#2. R.B'S to Deane. 

 severely prohibited, the purchase only permitted by official tickets. 

 It was insane to continue the war longer, when the scarcity of grain 

 was so tremendous, that the daily bread must get officially adulterated 



It consisted of rye, milled out of 96 percent, bran, meal of dry tur- 

 nips and potatoe- shells and various other unknown matters, and was so 

 indigestible, that Bicarbonate of Soda must be a constant companion of . 

 the meals. When the potatoes were gone, turnips were portioned out for 

 and meat, butter, milk, eggs etc. got almost out of sight. A help in 

 this bitter time was offered by the greediness of some farmers who, in- 

 stead of delivering all their products to the goverment offices for 

 public portioning, kept a good deal and sold it secretly at high rates. 

 They earned more by this. Kbftt of the town-people made use of this and 

 the country- trains were filled with, hamsters as they were ludicrous- 

 ly called. In spite of the probitive measures by the authority, every- 

 one who could, tried to get a bit of the rare comfort. Here the social 

 misproportion was right visible as it had developed owing to the war. 

 The owners of factories of munition and other war-objects and the well- 

 paid workers there, pushed up the prices of butter etc. by offering 

 and outbidding at any rate. So it got harder to procure anything andl 

 had sometimes to walk eight hours on purpose to acquire half a pound 

 of butter for love or money. I wonder I made it. 



men the revolution began, we learned that the Kaiser, the princes and 

 all those interested people who had cried loudest for the continuation 

 of the war, had stored up rich stocks of exquisite provisions, suffi- 

 cient for many more years. The smart peasants above mentioned, got 

 wealthy by the war. This shows the whole corruption. We have yet now 

 the compulsion with the ticket-system, except for imported victuals. 

 .Members of the government are afraid of a new scarcity in the coming 

 spring. The catastrophal state of the Marks-valuta is said to be the 

 cause. This in connection with the tremendous taxes and the tonpoverisi 



