GERMANY TO-DAY.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21241, 23 January 1931, Page 8

GERMANY TO-DAY.

THE WOUNDS OF WAR. EFFORTS OF REHABILITATION. i. By T. C. L. We were at Wertheim, a little village in Bavaria, in the month of August. It was a beautifully fine day; we were sitting in front of the village inn, shaded by the umbrageous trees, and watching the River Mainz course by. With us were two Bavarian's, father and son—the former a doctor of philosophy and head of a large manufacturing concern; the son a student at Frankfort, who had spent some time in England in order to improve his knowledge of English. The father was talking, in measured, at times stilted, English. He was endeavouring to show the difference in the nature and outlook of the average German from those of the average Briton. “We in Germany,” he said, “ are not long past the feudal stage. Not so many years ago the German agriculturist was a serf of the nobles who tyrannised the Vaterland. Father Jahn emancipated the German States. He came into prominence at the end of the seventeenth century, when the Vaterland was occupied by the French. Our women wore French clothes and spoke the language; French immorality and atheism had spread like a plague; Napoleon of vile memory had taken the sword of our Frederick from Berlin. It was Father Jahn who formed the ‘ Turnschulen,’ in order that the simple German ‘ways —plain fare, high principles, the German tongue, and the development of the body. Napoleon was vanquished, only to come back again and ravage our lands. The French conscripts filled our sacred laud like a swarm of locusts, devouring as they went, taking all our houses, our cows, and even our swine. What was Germany then? Ashes. But the red embers were underneath, fanned by Father Jahn. HUMBLING THE NATION. “ Napoleon made our princes weep. Never, even in the days of the Frankish kings, had we been so humbled. He dragged our young men with him to Russia, and left them to die moaning on the frozen wastes while he drove off in his sledge. Next year Germany rose. High and low, rich and poor, came flocking into the army, and even the old men. Russia was our ally, then Austria. Our men drove the French back.

“Then Napoleon was banished to Elba. The victors quarrelled amongst themselves, and our country was torn into strips, setting brother against brother. Then came the German confederation, with Austria at its head. Rid of Napoleon, we had another'despot in Meternick. But the tree which Jahn had planted grew and its branches spread, and we, after further tribulation, became again a united nation in the seventies.

“Then came the jealousy of the neighbouring Powers, the misunderstandings, lost opportunities to compose the difficulties, and the Great War of 1914-18 with all its horrors and loss of valuable lives, ending in the humbling and weakening of our great nation. To-day our difficulties, our problems, are greater than ever they were, and if the world is to save itself, if civilisation is to endure, then our nation, great as it has proved itself in mechanics, in arts, in science, and in every other way, must be helped and not hindered.” A PLEASANT SURPRISE. We had come to Germany not without some trepidation, quite unprepared to like the country and the people, for the excesses of the Germans and the horrors and losses of war had not been effaced from our memories. But we found all with whom we came in contact as kindly and courteous and frank as the learned doctor of philosophy, and soon discovered that not only did they not bear any animosity towards the British, but were anxious to show them courtesy and extend them help. We also learned the extent to which the Germans had suffered in the war, physically'and economically. They had no delusions as to which of their enemies had played the decisive part in their defeat. They knew it was Britain with her navy that had exerted the economic pressure which, combined with the prowess of Britain’s great armies in the field, had brought about her overthrow. They also recognised that after her defeat Britain had stood for fair and just dealing towards her when France and others of the Allies were seeking to keep her prostrate and powerless. It may have> been this feeling that dictated the consideration of her people towards the British. It may, of course, also have been the outcome of the innate courtesy of the people towards strangers within her gate. Whatever the cause, we soon found ourselves enjoying the scenery and life of the country. FIRST IMPRESSIONS. Passing into Prussia from Holland one is immediately struck with the efficiency, the completeness of the farms, and the commodiousness of the buildings and the general clean and tidy appearance of the farms. For 150 miles it was the same. Each farm had its own home and outbuildings, many of them quite new. In Berlin we were to be told the reason. During the war, when the farmers there, as well as in other countries, profited, by high prices for their produce, they put ad their profits into improvements and household goods. They did not respond to the national appeal to invest their money .n Government bonds. It was just as well they did not for the bonds and the currency generally became valueless. Now they have their new buildings and their equipment. The only fly in the ointment is the extent of the house tax, which makes it very costly for one to live in a sizable house in Germany. In Berlin life is very much the same as it is in other large European cities. The main streets are studded with restaurants and hotels, whither father, mother, and the family repair as often as they can to sip lager and watch the crowds go by. No longer, however, are they entertained by the glittering array of the Kaiser’s arrogant hosts prancing down the Unter der Linden or through the Tier gardens. These gentry belong to a distant, unpleasant period.