Evening star., 1928-12-23
GERMANS
RISE TO 100000
Purchasing Power Declines
and Burdens Grow Heavier
on Unemployed.
BY DIR. GUSTAV SToLPER.

Rv Radio to The Star.
BERLIN, December 22.-It is no
merry Christmas that Germany cele-
brates this year. The economic situa-
ton is bad. The number of unen-
ployed has increased to almost 500, 900,
with the labor unions reporting over IL
per cent of their members unemployed,
and Short-time work is assuming threat
ening proportions in important indus
tries, above all the leather and clothing
branches.
The purchasing power of the masses
is sinking and they are reducing their
consumption. The industrialists are
worried, new orders are declining,
| money remains scarce and dear, divi-
dends are growing smaller, quotations
on the Bourse are dropping and burdens
generally are growing heavier. New and
severe tax increases are announced for
| the coming months since normal pay
ments must be made under the Dawes
reparations plan.
And the situation Is no more pleasant
| in the field Of politics. Foreign Minister
Stresemann has Just returned from
| Lugano, but he comes with empty
hands. The three Locarno statesmen
Herr Stresemann and Foreign Min
listers Chamberlain of Great Britain
and Premier BRAND of France-were
| together for whole week and used 1t
| mainly to make mutual reproaches.
| Each of the three had. before his de-
parture for Lugano, made speecnes to
! his Parliament which displeased the
other two. Hence, the contents of these
speeches furnished the subject of aim
| less quarrelS.
Silent on Reparations.
| Which man talked the sharpest is
! Of no moment. The important thing Is
| that not the slightest progress was
| achieved in all decisive questions. Repa-
rations was not even mentioned be-
cause Premier Poincare of France has
reserved the subject for himself, and in
the matter of Rhineland evacuation,
all three maintained their former stand
| points.
They obviously realized plainly what
a disastrous impression the utterly neg
ative result of their meeting made on
/ the world, following the September
events at Geneva. In September, Lord
Cushendun of England and Former
Chancellor Mueller of Germany substi-
| tuted for Mr. Chamberlain and Herr
| StreSemann at the League of Nations
session. Many persons believed 1t would
only be necessary for the three old
| friends to come together again in order
| to bring everything into harmony. At
Lugano they came together and matters
went no more smoothly than in Ge-
| neVa.
But the world had to be treasured
and thus the three published solemn
| statement N which in general terms
veoft knI To fo
| Locarno policy. They declared that
| they were determined to do everything
in their power in order 10 reach as rap
| idly as possible a complete and final
| adjustment of the difficulties resulting
/ from the war" But these are meaning
| less words and M. BRAND knows as well
as Stresemann that neither knows how
to achieve such adjustment.
BRAND Repeats Demand.
| Quite unexpectedly, M. BRAND repeat
| ed his demand for commission of veri-
+, fication and conciliation, under which
| Germany understands an attempt would
| be made to establish control over the
Rhineland beyond 1895. M. BRAND
| also accused Herr Stresemann of max
| ing propaganda for an Austrian ''ansch-
| lusS" (union with Germany, although
! he knows as well as every unprejudiced
Frenchman that no propaganda is need
ed here, since the AustrianS are Ger
mans by blood and history, and 80 per
cent of them desire union with Ger
many.
On the last day OF the Lugano ses-
sion, M BRAND himself was a witness
to a sharp clash between Herr Strese-
| mann and Foreign Minister zaleski of
Poland, which showed drastically how
full of explosives is the atmosphere
between Germany and Poland.
Is M BRAND really ready to take the
only road that can assure Europes peace
to right the wrong done in the Ver-
sailles treaty in decisive points? One
can make no progress with mere
declamations The spirit of Locarno
merely extends to cover platonic
wish: Peace on earth. Its realization
has been quietly postponed to better
times.
Copyright 1929