The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-03-18

case he will have in hand the amount he has borrowed and it Jill not have cost him one cent.
 Mortgages of all kinds are being paid off by those whe can scrape to- gether the marks represented by the figures on the face of the note and everyone is getting rid of his debts at this enormous reduction. Com panies of large capital and munich For instance. the North German Lloyd and Hamburg Steamship company have an indebt- edness of s32,5oo.ooo in bends subject to call. They will pay these April and the sum required according to the arrangements now pending will be less than s7.o00.
 r.r~ Mor.s.sss fsr 2 2 2 Song.
 The farmers of Germany as a class have been getting rid of their in debtedNess. Their incomes have been less affected than those of other classes and many of the mortgages have been cleared. It is interesting to know how such situation would change the condition of our farmers at home. In 1920 we had farm loans amounting to more than s4.000, 900. : 900. Supposing they were in Ger many, they could be paid off for $333.o00 and the annual interest charge, which is little over 6 per cent. would be reduced from s240,- ooo,0oo tc just about $1s6 per month. New England owes over $90.o00,0 900 on her farms. She could clear every one of them for the lump sum of $7,500. The Massachusetts farmers owe altogether s24,o0o,0e0. It would take only ss.ooo to clear them and tho total amount of interest they would annually pay would fall from over s1,3eo.o60 to SIP all told.
 Pennsylvania owes sSs,000,000 in such mortgages. Less than SS.o00 would make every farm clear. and as to Ohio its great farm, indebtedness ss would drop to the pitiful sum of si0,o0o in comparison with the @12o. 1000. 900 which it is today
 A striking example of what would take place is shown by the farms in Missouri. In 1920 the average value of each farm was'sl1.0 .00O, the average mortgage was $3.0O0 and the rate of interest was 6 per cent If that land and it's indebtedness could be slid over to Germany the land would still l hold great part of it's value but ! every mortgage would require only 25 gold cents to pay it off while the farmers interest charge of s1SO would Ie reduced to E cents per an- mum.
 How the Capitalist Suffers.
 But how about the capitalist. the owner of the mortgage" He suffers of course. and he has no means of helping himself. He may have a Sf.00o note paid today, and the mt ney received would not get him a haircut in any barber shop in the United States He might have s2o.o00 note. made before the inflation paid and the sum would be barely enough to give him one nights lodging in a second class hotel in New York.
 In this way have disappeared the accumulated fortunes of the thrifty German investt rs of before and dur ing the war. You may see here rid ing in the motor busses and walking the streets men and women who used to have their automobiles, and who | now have not enough for a new suit of clothes. All of the saving people of the past have suffered, and all incentive tc save for the future seems to have gone. One spends all he makes. and gets his money as quickly as possible into concrete things which are sure to have some value tomorrow.
 PeRslens and tne BOnus DiII.
 Just one more example to show how the fall tf the mark affects such things IS pensions and Government awards. In 1921. we paid out abou, quarter of a billion dollars in pen sions to more than 0.Oo6 widow and invalids. If we had had the con- ditions of Germany each of those pensioners would have got on an average less than one-half cent a month. Suppose the bonus bill should pass. and each of our soldiers be awarded $500 and before the money could be paid. out of the fi- nancial sky should come flash like that which has cut the German re- public wide open. Then the dough- bty's $500 would shrink to { cents and his conditions of living would be such that he would be glad to walk five miles to set it.