Germany, The Next Republic? by Carl W. Ackerman

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[Illustration: This is the photograph of von Hindenburg which very
German has in his home.]

While these public discussions were going on, the fight on the
Chancellor began to grow. It was evident that when the Reichstag met
again in September that there would be bitter and perhaps a decisive
fight on von Bethmann-Hollweg. The division in Germany became so
pronounced that people forgot for a time the old party lines and the
newspapers and party leaders spoke of the "Bethmann parties" and the
"von Tirpitz party." Whether the submarine should be used ruthlessly
against all shipping was the issue which divided public sentiment. The
same democratic forces which had been supporting the Chancellor in
other fights again lined up with the Foreign Office. The reactionaries
supported Major Bassermann, who really led the fight against the
Chancellor. During this period the Chancellor and the Foreign Office
saw that the longer the war lasted the stronger the von Tirpitz party
would become because the people were growing more desperate and were
enthused by the propaganda cry of the Navy, "Down with England." The
Chancellor and the Foreign Office tried once more to get the world to
talk about peace. After the presidential nominations in America the
press began to discuss the possibilities of American peace
intervention. Every one believed that the campaign and elections in
America would have an important effect on the prospects of peace.
Theodore Wolff, editor of the Berlin _Tageblatt_, who was the
Chancellor's chief supporter in newspaper circles, began the
publication of a series of articles to explain that in the event of the
election of Charles E. Hughes, Germany would be able to count upon more
assistance from America and upon peace. At the time the Allies were
pounding away at the Somme and every effort was being made to bring
about some kind of peace discussions when these battles were over.

On September 20th a convention of Socialists was held in Berlin for the
purpose of uniting the Socialist party in support of the Chancellor.
The whole country was watching the Socialist discussions because every
one felt that the Socialist party represented the real opinion of the
people. After several days of discussion all factional differences
were patched up and the Socialists were ready to present a solid front
when the fight came in the Reichstag on September 28th. On the 27th,
Berlin hotels began to buzz with excitement over the possibilities of
overthrowing the Chancellor. The fight was led by the National
Liberals and Centre Party groups. It was proposed by Dr. Coerting, an
industrial leader from Hannover, to move a vote of lack of confidence
in the Chancellor. Coerting was supported by the big ammunition
interests and by the von Tirpitz crowd. Before the Reichstag convened
the Chancellor went to Great Headquarters for a final conference with
the Kaiser and Field Marshal von Hindenburg. Before he left it looked
as if the Chancellor would be overthrown. But when he returned he
summoned the Reichstag leaders who were supporting him and several
editors of Liberal newspapers. The Chancellor told them that von
Hindenburg would support him. The next day editorials appeared in a
number of newspapers, saying that von Hindenburg and the Chancellor
were united in their ideas. This was the most successful strategic
move the Chancellor had made, for the public had such great confidence
in von Hindenburg that when it was learned that he was opposed to von
Tirpitz the backbone of opposition to the Chancellor was broken. On
the 28th as von Bethmann-Hollweg appeared in the Reichstag, instead of
facing a hostile and belligerent assembly, he faced members who were
ready to support him in anything he did. The Chancellor, however,
realised that he could take some of the thunder out of the opposition
by making a strong statement against England. "Down with England," the
popular cry, was the keynote of the Chancellor's remarks. In this one
speech he succeeded in uniting for a time at least public sentiment and
the political parties in support of the Government.

A few days afterward I saw Major Bassermann at his office in the
Reichstag and asked him whether the campaign for an unlimited submarine
warfare would be resumed after the action of the Reichstag in
expressing confidence in the Chancellor. He said:

"That must be decided by the Foreign Office, the Ministry of Marine and
the General Staff. England is our chief enemy and we must recognise
this and defeat her."

With his hands in his pocket, his face looking down, he paced his
office and began a bitter denunciation of the neutrality of the United
States. I asked him whether he favoured the submarine warfare even if
it brought about a break with the United States.

