GERMANY TODAY

Evening Post, Volume CXXVI, Issue 59, 7 September 1938, Page 12

GERMANY TODAY

"GREATEST ENEMY IS

ENGLAND"

"What, is it all for? It is to conquer the world; and their greatest enemy is

England ..." . This opinion of the various activities and state of affairs obtaining in Germany today was expressed on Monday by Mr. Victor C. Peters, of Christchurch, who recently returned from a trip abroad, in ah address to* •the Christchurch Business Men's Club, I states the "Press." , j A person wishing to enter Germany was subjected to a severe scrutiny by l uniformed men, said Mr. Peters. They [left nothing to chance; it was typical of them. While travelling through the country he had noticed that not one yard of land was uncultivated, and there were very few playing and sports areas. "I found the people had one obsession—physical fitness. It is their gospel and religion, The" boys in schools are taught to look forward to the day when .they will be storm troopers, and the girls are being trained in organisations for a day when they will be required. I visited labour camps, where girls and boys and young men and young women of all types are living the same way and eating the same food. They are being 1 made adaptable, and are improving land, and making waste land fit for cultivation. They are apparently happy in the knowledge that they are equipping themselves , for Germany. After their training in the labour camps, the boys go on1 to military ser- | vice," said Mr. Peters. "Believe me, they are the fittest specimens I have ever seen." ATTEMPT AT SELF-SUFFICIENCY. After commenting on the general cleanliness of the German people, Mr. Peters spoke of various, measures which were being taken to make Germany self-sufficient. Nothing was wasted, he said, and if a person dropped a tram ticket he would be fined immediately. On one occasion he had visited a place where a quarter of a million persons had been present, and after they had all gone there was not a piece of iitter left. He had been told at the great automobile show, which was nine times bigger than that held in London, that 90 per cent, of the tyres were made of synthetic rubber. His impression of Berlin was that it was a town of uniforms. There were flags, badges, and photographs of Hitler everywhere, and he thought this must be compulsory. He had asked several persons the same question, and there had been no variation in the answer. He had, therefore^ arrived at the conclusion that nobody thought for himself. The State was greater to them than it was to us. It was a person in whom was entwined something religious. Berlin was surrounded by 32 lakes, which were united by, canals. On the shores of one great lake, he had seen 35,00 bathing boxes, which gave some idea of the people's creed of physical fitness. To celebrate a gre,at air force day, the places of entertainment had been kept open all night,, and he had visited six clubs that night to study the conditions. He had noticed that the women used no cosmetics, and a great saving was effected in this manner. It was indeed a contrast to America where millions and billions of dollars were spent annually on cosmetics. "What is all this for, and what is it leading up to?" he asked. "A system which has attacked three mighty forces—the Jew, the Roman Catholic Church, and Communism—must be a pretty mighty system." The barber's pole began its career in the Middle Ages, when the art of surgery and the trade of barber were combined, says the "Manchester Guardian." Blood-letting was then the great cure-all; a vein in the arm was opened and the patient was given a stick or pole to grasp tightly, thus making the blood flow more freely. When not in use, the stick was hung outside the shop with a white bandage wound around it in a spiral ready for use —indicating that a surgeon was available. But the sight of the gory pole was discouraging to the squeamish, so in time the barbers displayed a pole painted* red and white, instead of that actually used in the operation.