Trail of the Mark

The new Kings of Germany are the farmers. They dictate prices. They draw on the public purse for whatever they need. The Chicago Tribune correspondent says even when they are paid in marks they get more than an Illinois farmer. Said representative agriculturists to Chancellor Cuno: "The corn loft and the pigsty are our savings bank." Vorwaerts, Socialist journal: "Hunger sows dissatisfaction and breeds uprisings."

The latest and most gruesome way of investing marks was divulged by the cook of an American family, who, on arriving home after being acquainted with her mother's death, was appalled to discover that the crematory funeral had been paid for last Spring. It was explained to her that her mother could not have been expected to live much longer, and by paying the crematorium fees in advance many marks had been saved, as the prices had advanced considerably in the meantime.

The Cuno Cabinet increased the income tax by 100%. It also provided for a heavy increase in corporation tax; increased the tax on beer; dropped that on mineral waters; laid a special non-recurring tax on motor cars, of 50 times the ordinary tax. All this to bolster up passive resistance in the Ruhr and Rhineland.