Great Falls tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1921-current, 1922-09-10

Berlin. Sept. 9.-However UNI
grateful NAV be the task of accusing
one's own country in a foreign land,
honesty comuels the admission today
that Germany has reached her present
condition not through the malice OF
conouerors but through miserably bad
administration Of her affairs n a
blind policy. c
people live from agriculture and they
have been better off during the last
three wears thar ever before IN their
lives, The peasant has yielded only a
small part Of his gold hoardlngs ano ne
finds today that his 2O.mark piece
BUYS 5000 p marks with winch W
trade. The peasant, furthermore; Ias
never suffered from hunger ana us
produce is eagerly bought at aihos'
any price.
In villages formerly perishlng from
poyerty there is now prosperity
New buildings line the streets. no
one is quicker than the thrifty peasant
to discover that today the American
dollar is the real German money
standard. All riches are quoted IN
dollars and this is the first time tnaC
money ever attained such power Jul
side it's own country. -
People telephone to the CITY lI na
tiny Villages to know now tne Gon aa
stands. and fix butter, milk and egg
nrices accordingly. OF course they 90
NOT lower prices when the dollar fans,
hut boost them every time 1t shows
an inward tendency. If any one asks
them if the cows and chickens. etc,
were bought with dollars, and II tne
servants and laborers are paid IN dol
lars. he is grumpily answered that the
farmer must pay higher and higher
prices for everything he buys.
If present conditions continue I'D
Germany the winter will bring not re-
volutiop' for our workers are too weary
and disappointed for that, but bread
riots and the restriction of markets
and stores and attacks on the coal
reserves. The daily anxiety about the
dollar rate arises from the sound IN
stipct and not alone from a desire for
gain among the people, who are
~sneculating with American stocks ID
the hope of increasing their lnsuftlcent
incomes.
Instinct teaches and business expert
ence confirms that the greatest trou-
bic will come when the dollar falls to
about 900 marks, for besides a lack
Of credit we shall have the lmposslun
ity of price competition abroad, IN
employment at home and state bank
ruptcy. :,
Germany's situation unfortunately Is
nit quite SO simple as some earnest
American observers conclude after 8
short stay here and conversations witt
cabinet ministers, industrial leaders ant
bankers. We need first to realize that
the Versailles treaty, which as yet has
not been applied in its financial anc
economical clauses, is not and canne'
be the cause of our present difficulties
Meantime the prosperity of the
farmers seems to have been parallel to
q degree by the town tradesmen who
must have earned the money. Other
wise how explain the preposterous lux.
ury seer everywhere-the crowded
tourist agencies, the crowded res.
not quite so simple as some earnest
taurants, the jammed boxing spectacleS
and the overrun pleasure resorts
An insane tax policy explains this
largely, for when a man knows that
two-thirds Of his earnings will be taken
by the state and only an Insignificant
fraction remains for his chill rem afteI
the inheritance taxes are paid, he has
no incentive to save. On the other