The Birmingham age-herald., 1923-08-13
PEOPLES FORUM
Germany Thoroughly Whipped

To the Editor of The Age-Herald
 Germany lost the war. l have heard much and thought much about it. Reports were very par tial and conflicting. There was lurking in my mind an idea that perhaps after all Germany was simply playing politics, that while she cried huff" and wanted to quit, that she did it before her country was hurt much and that if balance was struck, it would be found that while all the nations lost by the war, perhaps Germany lost least. There was a feeling that perhaps Germany was lying when she said she couldn't pay the indemnity or make reparation. l am now convinced. I have gone through Germany from Amster- dam to Berlin and from the Baltic to Italy. I have kept my eyes and ears open and slowly, carefully weighed the evidence. My. judg- ment is that Germany was thor oughly whipped and is now in a sad plight.
 One of the first things that inn pressed me in Germany was the absence of horses, cows and auto mobiles. There are some, but few. 1 saw men, women, children and dogs pulling carts and wagons. saw a long line of wagons loaded with machines being pulled through one of the main streets of Berlin by men. I saw few pleasure cars. There are people in rags and beggars everywhere. Food is sarce. In the best hotels, they serve little bits of butter once a day and dole out little Jumps of sugar as we did in Amer ica during the war. Nearly every body is eating black bread. The money is worth almost nothing l gave boy 10000 marks to show me to a room. I paid 60,0o0 marks for cup of coffee. It cost over a million marks a day for room at the hotel. The pastor of one of our leading churches said his salary amounted to eleven dollars a month in our money. Another said his wife and children had gone barefooted for a year and that they had not had meat to eat in about year. A barber said his income for, week would not buy a beefsteak. Another man told of how he had saved up the equivalent of s25,0Oo in twenty seven years, hoping to retire from business and that the money be- gan to deprecate, but he still held on hoping for better times and now all he had was not worth ten dollars in American money.
 Something is going to happen in Germany soon. Things can't go on as they are. I talked with some college men, with some pas tors and with an official from Holland who seems to be well &C., quainted with the situation in Germany. None could say what was going to happen, but all felt imminent. Where a man works all the week and his wages won't buy bread for his family, you may be sure trouble is ahead. The Communists in Germany are threatening to make a demonstra- tion. They are not very numerous. but they are determined and hun gry and may be hard to handle. The friends of the monarchy are more numerous and l was told that Ludendorff is looked upon as their leader. There is a general feeling that the present govern ment with Cuno at its head has blundered in both it's foreign and domestic policies and that it Is in- capable of dealing with the exist ing situation. Unless Cuno re- signs shortly, the whole thing will likely collapse.
 It Is pathetic to see a great na- tion on the verge of ruin. France may have a legal right to her present policy, but 1t looks to an outsider as though she is trying to wreak vengeance upon and per- manently destroy her vanquished foe. It Is question whether France wants the COW for milk or beef. The Golden Rule adopted and applied by nations is the only hope l see for a better world. Cordially yours,
 J. E. DILLARD. Stockholm, Sweden, July 25, 1923.