The daily worker. [volume] (Chicago, Ill.) 1924-1958, 1931-09-18
By tn. NEUBAUER Berlin

IN his speech in Stuttgart DR.. Wirth, the Reich
l Minister for the Interior, assured the public
that there is no fear of a revolution in Germany
in the coming winter, for the government is
strong enough to crush revolution" Whether
this declaration will suffice to satisfy the New
York bankers is somewhat doubtful. Doubt in
the assurance given by the German minister for
the interior will probably become stronger when
the international financiers read the further
sentence: The government will not let itself be
taken by surprise; it has already negotiated with
Prussia, Wurttemberg and Baden regarding ap-
propriate neasures 1t appears, therefore, that
the government and its Minister for the Int
rior, in spite of the above proud assurance, is
not a little afraid of revolution.
1t is quite certain that the coming winter will
see the most serious crisis in German. The deep
fissures which the earthquake Of June and July
caused to the structure Of German capitalism
have only been plastered over; not one of the
serious difficulties has been overcome.
The "standstill" negotiations with the foreign
capitalists have not yet been concluded. Ger
man capitalism will have to pay very high in
terest in order that foreign capital shall remain
in the country But in few months (the agree
ment is only for six months the question of the
$4,000 million short-tern foreign credits will
economic crisis in Germany will have reached
an unprecedented degree of acuteness.
AS regards the inner German ''normalisation"
Of the monetary circulation, the lists of losses of
capitalist economy. the number Of bankrupt
dertakngs are rapidly increasing, and the State
is compelled again and again to intervene in
order to ameliorate the worst collapses. Closing
down Of works, restriction of production and
wholesale unemployment are still increasing. The
decline of economic activity is reflected, to name
only one figure, in the dininution of the num-
Der of goods trucks in use on the national rail-
ways; they figure now at 90 per cent below the
level Of last year and almost so per cent below
the level of 1929.
The poverty of the working class is increasing
tremendously. The Institut fur Konjunkturfor-
schung reckons that in the first six months of
1881 the income of the workers and employees
declined by 5000 million marks as compared
with the previous year. The sale of foodstuffs
fell "a per cent and that of textiles by 1913 per
cent, compared with the year 1850 when poverty
was already exceedingly great. The impoverish-
n1ent of the working class also affects in turn
the petty bourgeois middle classes and the great
mass of small and middle peasants. In face of
this increasing misery of the broad masses one
can only be amazed at the optimism of the Reich
Chancellor, who expects that the starving will
bear with slavish resignation the fate imposed
upon them by the ruling class.
But the German capitalist class is doing some
thing more to increase the fernent among the
masses. The new offensive against wages is be-
ing carried out with the greatest brutality. This
has led the municipal workers-for the first time
for years-to engage in a number of obstinate
strikes in which the stats participated in many
cases up to 100 per cent although the State
power employed the most drastic measures
against them.
In addition, the fresh deterioration of the I'M
employment relief is becoming more and more
evident. On August IS, the number of unem-
ployed amounted to 100000 as against $685.
900 in August 1890 Of these 100000 unem-
ployed only 900 are drawing full unem-
ploynent benefit; 1O56oOO are receiving crisis
benefit and 1,723,OOO have to rely on poor law
relief or do not receive any relief whatever.
Whilst the number Of unemployed receiving full
benefit is continually declining, the number Of
recipients of poor law relief is steadily mounting
The increasing unemployment has completely
upset all the municipal budgets and caused the
majority Of the municipalities to become bank
rupt. Although the municipalities have for over