"We wish to live in peace and friendship with America," he began, "but
undoubtedly there is bitter feeling here because American supplies and
ammunition enable our enemies to continue the war. If America should
succeed in forcing England to obey international law, restore freedom
of the seas and proceed with American energy against England's
brutalisation of neutrals, it would have a decisive influence on the
political situation between the two countries. If America does not do
this then we must do it with our submarines."

In October I was invited by the Foreign Office to go with a group of
correspondents to Essen, Cologne and the Rhine Valley Industrial
centres. In Essen I met Baron von Bodenhausen and other directors of
Krupps. In Dusseldorf at the Industrie Klub I dined with the steel
magnates of Germany and at Homburg-on-the-Rhine I saw August Thyssen,
one of the richest men in Germany and the man who owns one-tenth of
Germany's coal and iron fields. The most impressive thing about this
journey was what these men said about the necessity for unlimited
warfare. Every man I met was opposed to the Chancellor. They hated
him because he delayed mobilisation at the beginning of the war. They
stated that they had urged the invasion of Belgium because if Belgium
had not been invaded immediately France could have seized the Rhine
Valley and made it impossible for Germany to manufacture war munitions
and thereby to fight a war. They said they were in favour of an
unlimited, ruthless submarine warfare against England and all ships
going to the British Isles. Their opinions were best represented in an
inspired editorial appearing in the _Rhieinische Westfaelische Zeitung_,
in which it was stated:

"The war must be fought to a finish. Either Germany or England must
win and the interests here on the Rhine are ready to fight until
Germany wins."

"Do you think Germany wants war with America?" I asked Thyssen.

"Never!" was his emphatic response. "First, because we have enemies
enough, and, secondly, because in peace times, our relations with
America are always most friendly. We want them to continue so after
the war."

Thyssen's remarks could be taken on their face value were it not for
the fact that the week before we arrived in these cities General
Ludendorf, von Hindenhurg's chief assistant and co-worker, was there to
get the industrial leaders to manufacture more ammunition. Von
Falkenhayn had made many enemies in this section because he cut down
the ammunition manufacturing until these men were losing money. So the
first thing von Hindenburg did was to double all orders for ammunition
and war supplies and to send Ludendorf to the industrial centres to
make peace with the men who were opposed to the Government.

Thus from May to November German politics went through a period of
transformation. No one knew exactly what would happen,--there were so
many conflicting opinions. Political parties, industrial leaders and
the press were so divided it was evident that something would have to
be done or the German political organisation would strike a rock and go
to pieces. The Socialists were still demanding election reforms during
the war. The National Liberals were intriguing for a Reichstag
Committee to have equal authority with the Foreign Office in dealing
with all matters of international affairs. The landowners, who were
losing money because the Government was confiscating so much food, were
not only criticising von Bethmann-Hollweg but holding back as much food
as they could for higher prices. The industrial leaders, who had been
losing money because von Falkenhayn had decreased ammunition orders,
were only partially satisfied by von Hindenburg's step because they
realised that unless the war was intensified the Government would not
need such supplies indefinitely. They saw, too, that the attitude of
President Wilson had so injured what little standing they still had in
the neutral world that unless Germany won the war in a decisive way,
their world connections would disappear forever and they would be
forced to begin all over after the war. Faced by this predicament,
they demanded a ruthless submarine warfare against all shipping in
order that not only England but every other power should suffer,
because the more ships and property of the enemies destroyed the more
their chances with the rest of the world would be equalised when the
war was over. Food conditions were becoming worse, the people were
becoming more dissatisfied; losses on the battlefields were touching
nearly every family. Depression was growing. Every one felt that
something had to be done and done immediately.

The press referred to these months of turmoil as a period of "new
orientation." It was a time of readjustment which did not reach a
climax until December twelfth when the Chancellor proposed peace
conferences to the Allies.

* * * * * * * *

WHAT YOU CANNOT EAT OR DRINK

FOODSTUFFS WHICH ARE COMPLETELY EXHAUSTED IN GERMANY

1. Rice. 12. Nuts.
2. Coffee. 13. Candy (a very limited
3. Tea. number of persons can buy
4. Cocoa. one-quarter of a pound
5. Chocolate. about once a week).
6. Olive oil. 14. Malted milk.
7. Cream. 15. Beer made of either
8. Fruit flavorings. malt or hops.
9. Canned soups or 16. Caviar.
soup cubes. 17. Ice cream.
10. Syrups. 18. Macaroni.
11. Dried vegetables,
beans, peas, etc.

