DISILLUSION IN GERMANY

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2605, 29 October 1915, Page 6

DISILLUSION IN GERMANY

BERLIN MOURNING FOR lIS DEAD NEUTRAL'S VIEW \ COUNTRY "HASTENING TO RUIN." A personage belonging to a neutral State .tins given the l'aris "Matin" impressions gathered during a recent visit (September) to Berlin. "In the Gorman capital," he remarks, "you seo chiefly women, old men, and children, and a aontinual passing to and fro of wounded soldiers and mon returning to the front after a visit to their families. But Berlin has the appearance of a dissolute city, and there is moro vice to be met with than thero was in the pleasure resorts of Paris before the war. Up to 1 a.m. tlie oafes and bars of Berlin remain open. Only the dancing halh aro closed." Motor-cars aro difficult to find. There is a lack of petrol, for the Germans have not succeeded in. finding a substitute. Thero is also a lack of rubber. The harvest 'lias been good, and food is plentiful, though very dear. Germany has copper in abundance, procured from tho Swedish mines. The ore is treated in Sweden, and then imported for the needs of tho Austro-German armies. The meat reserves appear to be diminishing, as tho sale has just been regulated. Within the last few days meatcards havo made their appearanoe, similar to thoso for bread. A Moral Blockade. In the dther towns, more than in the capital, the visitor notices tho absence of adult men, and receives, the impression that tho male contingent of the population is exhausted. The increased cost of artioles of prime necessity assumes disquieting proportions. These, says tho neutral informant of the "Matin," aro facts. Now for appreciations.

Germany is hermetically sealed 86 regards the entrance of news from abroad. The traveller, on entering and leaving the country, is thoroughly searched— his person, his trunks, parcels, everything, by a cloud of functionaries nono too obliging. All his papers are confiscated, subjected to a, searching investigation, and then returned to his. do-micile-ran excellent way of learning the nature of the written matter imported and the address of the traveller. The most private papers, even those of. your pocket-book, have to bo deposited, and are scrutinised. It is a moral blockade.

"What is tho state of mind of the Germans? In my opinion the people want peace. It bears 6adly the loss.of its numerous soldiers who are falling daily; the great burden of the war weighs heavily on its weary shoulders, and discontent grows in proportion to the cost of living, a proof of this, I take the attitude of the Berliners on the day that Warsaw fell. The taking of Warsaw, tho capital of Russian Poland, called forth no popular enthusiasm or stir. Only the official flags appeared at the windows. In the streets ther.e was silence and also disillusion, for it was mauifest that the enemy's army had escaped the encirclement and annihilation which the staff hoped-for. . "The people would like to have done with it. It desires peace. The Kaiser's proclamation on August 1, the anniversary of tho declaration of war, fell flat.

"The people doas not show its discontent, which is smouldering like the embors beneath tho ashes. Tho haughty arrogance of tho beginning of the war has given place to depression. It does not believe bulletins of victory any more; it counts its dead and suffers in silence. It- receives official manifestations of joy in silence. In the course of my sta,v ; at Berlin I have had occasion to ponder over tho deep truth of the isaying of one of your great revolutionaries: "The silence of the peoples is the lesson of Kings. 1 "

In conclusion, the neutral adds an anecdote. Princess Victoria Louise, the Kaiser's daughter,, was lunching at the well-known Esplanade Hotel (of which tlio Kaiser is a shareholder) with the Prince of Lippe. All round were diplomats' tables. At one of these tables sat members of the Turkish Embassy. Further on were noutrals. The .Princess took rip the "Matin," one of the first numbers of August, which spoke of the Kaiser, liaising her voicc so as to be heard she said it was wrong to blame her father, "who had not dosired the war."

The "Matin's" informant summed up his impressions thus:

"It is my settled conviction that Germany is hastening to Tuin. She is not yet at tlio end of her tether, but there are manifest signs of exhaustion. The violent popular desii'e for peace is a significant symptom. Ono sees traces of attrition and weariness in Germany which are not to be met with in Franco. Hold fast j resist all suggestions of peace; you will crush Germany."