The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1922-11-03
COSTOFLIVING
STORIES ABROAD,
ARE RIDDLED

SOiOhSl IlGIuSu hthui6SI OuSD
former colonel of the Fifth regi
ment of the Minnesota national
guard, is now living in Bavaria. He
writes The st. Paul Pioneer Press
the. following letter, which is de.
scriptive of conditions abroad.
:Garmish, Bavaria, October 1.-The
sensational decline of the German
mark has been responsible for
many weird stories being told, and
also appearing in the public press
.anent the tremendously increased
cost of living in Germany.
If the mark was the basis Of world
currency these stories would be
true. If, again, some one had been
blind to the extent of putting all OF
his worldly goods into the coin of
the German realm, or OF changing
is dollars, pounds. francs, lires and
what not into marks as a specula-
ton or. with intent to live for a Ger
tain length of time in the country,
it is, of course, true that for that
particular indi|idual there has been
a tremendous increase in the cost
of living. But these are individual
cases, cases where bad guess or
bad luck, or both, have made the
increase in cost
German Public Misinformeo
The crux of the whole thing is
whether the laborer Of today is Civ
en- as much food and as good food,
clothing. shelter and the other nee
essities of life as he receivedd for
his services in other years. 1t is a
counterfeit statement to publish
prices of various commodities in
1922 in comparison with a similar
list OF prices as they STOOD in 1914
or 1920 and then make the astound
ing assertion that the cost of living
has increased by many hundred or
even thousand per cent. Yet this
is exactly what is done in the Ger
man press. The reading public is
not informed of the fact that wages
are only two jumps behind the
mark, and that every depreciation
of the unit of German currency is
almost immediately followed by an
approximate increase in wages,
commissions, prices. etc.
On the basis of the American dol
lar there has been no change dur
ing the past six months in the price
OF living in Germany. Perhaps the
slump of the mark from $50 to the
dollar to several thousands has.
temporarily only, increased the cost
OF living for the German and lower
ed it slightly for the. foreigner. Be
this as it may. the assumption that
the cost of living in Germany has
advanced by leaps and bounds is
utterly without foundation.
Chesp For Americans
1t is so, rfdiculously cheap for an
American to live in this country
that he will find it extremely diff
cult TO adjust his finances upon re-
suming- his residence in the states.
have visited many of the larger
cities and there is no city of cor
responding size in America that
will give you the same accomoda-
tons, food and service for treble
the price.
Austria has been nicknamed THE
Paradise of Cheapness" due pri-
marily to the fact that the Austrian
crown has become so utterly worth
less that $4,000 crown notes are
bartered about like so much print
paper, but in spite of the fact that
the dollar will bring something near
100000 crowns in Vienna, living
costs there are considerably greater
than are to be found in Germany. ,
In the larger German cities YOU
may obtain a room and bath in first
class hotels for about SIPS a day and
the meals will cost as much under
the accepted price at home as you
choose to make them. No meal
should exceed so or rs cents, in
GLIDING wine, unless you go out OF
va L.
Obersmmereau Not Profiteerinq
1t is not in the large cities, how
ever, that the extremely low cost of
living is found. Go into the smaller
towns or the country and the rates
quoted you seem utterly impossible.
l have been spending month in
the smaller towns of the Bavarian
the house of Anton Lang, the Chris
tus Of the famous Passion Play and
who has been numerically con-
demned by a number of visitors to
that picturesque little village on the
pretext that Oberammergau was
putting American visitors through
the dedollarizing process. Nothing
could be further from the truth.
With my wife and two small
daughters | lived there in most
comfortable rooms. good meals and
every attention and courtesy for the
ridiculous charge of $3.50 a day.
this for the four of us. The best
seats for the play were 100 marks,
which, being interpreted in dollars
and cents, was the equivalent of
about 8 cents!
Garmisch is resort, a place for
summer mountain climbers and
winter sports. 1t is a town of no.
tells and pensions. Living in two
comfortable and well heated rooms
with first rate meals and a very
evident effort to please in every re,
spect, my weekly bill for the four
was-at the existing rate of ex-
listing rate of exchange-about SO
This included wine with lunch and
dinner, and various sundry extras.
Same Current Costs
Everything one wants is in pro
portion. | have a highly recon-
manded instructor in languages fol
my children; a man who speaks
virtually every European tongue
His charge for an hour daily six
days week is the equivalent oil
1925 a week. A weeks laundry
well done, including al mending for
every one, will amount to about 5u
cents. The same laundry, plus
mending, in America would come to
at least SIS, and perhaps considered
ly more. Taxi fares, carriage fares
BARRIERS charges wines, beers ano
meals, and in fact, everything that
one is apt to want at home, may be
gotten at one fourth the price al
WAYS and uSuallV Tnllch chaanar