other in charge of the
vegetables and fruit. Germany became practically a socialistic state
and in this way the Government kept abreast of the growth of Socialism
among the people. The most important step the Government took was to
organise the Zentral Einkaufgesellschaft, popularly known as the "Z. E.
G." The first object of this organisation was to purchase food in
neutral countries. Previously German merchants had been going to
Holland, Switzerland and the Scandinavian countries to buy supplies.
These merchants had been bidding against each other in order to get
products for their concerns. In this way food was made much more
expensive than it would have been had one purchaser gone outside of
Germany. So the Government prohibited all firms from buying food
abroad. Travelling agents of the "Z. E. G." went to these countries
and bought all of the supplies available at a fixed price. Then these
resold to German dealers at cost.

Such drastic measures were necessitated by the public demand that every
one share alike. The Government found it extremely difficult to
control the food. Farmers and rich landowners insisted upon
slaughtering their own pigs for their own use. They insisted upon
eating the eggs their chickens laid, or, upon sending them through the
mail to friends at high prices, thereby evading the egg card
regulations. But the Government stepped in and farmers were prohibited
from killing their own cattle and from sending foods to friends and
special customers. Farmers had to sell everything to the "Z. E. G."
That was another result of State Socialism.

The optimistic statements of Herr von Batocki about the food outlook
led the people to believe that by fall conditions would be greatly
improved but instead of becoming more plentiful food supplies became
more and more organised until all food was upon an absolute ration
basis.

"Although the crops were good this year, there will be so much
organisation that food will spoil," said practically every German.
Batocki's method of confiscating food did cause a great deal to spoil
and the public blamed him any time anything disappeared from the
market. One day a carload of plums was shipped from Werder, the big
fruit district near Berlin, to the capital. The "Z. E. G." confiscated
it but did not sell the goods immediately to the merchants and the
plums spoiled. Before this was found out, a crowd of women surrounded
the train one day, which was stan