WHAT YOU MAY EAT

FOOD OBTAINABLE ONLY BY CARDS

1. Bread, 1,900 grams per week per person.
2. Meat, 250 grams (1/2 pound) per week per head.
3. Eggs, 1 per person every two weeks.
4. Butter, 90 grams per week per person.
5. Milk, 1 quart daily only for children under ten
and invalids.
6. Potatoes, formerly 9 pounds per week; lately
in many parts of Germany no potatoes were available.
7. Sugar, formerly 2 pounds per month, now 4 pounds,
but this will not continue long.
8. Marmalade, or jam, 1/4 of a pound every month.
9. Noodles, 1/2 pound per person a month.
10. Sardines, or canned fish, small box per month.
11. Saccharine (a coal tar product substitute for sugar),
about 25 small tablets a month.
12. Oatmeal, 1/2 of a pound per month for adults or 1 pound
per month for children under twelve years.

WHAT YOU CAN EAT

FOODS WHICH EVERY ONE WITH MONEY CAN BUY

1. Geese, costing 8 to 10 marks per pound ($1.60 to
$2 per pound).
2. Wild game, rabbits, ducks, deer, etc.
3. Smuggled meat, such as ham and bacon, for $2.50 per pound.
4. Vegetables, carrots, spinach, onions, cabbage, beets.
5. Apples, lemons, oranges.
6. Bottled oil made from seeds and roots for cooking
purposes, costing $5 per pound.
7. Vinegar.
8. Fresh fish.
9. Fish sausage.
10. Pickles.
11. Duck, chicken and geese heads, feet and wings.
12. Black crows.

THE FOOD SITUATION AT A GLANCE

* * * * * * * *

CHAPTER VII

THE BUBBLING ECONOMIC VOLCANO

When I entered Germany in 1915 there was plenty of food everywhere and
prices were normal. But a year later the situation had changed so that
the number of food cards--Germany's economic barometer--had increased
eight times. March and April of 1916 were the worst months in the year
and a great many people had difficulty in getting enough food to eat.
There was growing dissatisfaction with the way the Government was
handling the food problem but the people's hope was centred upon the
next harvest. In April and May the submarine issue and the American
crisis turned public attention from food to politics. From July to
October the Somme battles kept the people's minds centred upon military
operations. While the scarcity of food became greater the Government,
through inspired articles in the press, informed the people that the
harvest was so big that there would be no more food difficulties.

Germany began to pay serious attention to the food situation, when
early in the year, Adolph von Batocki, the president of East Prussia
and a big land owner, was made food dictator. At the same time there
were organised various government food departments. There was an
Imperial Bureau for collecting fats; another to take charge of the meat
supply; another to control the milk and another in charge of the
vegetables and fruit. Germany became practically a socialistic state
and in this way the Government kept abreast of the growth of Socialism
among the people. The most important step the Government took was to
organise the Zentral Einkaufgesellschaft, popularly known as the "Z. E.
G." The first object of this organisation was to purchase food in
neutral countries. Previously German merchants had been going to
Holland, Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries to buy supplies.
These merchants had been bidding against each other in order to get
products for their concerns. In this way food was made much more
expensive than it would have been had one purchaser gone outside of
Germany. So the Government prohibited all firms from buying food
abroad. Travelling agents of the "Z. E. G." went to these countries
and bought all of the supplies available at a fixed price. Then these
resold to German dealers at cost.

Such drastic measures were necessitated by the public demand that every
one share alike. The Government found it extremely difficult to
control the food. Farmers and rich landowners insisted upon
slaughtering their own pigs for their own use. They insisted upon
eating the eggs their chickens laid, or, upon sending them through the
mail to friends at high prices, thereby evading the egg card
regulations. But the Government stepped in and farmers were prohibited
from killing their own cattle and from sending foods to friends and
special customers. Farmers had to sell everything to the "Z. E. G."
That was another result of State Socialism.

