Foreign News: Coffee Shortage

“The old rich countries are getting poorer,” boasted plump Dr. Walther Funk, Reichsminister of Economics, in Rome last week, “and the young poor ones getting richer.”

Richer or poorer, Dr. Funk’s country was last week certainly getting hungrier. Butter, cream, other fats, some meats are rationed in Germany. Eggs, common vegetables often disappear from market. Non-nutritive but ingenious excuses are left in their place by the Propaganda Ministry. A recent onion shortage was blamed on an “onion corner” by “international Jewry.” Last week Germany was being given excuses instead of coffee.

With coffee selling at $1.20 a pound and only two ounces available per customer, the Propaganda Ministry attributed the coffee famine to “various interruptions in German-Brazilian trade, caused by pressure from the U. S.” Brazil has occasionally broken off her barter dealings with Germany, but they are not broken now. Real causes for the German shortage are three: 1) determination of the Nazis to import more war materials, less foodstuffs; 2) extensive additional needs of coffee-addicted Austria; 3) a Nazi practice of selling imported Brazilian coffee to Central Europe to bring in much-needed foreign currencies.