MODERN GERMANY

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22215, 16 September 1935, Page 11

MODERN GERMANY

FRIENDLY TO BRITAIN LOW WAGES, CHEAP LIVING NEW ZEALANDER'S TOUR The goodwill shown by everybody he met iii Germany toward English people is remarked upon by Mr. B. Falck, of Christchurch, who has just returned from a 14 months' tour of America, Britain and Europe. Every facility was offered to encourage English visitors to Germany, and they were helped by the cheapness of travelling there. It was a great contrast, Mr. Falck said, to go from England, which was undoubtedly ahead of the rest of the world on the road to recovery, even though America was better off now than she was a year ago, to Germany, where there were unmistakable signs that the people were far from well off. If a man with £SOO a year went to Germany, he could live on what was practically a millionaire basis. Wages there were low, but so was the cost of living.

Mr. Falck said he found that with the mark at 18.5 to the pound he could obtain a very fine room in a good hotel at about five marks a day, and an excellent meal at two to three marks. Entertainment also was cheap, and a scat at the well-known Winter Garden in Berlin cost about 2s 6d, and he shared a box in a theatre for 3s 4d. The cost of these seats for similar entertainments in England would have been 12s 6d and 15s.

Particularly noticeable to a visitor from England was the small volume of motor traffic in Berlin compared with large cities in England and America. Many of the larger shops selling better class goods were closed, although they kept open their branches, selling cheaper goods in poorer districts.

The adoration of Herr Hitler was remarkable, but he seemed really to have achieved something, particularly in unifying the German people. At the same time, an undercurrent' of feeling could be noticed —affected" by the food shortage and a tendency for the cost of living to rise—that might bring about a political change. The army leaders —as apart from Hitler—were the real rulers of Germany. The people the average tourist met were very kindly, and there was good feeling toward the English. The war was recognised as a mistake, but real hatred toward the French continued.