AS THE GERMANS SEE IT

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2412, 18 March 1915, Page 6

AS THE GERMANS SEE IT

THE RISE IN FOOD PRICES

HERR HARDEN ON RULE AND . ENJOYMENT London, January 22. Recent numbers of "Zukunft" have been somewhat disappointing, and the reason for this seems to be that its proprietor, editor, and sole contributor, Kerr Harden, had spent all his ammunition in a public lecture at Frankfort. Here are some of Herr Harden's assertions :— "It is a futile beginning to try and prove wo are in tho right. Before the tribunal of history it is not a question of who began a war, but who won it. It is better that we should win amidst the curses of our enemies than be beaten amidst their admiring testimony." It is curious to notice what an irouical interpretation these words will boar. More direct is the attack on England: . "In the whole of the last century England cannot point to a single achievement which would justify her in her assertion that she is destined •to assume the hegemony of the world. In the last contury there .are only two things which England has" understood better than we—bow to rule and how to enjdy. She has accomplished deeds in her control of subordinate races, and she has revelled in all the world's places of enjoyment! These two things cannot permanently be reconciled —that is the tragic guilt' of England. He who' enjoys is living on his income. He who is bent on enjoyment is unfit to rule." With regard to the future, Herr Harden points out that reverses are,, not en- ■ tirely improbable in the course of operations; "but we should be too small for our destiny if we were only confident when tho sail shone. ,We know, when it is overcast, it will shine forth again." The Censor and Unanimity. Tho censorship seems to have been busy again. Two Munich papers have recently had, their copies seized on account of an article entitled "Impracticability or. ineffectiveness of our measures for providing food," an article, according to the Ministry of" War, calculated severely to injure the interests of the State, The "AVcimarisclie Volkszeitung" and the "Eisenacher Volkszeitung" have been entirely suppressed, for what reasons is explained ill tho declaration of the Commanding General • responsible for the decree: — The "Weimarische Volkszeitung," in its edition of December 28, took an article which appeared in the "Vortrupp" as a starting point for a malicious aricle, in which it was asserted that "the State, the Fatherland, . . . even defends the interests of capital with arms," that "the capitalist classes can only maintain themselves at the cost of the industrious and exploited labourer," etc. The general policy of the authorities is expressed thus:—"ln the face of danger on all sides the whole population has shown a splendid unanimity, which is constantly finding expression in the Press. All the, more severely, therefore, must every effort to disturb' this inner unity be repressed,- lio matter from what quarter it come." "Abstain from Self-Deceptlon." Most of the German papers are exulting over the rise'in the prices of foodstuffs in England, and it is therefore significant to find a- paper liko the "Deutsche Tageszeitung" calling for moderation. The article says:— "In considering these phenomena the chief thing for us Germans to remember is not to exaggerate anything. Wo should consider it extremely dangerous and foolish to draw any far-reaching conclusions from the momentary rise in the price of wheat in England, especially any to the effect that tho strength of the British people is weakening and that starvation will soon intervene, etc. Wo have had only too many experiences to show us the consequences of such yearning phantasies. To abstain from such self-deception is not only the right and useful thing to do, but in our opinion one of the most prominent of our national duties. As long as Great Britain commands the whole of the Atlantic unhindered, and can provide its people with food and raw materials exactly as in time of peace, except that a higher rate must be paid, it is out of the question for her to suffer any serious consequences or set-backs in this respect. Such set-backs appear to bo more common in Germany, where, after a prohibition of the sale of woollen materials by the military, everyone is waiting for the "wool-week throughout the Empire," during which all kinds of clothes will lie gathered for the soldiers. A prohibition of the sale of cream is also imminent on account of the recent rise in the price of butter. Such a prohibition will no doubt be viewed with' consternation by the'sweet-toothed population of Germany, the "Ba'ckfische" and the_rest; but what is to bo said of the ominious declaration that Munich beer is going to increase in cost on account of the need ,of barley for more important purposes ? A genoral prohibition of the use of oats as provender is also promised by the authorities. The British N.c.o. The German papers have been very much encouraged by the report of their success at Soissons; and Major Moraht, in the "Berliner Tageblatt, who was recently saying that the task for the moment was to keep oa the defensive, strikes a different tune: "Our whole strategy is governed by the idea of the attack.'' Added ground for encouragement ho finds in the reflection that the British army must be short of officers;— It has been necessary to appoint 30,000 new officers. The diminishingly smaller part of these consists of the normal levy from the Officers' Training Corps; the preponderating part comes from the non-commissioned ranks. . . The English N.C.O. is an uneducated, mediocre drill-sergeant of narrow horizon and without experience in the field.