s N"''nc"A
that no fresh milk can be allotted at
All on hundreds OF thousands OF inV2 d
milk cards and The r.ilE rations OF in
rants must be so sharply curtailed as
o endangcr the health of the children.
r''e average cost Of food began to
all last spring, but the Octob' figures,
collated by the city statist'cian for a
family of three, indicated an advance Of
$50 marks in annual fcod cost over the
/ ii~cres estimated fer AUGUST. Food
prices in Germany had followed the
( downward course in some other coun-
back to about the level Of last June.
1,O96,606 Children Suffer
The effect OF the food SHORTAGE is
serious. The rculns from forty-three
of the largest German towns showed
096,606 children rec stored as sick or
o'lv NnderNorrieN Ned end needing as
sistanco. According to the san e report
/ number Of oh ldryn suffering from
&c cts has -rehlcd SINCE the war be-
gan while the cases Ct tuberculosis OF
/ The bones or joints have doubled.
Those figures apply 70 young chill
drcn, not to babies. The latter seem
! luther to thrive on lighter d ct This
~tafcment finds striking confirmation
from figures recently published b.
Professor Arthur Schlossmann, Of the
Childrcn's Hospital of Dusseldorf
Taking infants less than one 5oaf
old he finds that n the government
presidency Of Dusseldorf the aoat
rate in 1919 was only 1916 per 100, a:
compared with 12.1 Tor 1918, 1913 fol
/ 1917, - 2 for 1915, 1913 for 1918, 1875
! for 1914 and 1916 for the years
190l'oG. The iguros for all Of Ger