The optimistic statements of Herr von Batocki about the food outlook
led the people to believe that by fall conditions would be greatly
improved but instead of becoming more plentiful food supplies became
more and more organised until all food was upon an absolute ration
basis.

"Although the crops were good this year, there will be so much
organisation that food will spoil," said practically every German.
Batocki's method of confiscating food did cause a great deal to spoil
and the public blamed him any time anything disappeared from the
market. One day a carload of plums was shipped from Werder, the big
fruit district near Berlin, to the capital. The "Z. E. G." confiscated
it but did not sell the goods immediately to the merchants and the
plums spoiled. Before this was found out, a crowd of women surrounded
the train one day, which was standing on a side track, broke into a car
and found most of the plums in such rotten condition they could not be
used. So they painted on the sides of the car: "This is the kind of
plum jam the 'Z. E. G.' makes."

There was a growing scarcity of all other supplies, too. The armies
demanded every possible labouring man and woman so even the canning
factories had to close and food which formerly was canned had to be
eaten while fresh or it spoiled. Even the private German family, which
was accustomed to canning food, had to forego this practice because of
a lack of tin cans, jars and rubber bands.

The food depots are by far the most successful undertaking of the
Government. In Cologne and Berlin alone close to 500,000 poor are
being fed daily by municipal kitchens. Last October I went through the
Cologne food department with the director. The city has rented a
number of large vacant factory buildings and made them into kitchens.
Municipal buyers go through the country to buy meat and vegetables.
This is shipped to Cologne, and in these kitchens it is prepared by
women workers, under the direction of volunteers.

A stew is cooked each day and sold for 42 pfennigs (about eight cents)
a quart. The people must give up their potato, fat and meat cards to
obtain it. In Berlin and all other large cities, the same system is
used. In one kitchen in Berlin, at the main market hall, 80,000 quarts
a day are prepared.

In Cologne this food is distributed through the city streets by
municipal wagons, and the people get it almost boiling hot, ready to
eat. Were it not for these food depots there would be many thousands
of people who would starve because they could not buy and cook such
nourishing food for the price the city asks. These food kitchens have
been in use now almost a year, and, while the poor are obtaining food
here, they are becoming very tired of the supply, because they must eat
stews every day. They can have nothing fried or roasted.

In addition to these kitchens the Government has opened throughout
Germany "mittlestand kueche," a restaurant for the middle classes.
Here government employees, with small wages, the poor who do not keep
house and others with little means can obtain a meal for 10 cents,
consisting of a stew and a dessert. But it is very difficult for
people to live on this food. Most every one who is compelled by
circumstances to eat here is losing weight and feels under-nourished
all the time.

A few months ago, after one of my secretaries had been called to the
army; I employed another. He had been earning only $7 a week and had
to support his wife. On this money they ate at the middle class cafes.
In six months he had lost twenty pounds.

Because the food is so scarce and because it lacks real nourishment
people eat all the time. It used to be said before the war that the
Germans were the biggest eaters in Europe--that they ate seven meals a
day. The blockade has not made them less eaters, for they eat every
few hours all day long now, but because the food lacks fats and sugars,
they need more food.

Restaurants are doing big business because after one has eaten a "meal"
at any leading Berlin hotel at 1 o'clock in the afternoon one is hungry
by 3 o'clock and ready for another "meal."

Last winter the Socialists of Munich, who saw that the rich were having
plenty of food and that the poor were existing as best they could in
food kitchens, wrote Chancellor von Bethmann-Hollweg and demanded the
immediate confiscation of all food in Germany, even that in private
residences.

The Socialists' demand was, as are most others, thrown into the waste
basket because men like the Chancellor, President Batocki, of the Food
Department, wealthy bankers, statesmen and army generals have country
estates where they have stored food for an indefinite period. They
know that no matter how hard the blockade pinches the people it won't
starve them.

When the Chancellor invites people to his palace he has real coffee,
white bread, plenty of potatoes, cake and meat. Being a government
official he can get what he wants from the food department. So can
other officials. Therefore, they were willing to disregard the demand
of the Bavarian Socialists.

