South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1921-11-20
GAYETY RUNS RIOT
IN BERLIN SOCIETY
Social Germany is SOrdid
Spectacle in Mad Rush for
Worldly Pleasure.


ideal in Germany today. often one
Il tempted to give It up altogether.
Social Germany presents a sorry
picture. The Industrial and eco
monte ravages Of the last seven years
have not failed in their effects
In the luxurious holiday resorts
ore Is reminded OF the "ncline and
Fail" Here one can see how our
civilization will end IL nothing Is
done 20 alter the present trend Of
events
Everything Is a mad rush for
pleasure. In places like Baden
Baden. called Gle petit Paris" you
imagine you are az the Oscot races.
Every afternoon the cafes. restau-
rants and hotels are filled with ele-
Eantly dressed and bejewelled men
and women.
Long motor tours are undertaken.
Aough the charge for "a taxicab is
800 marks Cat the pre-war rate OF
exchange $500 for an afternoon. In
the evenings the hotels and bars
and "Dieles" are filled with jewellers,
dancing and drinking. The latter
T. compulsory-in every public place
there Is 'sWein -5wang." You are
not admitted 20 any cafe whatsO-
ever unless you undertake to con-
sumo wire or champagne. II is
useful source of profit for the cafe
owner. and Of profit for the state.
"Our Dissolute Society"
The deterioration in manners and
morals which results may be mag
r.
about their country speak sadly of
'unsere velotterte GesellsChaft"
C'our dissolute sociey"D
In the public dancing halls in
Berlin chairs are removed and rugs
and cushion take their place-the
divans OF old Rome. Girls cannot
be in the street alone after dark.
There IS "a mania for sex plays
Wedekind. Schnitzler. Sudermann
are played in every large town. while
the output of plays Of less known
dramatLSts on the same subject
seems never-ending. At the same
time the classical favorites are by
no means neglected. and perform
ancee5 of Shaw and Shakespeare. as
we'll as modern and ancient Ger
man authors. are attended by en-
thusiastic and crowded houses.
\ great national fesrN-s is being
prepared for Gerhart HN~Sytmann's
6Oth birthday next ear, and so
great is German ~Ss1rration for
Aters and art that efD dramatist-
poet Is even spoken of as a possible
future president OF the republic.
For the militarism we fought TO
eradicate I'm Germany we have sub
stituted a possibly worse vice-ma-
teriaIism run mad.
There Is 10 conversation except of
prices and exchanges Middle
classes and workers (whose children
would be long dead were IT not for
the magnificent work Of the Qua
ker-Speisung" IN all Of the big cen
ters) have TO talk OF the means OF
livelihood in order to make both
ends meet the rich divide their
time between wondering how 90
grow richer aud wondering how
long they will be allowed 10 keep
their wealth. It is not a promis-
ing atmosphere for the birth OF a
new Germany.
Third Class and No Hats.
Although among the upper classes
and war profiteers expenditure is
- extravagant. there are evidences
% some forms OF economy. No Ger
man travels first class on the rail-
ways: very few second class. The
great majority travel third, although
the seats are not padded. and some
even fourth Another form OF
economy Ia hatlessness in the most
elegant promenades. IN town and
country. there Is hardly hat 10
De seen
In the hotels practically every
thing in the way OF food can be OBJ
tanned. But certain "reminiscences
Of war remain. For instance. in the
appearance OF black bread for
- akfast-uuless white rolls are
Secially ordered at a mark apiece
in the badness OF the butter-at
80 marks a pound-in the substitute
coffee. and the scarcity or milk.
In even the biggest hotels II is
customary for guests 20 keep food
81 their bedrooms 70 bring down 10
the dining hall their own pats OF
butter or Jam: and Il - a common
sight 10 see them pocketing the re-
mains OF breakfas1 or tea-pats OF
butter Jumps OF sugar. a cake, a
roll. and even black bread and paper
serviettes.
Because taxes are so high hotel
proprietors seem 10 have invented
every conceivable way OF proht-msk-
ing. including that OF underpaying
their stan. A 16-year-old lift boy.
too ashamed for some time TO con
fess what his earnings were, revealed
a. last that he was getting 40
marks month Ctoday about two
shllllngs): he was the eldest OF
family OF eight