cult since the war to obtain authentic infor- 
mation as to what is going on in Germany. 
In that the observations made are essentially 
personal impressions, an informal tone char- 
acterizes this letter. 
GERMANY AS 
IT IS TODAY 
Perhaps it may be well, first, to note certain 
impressions that even the casual visitor to 
Germany cannot but receive in these days. 
The outstanding point is that the people are 
willing to work and that they are working. 
Notwithstanding the depreciation of the mark 
in the world markets, and the fact that in 
certain places even the fractional currency is 
paper, those of the laboring class and the 
small shopkeepers appear to be prosperous. 
There seems to be plenty of food for those 
who have the wherewithal. The store win- 
dows are full of attractive things, and the 
theaters well patronized. Prices to be sure 
are 10 or 12 or even 15 times what they were 
in prewar days, but wages also have advanced. 
It appears, for comparison, that conditions in 
Germany today are in a way not unlike those 
that obtained in the United States during the 
war, when labor was paid high wages and the 
badge of the working man was the silk shirt. 
The German laborer may prefer other styles 
of personal adornment. but one sees the same 
sort of thing. The working man can have 
meat three times a day if he likes, whereas the 
man on a fixed income, as with us in the 
United States in war time, is fortunate if he 
has meat once a week. There is unquestion- 
ably much privation in Germany now among 
those on salaries and fixed incomes, but the 
working man is having his innings. It of 
course, must be remembered that these notes 
refer to the first part of October, 1921. Con- 
ditions in Germany are subject to sudden 
change. No one seems able to forecast the 
future. 
In the lower section of the Murg river, in 
the Black forest, the saw mills and paper 
mills are running on a 24 hour day with three 
8-hour shifts. This was said to be typical 
also of other industrial regions. The Ger- 
mans have begun to work, while the people 
of other countries are as yet only talking 
about it. Whether it will profit Germany to 
pile up manufactured goods when she cannot 
sell them, and what will happen if the mark 
actually drops altogether out of sight, are 
questions that the writer of this letter makes 
no pretense whatsoever of being able to an- 
swer. 
Roughly three-fourths of the German la- 
borers are employed in industrial plants; one- 
fourth in agriculture. What will happen if 
production stops and these persons are thrown 
out of employment no one likes to contem- 
plate. There is enough unrest and turmoil in 
Europe as it is. Were Germany to become 
actually bankrupt no one can foretell the out- 
come. The whole economic fabric in Ger- 
many at the present time seems to be resting 
on a very thin crust over a caldron of which 
no one knows the contents. 
In connection with the apparent prosperity 
of those who are now making money in Ger- 
many one point ought to be noted that is 
sometimes overlooked, that by no means all 
the people one sees spending money in Ger- 
many are Germans. The low exchange rate 
of the German mark (it was 7/10 of a cent 
American money early in October, and is much 
lower now, as against 23 cents in prewar days) 
has attracted to Germany many persons from 
The people of the Scandina- 
other countries. 
z “ DE Re S 
A BEAUTIFUL STAND OF MATURE BEECH 
TREES IN DARMSTADT CITY FOREST 
—THE ODENWALD 
vian countries and of Holland have not failed 
to take advantage of this chance for a pleas- 
ant holiday at low cost. And so, in part at 
least, it may be that it is visitors who crowd 
the theaters, fill the opera house and are seen 
in Sop lounges of the big hotels. 
Is not surprising that this m¢ raw 
Even in the best hotels in ee Sonic note 
furt-am-Main, one can order a dinner for sey- 
eral persons, without thinking of prices, adorn 
it with cocktails, wines and liquors (they stil] 
(36) 
