The Farmington times., 1922-12-01
GERMAN MARKS ARE WORTH
LESS BUT THEY BUY A LOT

American dollars through a hole IN
the floor. He will never see them
again; they're gone He has but one
last chance in the world to catch
"value received" by the tail, but he
must hurry. The German mark Is
headed downward and no one can to-
day sound the pit into which 1T is
falling, If a man waits too long, and
continues to hold on to his German
marks, the day is about to break
when he will be unable to buy the
matches to burn them up. Such IS
the situation for countless thousands
of misguided investors who sought. to
outdo "G-R-Q" Wallngford by buying
and holding German paper marks.
But what is the actual condition OF
affairs in Germany today? Has mon
ey there any value left at all? The
answer is. Yes and No. 1t is a little
known fact that the valuta situation
of foreign countries today has pro-
duced big assortment of freaks. A
most illusory one is the fact that the
face value of German paper marks
cannot be figured in dollars and cents
any Ionger-unless one takes only the
largest denominations. In purchasing
power, however, the German mark mas
from two to so times its intrinsic
value.
And herein lies the secret Of the
"value" of the German paper marx,
as we'll as the "freakiness" in it. AT
the present writing the dollar has be-
come worth more than 5000 marks,
or. vice versa for the German, the
mark has dropped to 5000 to the dol
lar. Let us stop a minute to reallze
inst what this means. Our smallest
coin with which the familiar postage
stamp, box of matches, or stick OF
chewing gum is purchased) is the cop
per penny. In school we learned that
10 mills equal / cent; 10 cents equal
dime; 10 dimes equal dollar or iOO
cents. But we seldom speak of mills"
in our daily business life. 1t is very
seldom, comparatively speaking that
financial experts make much use oI
them. But in Germany today ONE
MILL is WORTH THREE MARKS!
In other words, one mark has a value
of but one-third mill (and even less)!
Is it any wonder a German hesitates
to emigrate to the United States; that
he cannot now buy American food,
American clothing, American raw
materials, and so on? 1t simply can
not be done, and German-Ameerican
commercial activities are desined very
soon to fall into grave state OF leth-
argy. =,
The German mark today worth less
than one-third of mill! Why, a
newsboy would have to take thirty
marks before he could give back to
German one cent in fair exchange
And if the same newsboy were n
Germany the next minute, he Woulc
have stories to tell that would makt
his pali' eyes pop out with astonlsh.,
merit five minutes later. And why
Recause for 80 marks he could nave
purchased two good cigars, or a bal
of chocolate, OF pair OF leather Sho'
strings, or a big toy, or, or-weli' lou
of things that one cent wouldnt Degli
to touch in U. S. A. ..,
But to come back to the mark. VIII
its intrinsic value Of less than one
third mill on the world market, 1t stll
has the purchasing power OF iron
one-half to three cents tone the aV
erage) in Germany. The pretty oO
mark note would bring but one aahI
two-thirds cents on the bourseo, bu
ore can still buy a railroad ticket,
big loaf Of bread, fine glass of beel
or wine. two tickets to the best NOV
les in town, or big bouquet OF flow
ers with it-in Germany. Take tht
larger denominations-the 1,OOO-marE
note II has an actual value in eX
change Ct about thirty cents. IhlitI
cents will buy good laugh II th'
States; but 1000 marks in German!
will feed q tubercular child for TIVE
weeks and milk now costs so MARKS
liter. One thousand marks VIII giF'
YOU five-hour ride on the tastes
train; it will buy you five good square
meals (but you must do wlthou
champagne). One thousand mark
will also enable you to rent a fairl!
rood furnished room in any German
city for one month! Think Of it!
The largest denomination German!
has today is the ten thousand mari
certificate. If the mark falls still
further, Germany will soon need one
hundred thousand mark notes, but lie
this be as it may. 1t is enough for u
to know that 10 900 marks are wortl
hut a little more thSn three of ou
dollars. On account Of the shortag
of currency Of large denominations, !
is very hard to get l0,0o0-mari
note changed in Germany even at tn
large banks. Imagine man in NeV
York or Chicago running all over, tn
city trying to get change for thre
dollars! And three dollars just be
gin to represent some value, to us
Some of us have to work whole da;
to earn this amount. Others spend l
in one evening for an opera ticket, o
for taxi fare.
But in Germany--and only in Ger
many-the equivalent 10000 marx
will buy all sorts of things, from
diamond ring to couple Of chotc
shares in any good German industrla9
concern. 1t will also enable smaI
German family to live tolerably we
with strict economy for one month
An American family has more or les
of hard time living on So day!
Everything is far cheaper in Ger
many today than it ever was before
not excluding the peaceful days prio
to 1914. But the German receives S
little wages today, compared to tn
cost Of commodities that to him ev
II