Evening star., 1921-04-24
CULTURED CLASS" IN GERMANY FINDS
LIFE is HARD, SAYS u. S. INVESTIGATOR
IN Hamburg Newspaper Offering Help and CoOhon
~ Many
Hundred Marks BunsawIhe Gentee Shbbnes When
Appeals AreD Difficult

! long practically at standstill be-
| cause OF high cost. Here. where land
lords are actually losing money on
their building investments, only the
man actuated by the purest altruism
will build to rent. And the landlord
whose breast overfiows with that milk
of human kindness has. in Germany
as in America, still to be found.
BY the Krupps in Essen. Of course
20.000.000 marks of the past years
of workman's dwellings. but the pa
| ternalism of the krupps is not largely
duplicated. Naturally, with rents rela-
lively low, and every cost exorbitantly
high. landlords refuse to do pfennigs 6
worth of repairing. and lift up their
the falling to wreck and ruin OF their
property.
An architect here who was asked
by man who was desperately weary
of waiting for action by the 'amt" to
give an estimate on an American style
bungalow of the simplest type, said that
the lowest possible price would be 4O0, ,OO0
marks in American money. and, of
course. that is not exorbitant. Ii l
remember correctly. it is just about what
the Detroit Housing Corporation charged
year ago for its output.
1t must be considered, however, that
when it comes to expenses the German
thinks in terms of marks, and not dol
lars. The mark, however its purchas-
ing power has decreased, still has the
is young fortune to thrifty German.
This German did not build. He con-
tinues to WOO the amt"
A small advertisement appeared in
the Hamburg papers q few days ago
announcing that on such and such a
day at such and such an hour con-
sultation hours, with a view to help
and cooperation. would be held in
the offices of certain local philan-
thropic organization for needy men
"Gebildete" was the word used in
the little notice. 1t is a word the
meaning of which is not easy to
translate. Cultured" would come as
close to 1t as any other.
These consultation hours were to
be held-not for laboring class fam
lilies. but for those Of higher social
rank.
This advertisement was the idea Of
one Of the social workers to whom
had been sent, by group of Ger
mans in Bolivia, a sum Of marks to
be spent in any way which appealed
to her as the best.
X + +
THIS woman knew that acute as is
the after-the-war suffering among
the city's very poor, there are other
sufferers, reached by no charity.
whose suffering is none the less acute
men. and women who. for very
pride, would not appeal to the ordi-
nary sources for help. Her adver-
tisement was worded with tact to
appeal to just such people. Whether
or not they would answer it was an
other matter. She hoped they would,
but she was not sure.
The first consultation hour arrived.
and-the philanthropic worker was
swamped. After it was over her lists
showed among the sixty applicants
for help q pastor. a country judge,
three teachers, two governesses. a
post office employe, a ships second
officer, q former aviation officer.
the widow Of a major, baroness, a
professor, a number of women who
had once lived on their incomes and
are now unable to do SO. an en-
gineer. a music teacher. q modiste, the
widow of a we'll known sculptor.
They came and they sat on the
straight wooden benches of the outer
Offices in their genteel shabbiness and