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General Articles
A VISIT TO GERMANY
A few days after retwming from
aur encouraging trip of two months to
America we attended a meeting of our
leading German hrethren Berlin.
One but eontra=t the order,
comfort and prosperity of the home-
land with conditions in Central
Fuwiore. We had met to study the
poesent need and suffering of our peo-
ple and to plan ome relief. Brother
Conradi reported from Hamburg, The
prices of large =ubseription books like
“Great Controversy’ went up in less
than three weeks from five billion
marks to one {rillion, nine hundred
and seventy-eirht billion marks (1,-
OR7,000.000 000) and vet this last sum,
about twenty cents, was worth less
than the five billion three weeks ear-
in
cantot
lier. Under such conditions colpor-
teurs and publizhing houses cannot
exist. Fifty of our printers and other
workers in the Hamburg House went
out to sell the books in stock to get
the money to buy food. The house
only pays its workers for thirty-eight
hours a week though they worked
forty-eight or more. But even with
this people would actually starve if
we had not in time had some grain
and flour bought for the food factory.
Thus the food factory saved us. Ham-
burg was greatly troubled with Com-
munist riots. Many people were kill-
ed. Robberies were so common that
no one felt safe. Many of our breth-
ren have been robbed. Brother Voll-
mer, the manager of the publishing
house, stated that if they came into
another such time he thought they
should by all means close down the
house. Our workers there have be-
come ill from the lack of food, the
children in the homes being especially
troubled with rickets, *
Brother Drinhaus, the president of
the West German Union, told of coi-
ditions in the occupied territory. Our
people sulfer severely. He himself re-
lated how he had seen people in this
separatist slain in the
troefs md one day his little child
came und =aid, “Papa, come over on
revolution
the next street and see two strange
waronz." When he went over he found
them te be large auto-trucks fll of
dead bodies that had just been killed
in the food riots and other troubles.
The situation in the occupied territory
i= very, very hard. A large number of
our people ave not able to support
themselves, They have neither work,
money nor food.
Brother Schilling, president of the
East German Union spoke of condi-
tions in his field. He urged that the
workers on average 225
with which to buy =ome food and a
little clothing for the winter. Inci-
dentally he mentioned that one week
he received his wages two days late
and found that the seven hillion marks
which he received would only buy one
loaf of bread. Some of our workers
have been compelled to seek other em-
ployment hut lew of them can secure
it as thousands are out of work in all
parts of the country. All the brethren
spoke of the pitiable need of many of
our lay brethren,
recaive an
The wages they re-
ceive or the income they may have is
totally inadequate. Hundreds cannot
buy even one meal of potatoes and
black bread a day. Milk or fats, even
the ecrudest oil or the cheapest mar-
gerine is not to be thought of. It is
Hutchinson, Minnesota, January 22, 1924
very evident that we need at least
$100,000 to bring even the most nee-
essary relief to our brethren in Cen-
tral Europe between now the
first of Mav.
Conditions in Furope on the whole
have changed greatly since last July.
There 1s a dangerous undercurrent of
hatred, distress and fear. The political
situation ix more bewildering and un-
certain than anything this world has
ever seen. Some governments are
trving to bring about better condi-
tions, When we visited America
many asked us if Germany would ever
redeem the immense quantities of
marks printed. We can now answer
the wuestion. Since early December
the Government has heen buying back
the marks at the rate of 22 cents for
one tritlion paper marks, The common
and
money in Berlin when we were
there December eleven, was five
hundred billion mark bills. It cor-
responds about to one dime as it paid
for two long street ear rides. Gradu-
ally the gold mark is being introduced
but this makes everything yet more
expensive though an effort ix made to
keep down prices on the most needful
articles of food. If our brethren
could see these large stacks of worth-
less paper money and with them the
long bread lines and the thin, worn,
hopele=s-looking faces of the mothers
and children, very many of whom are
would be few
America who would not help.
tubereunlar, there in
We are surely grateful for the lib-
erality shown by our dear brethren
across the sea. We cannot express in
+ words and those living in the more
favored lands cannot know what these
gifts mean over here foi if we do not
get help this winter we will come into