WHAT GERMANY PAYS FOR DEFENCE.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 10573, 30 September 1910, Page 2

WHAT GERMANY PAYS FOR DEFENCE.

To the annoyance of the Berlin hanstrau the cost of living j u that city has Kone up rapidly of late. In live 'years household expenses have increased per cent., and the. housekeeper who formerly managed to keep her expenses tor servants, food and . housekeeping generally down lo CI a <lav for a family <>t hve must n,..„- ;K h| _|j. ~ <]. lv (() ~,./,. sum. lo many it becomes a domestic tragedy to have the prices of necessaries go up with a lean. Think of the annoyance of a wife making the "est of slim means when she receives notice Irom the creamery thai butter would go up throughout the whole year i<l a pound. Then the morning paper tells her that to lessen the amount Germany must borrow for her armv the tax: on alcohol, beer, and matches'has been ri Y?° f K A >' illf Pe»n.V a gallon has been added to the tax on beer. Everv domestic servant in-.Hei-liu is insured and most foreigners pay for the weekly stamp that is put on what is called the Invaliden Karte." while Germans who know the Taw habitually pay half. This stamp, which was formerly' 2'.d is now 3d. '

Coflee lias increased lOpfg.. or 1.1,1 ~ 11>, butter Sd, tea sl)pfg., mutton II), and beef ]f). Eggs have increased 10 to -')pfg. ;. mandel (1» eggs). The wages o servants bave increased from 5 to U> i shillings a month. . The main cause of this state of affairs is generally held to be the expensive army and navy, for which Germany lias borrowed colossal sums this vear"; and a universal 0 cause for the hi'dier price of food is the fact that all classes use better food, require better cuts of beef and mutton, and bettor meat in ppneral than formerly. A great source of expense to the foreigner is his lack of adaptability. Instead, for example, of the "schwartz brod" (black bread), which is not so black as it is painted, but. is mostly pray, Americans require white bread, which in Germany is a J u , xur - V ex P<?nsive and not nutritious. .Chen the price of board is augmented. In establishments where boarders are taken not for income, but as a matter of accommodation to foreigners, such as the American ."Woman's Club,' it lias been found absolutely necessary to ask higher rates. The people in Germany hardest hit are naturally the poorer working classes and those with small fixed incomes, particularly the vast army of pensioners from the army, navv, and Government services. The evil of the working classes has been mitigated by an allround rise in wages, though the rise has not been "in the same proportion as the increase in the cost of living.