2 7 8 D O C . 3 4 7 P E R I L T O G E R M A N C I V I L I S A T I O N relations, to be known to the English public. I thank you for the confidence shown to me by your questions, and will endeavour to confine myself to what I can state with full conviction and certainty. I will proceed straightway to answer the ques- tions one by one. (1) The salaries of scholars and teachers, expressed in kind, have been continu- ously reduced as a result of the situation created by the war and the Peace Treaty. At present they amount at best to 20 per cent of their former value, in many cases to far less. This estimate is much too high for brain workers without fixed appoint- ments. Undernourishment is almost universal among brain workers and students, and in addition books have become so dear that the intellectual life and develop- ment of the rising generation suffers seriously. The very existence of scientific and artistic activities, especially theatres and journals, is more and more endangered, and some have gone under. The struggle for existence among independent artists, musicians, and writers is desperate. Such conditions, and especially the perpetual consciousness of the insecurity of the individual’s material existence, inevitably result in a marked lowering of the estimation in which the public holds professional work and intellectual achievements. I am firmly convinced that, if the present mate- rial conditions continue or even become worse, large sections of the so-called middle class, which have hitherto been the principal source and preserver of our intellectual heritage, will sink to the level of the submerged masses. (2) It is plain that in hard times that work will be relatively best paid which is essential to carry on the economic activities of the moment, but that work which is directed only to the continuation and development of economic activities, and even more to purely cultural purposes, will suffer seriously under the prevailing condi- tions. Almost all intellectual work falls under the latter head. A colleague assured me on one occasion that scientific meetings are now held far less often than for- merly, because those who would attend them must avoid the expense of tram fares. The great majority of students are so far dependent on their earnings that study can only be a secondary occupation. As regards teachers, what I have already said about brain workers in general applies to them. (3) I know that there are general complaints regarding the reduced productive power of manual and brain workers, but I do not think that I am competent to say how far this is the result of undernourishment or of fear of inability to obtain food, and how far of purely psychological factors. There can be no doubt that people’s energy is sapped by the consciousness that under present conditions it is impossible to provide for the future, partly because of the exceedingly heavy burden of taxa- tion, which increases perpetually.
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