But the Socialists, although they don't get publicity when they start
something, don't give up until they accomplish what they set out to do.
First, they enlisted the Berlin Socialists, and the report went around
to people that the rich were going to Copenhagen and bringing back food
while the poor starved. So the Government had to prohibit all food
from coming into Germany by way of Denmark unless it was imported by
the Government.

That was the first success of the Bavarian Socialists. Now they have
had another. Batocki is reported as having announced that all food
supplies will be confiscated. The Socialists are responsible.

Excepting the very wealthy and those who have stored quantities of food
for the "siege," every German is undernourished. A great many people
are starving. The head physician of the Kaiserin Augusta Victoria
Hospital, in Berlin, stated that 80,000 children died in Berlin in 1916
from lack of food. The _Lokal-Anzeiger_ printed the item and the
Foreign Office censor prohibited me from sending it to New York.

But starvation under the blockade is a slow process, and it has not yet
reached the army. When I was on the Somme battlefields last November
and in Rumania in December the soldiers were not only well fed, but
they had luxuries which their families at home did not have. Two years
ago there was so much food at home the women sent food boxes to the
front. To-day the soldiers not only send but carry quantities of food
from the front to their homes. The army has more than the people.

It is almost impossible to say whether Germany, as a nation, can be
starved into submission. Everything depends upon the next harvest, the
length of the war and future military operations. The German
Government, I think, can make the people hold out until the coming
harvest, unless there is a big military defeat. In their present
undernourished condition the public could not face a defeat. If the
war ends this year Germany will not be so starved that she will accept
any peace terms. But if the war continues another year or two Germany
will have to give up.

I entered Germany at the beginning of the Allied blockade when one
could purchase any kind and any quantity of food in Germany. Two years
later, when I left, there were at least eighteen foodstuffs which could
not be purchased anywhere, and there were twelve kinds of food which
could be obtained only by government cards. That is what the Allied
blockade did to the food supplies. It made Germany look like a grocery
store after a closing out sale.

Suppose in the United States you wanted the simplest breakfast--coffee
and bread and butter. Suppose you wanted a light luncheon of eggs or a
sandwich, tea and fruit. Suppose for dinner you wanted a plain menu of
soup, meat, vegetables and dessert. At any grocery or lunch counter
you could get not only these plain foods, but anything else you wanted.

Not so in Germany! For breakfast you cannot have pure coffee, and you
can have only a very small quantity of butter with your butter card.
Hotels serve a coffee substitute, but most people prefer nothing. For
luncheon you may have an egg, but only one day during two weeks.
Hotels still serve a weak, highly colored tea and apples or oranges.
For dinner you may have soup without any meat or fat in it. Soups are
just a mixture of water and vegetables. Two days a week you can get a
small piece of meat with a meat card. Other days you can eat boiled
fish.

People who keep house, of course, have more food, because as a rule
they have been storing supplies. Take the Christian Scientists as an
instance. Members of this Church have organised a semi-official club.
Members buy all the extra food possible. Then they divide and store
away what they want for the "siege"--the time when food will be scarcer
than it is to-day.

Two women practitioners in Berlin, who live together, bought thirty
pounds of butter from an American who had brought it in from
Copenhagen. They canned it and planned to make this butter last one
year. Until a few weeks ago people with money could go to Switzerland,
Holland and Denmark and bring back food with them, either with or
without permission. Some wealthy citizens who import machinery and
other things from outside neutral countries have their agents smuggle
food at the same time.

While the Dutch, Danish and Swiss governments try to stop smuggling;
there is always some going through. The rich have the money to bribe
border officers and inspectors. When I was in Duesseldorf, last
October, I met the owner of a number of canal boats, who shipped coal
and iron products from the Rhine Valley to Denmark. He told me his
canal barges brought back food from Copenhagen every trip and that the
border authorities were not very careful in making an investigation of
his boats.

In Duesseldorf, too, as well as in Cologne, business men spoke about the
food they got from Belgium. They did not get great quantities, of
course, but the leakage was enough to enable them to live better than
those who had to depend upon the food in Germany.

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