Evening star., 1921-12-18
BY MACMILLAN HARDEN,
Germany's Foremost Publicist.

UCHhmonJ > VASAAVSS ~UAASASSs
By Cable to The Star.
BERLIN, December 17.-The Amer
lean in Berlin the past few days prob
ably has felt like the man who went
to visit an insane asylum and was
told by an inmate: Everybody here
is crazy but me. But 1 can't talk to
you: have got to go and unlock the
gates for st. Peter"
This was particularly true of "Black
Thursday" when the American dollar
took a observation-disclosures tumble in
value. Let US say that the American
felt little selfish at first. He was
glad, for instance. he had drunk a
bottle of fine French champagne. cost
ing less than So. But then he began
to rejoice for the German people, who
had been complaining so bitterly that
the mark had fallen to such low
estate that three of them could be
bought for. an American cent, whereas
the pre-war value of each mark had
been "a cents.
Our American visitor, we will~say,
to complain. For with the dollar cost
ing 800 marks the burden of MAX
ing reparation payments to France
Ssaes Ssa In Eoes Amerfan Sna
crush Germany. Our American Wis
itor. would understand that it was
impossible for private wealth to
buy American cotton at such a rate
of exchange. 1t would be impossible
for Germany to buy other foreign raw
materials. or coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar,
etc. The visitor would see that Ger
man warehouses. are almost empty
and that huge imports will be neces-
sary, but not later than April next.
He would realize that clothes. shoes
and linens are beyond the reach of
our workers. He would appreciate
that our factories are running at
loss to prevent unemployment. But
that will have to stop as soon as the
last cotton, copper and rubber is used.
Detected Over Rise. .'
And SO our visitor. we will say.
:.tur:sily expected to see happy faces
when the mark jumped hundred
l'uiais In value. He would need the
iunor of Mark Twain to describe
how disappointed he was. Every
Whole town seemed depressed. The
fashionable cabarets and bars were
half empty. Erstwhile champagne
Griuh"rs were imbibing nothing more
hp&piring than tea, with lemon in it.
This detected appearance of the
Berlin population is explained by the
fact that with the rise in the ex-
change value of the mark our stock
market shares fell 500 to 500 points.
hitting our speculating cooks and
Cinema cashiers and office boys ter
TIti,. blow
However. the visitor finds the seri-
Gus business world singing the same
lament over the rise of the mark.
''Ail the foreigners filling our
hotels will 1eave.'' they exclaim.
competition. Our factories will close
and there will be armies of unem-
pioyed. and riots. and plunderings.
Our whole Christmas business is
ruined because the rich will economize
and the poor will await cheaper
prices"
Would Welcome Drop.
Truly cur American friends might
say it is Alice in Wonderland stuff"
when country is distressed because
It's deteriorated money takes a turn
toward slightly higher prices. Should
Wall Street wireless today that sthsr
mark had fallen back to a third of a
neaf4t half a cent. eveSy Anee Rer--
lin would be radiant. How in the
World. Americans well may ask. can
you help people who( compiaiHed
yssserdsy yss that the the yaue oSax Sf their
more troubled than ever because it
has been rising?
But what really happened on "Black
ThurSdays The general opinion was
that most shares had gone too high.
Common sense. however, says that
shares which cost / 400 marks in 1913
are not too dear, hut too cheap, when
sold today for what actually is the
equivalent of I 900 marks in 1913. In
otEer words, 5000 marks today buy
less than one-tllird Of 1,480 marks
before the war. It would be ridieu-
lous Cor shares to remain at the same
price when street car fares have in
creased ffteen-fold. when butter has
increased thirty-three- fold, But the
public thought that exchange values,
interest and dividends did not have
rational relations to each other. And
so the bourse was in such a condition
that the slightest wind was sufficient
to shake the entire edifice.
Needs Constant Applause,
This wind was produced by Walter
Rathenau, erstwhile minister. and su-
perintendent of the General Electric
works. Rathenau has varied talents.
but he is Handicapped by vanity and
constantly needs applause. He has
no real creative power. In any event,
he agreed with the British ambassa-
dor 10 go to London and offer the
identification of the Mesopotamtan
railroad as a reparations payment. 1t
Is probable that he also discussed
iYF@=EE. -