COLLAPSE OF THE MARK

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18895, 22 June 1923, Page 5

COLLAPSE OF THE MARK

CHAOS IN GERMANY. FOOD PRICES SOARING. , Press Association—By Telegraph—Copyrigat LONDON, June 21. (Received June 21, at 10.40 p.m.) The Daily Express Berlin correspondent states that unbelievable chaos has resulted from the fall of the mark. Angry scenes are occurring _in the markets where housewives are vainly trying to buy sufficient food for their families. A pound of meat costs half the day s earnings of 1 a worker, a pound of margarine equals 12 hours’ work; a pair of shoes two weeks, and a suit of clothes two years. Protest meetings are being held everywhere. The Daily Telegraph’s correspondent at Dnisseldorf says that the falling mark has caused a panic. Shopkeepers prices disappeared as if by magic from the shop windows, the mark being so low that the shopkeepers did not know what, to charge for their goods. Some, in despair, closed their establishments. The restauranteurs have no compunction about raising their prices. A portion of fresh salmon costs over 100,000 marks, and a modest meal with an nm of tea almost the same figure. —A. and N.Z. Cable. i