LUXURY IN BAVARIA

Waikato Times, Volume 94, Issue 14765, 3 October 1921, Page 5

LUXURY IN BAVARIA

LAVISH EXPENDITURE PEASANTS SPEND ALL THEY EARN. JOURNALIST'S CONCLUSIONS. (Australian and N.Z. Cable Assn.) Received October 3, 8.50 ajn. LONDON, October i. Mr Alexander Thompson, the Daily Mail's special correspondent in Munich, says that German vitality and activity are so astonishing that a mere adorned photographic statement of facts exposes one to the suspicion of being, interested in purposeful exaggeration. Mr Thompson says :—"I arrived during the industrial exhibition, the metal Congress, the Wagner Festival, and. Ihe Annual Fair, which brought, 150,000 people from all over Bavaria. In quiring how the peasants could afford those costly new costumes, I was told, 'everybody knows that the peasants, who were formerly amongst the poorest, became rich 'during the war. .Ml have lots of money now.' I remarked that the whole crowd were well dressed, with plenty of money, and a business man replied, 'That is the most alarming symptom of our extraordinary situation. The people formerly noted for thriftincss. now spend all they gel, saying 'Why save money for the Government and foreigners to take in taxes and reparations. It is much better to enjoy oneself.'' That is the mental attitude of the German workman to-day, in Bavaria especially. Proposals for the expenditure soar to heights only describable by the favourite word, 'Colossal.' Munich lately built a large model railway station, and. an enormous sum is being devoted to the completion of a splendid new museum, though the city is already incomparably rich m art galleries and. agricultural institutions." AN ORGY OF SPENDING. BIG DEVELOPMENT SCHEMES Gin CUM VENTING THE ENTENTE. - Received October 3, 9.20 a.m. LONDON, October i. Mr Alexander Thompson, writing from Munich, describing the extraordinary orgy of public expenditure, says:—■ "Roads are being straightened and steep gradients abolished, and a large scheme of electrical development is. , projected to" convert the water power' "' resources into national wealth. The most ambitious plan is one to connect the Rhine with the Danube, so as to enable 1500-ton vessels to sail from Bremen to the Black Sea, extending . trade with the Balkans and strengthening German influence in the Middle "' East. The essential basis of these projects is the financial co-operation of financiers with the Government. The Daily Mail, commenting on the message editorially, says Germany apparently has an abundance of money to snend on vast railway station and electric plants. By sinking large sums in Ibis manner, she prevents the Allies from getting hold of the money for reparation, and this development may have a close relation to the rapid and mysterious fall in the value of the mark. By depressing the mark, German millionaires may hope to kill two birds with one stone, using the fall as one more of poverty and the . desperate financial position. It is a part of a great economic offensive launched by Herr Stinnes and his friends against British and Allied trade, and it provides a further reason why Allied diplomacy should be alert.