UNEASY OUTLOOK IN GERMANY

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2693, 12 February 1916, Page 5

UNEASY OUTLOOK IN GERMANY

' PUBLIC DOUBTS AND FEARS CONFISCATION OF TEXTILE GOODS • * Br Teleerapli—Press AssocJatlon-Oopyrlebt ("Times" and Sydney "Sua" Services.) (llec. February 11, 5.5 p.m.) London, February 10. A sensational scheme for the confisca» t:on of textile goods has greatly impressed German public opinion) and aroused suspicions as to the Government's confidence in the probable duration of the war. In a remarkable leading article the "Cologne Gazette" discreetly refers to these and says; "These must not remain unanswered. It is a mistake to regard these new economic restrictions as proof that the war. is bound to last a long time—even our military,authorities do not see the end—but the army and the people are in complete agreement, and it is the will of God to lead us to the goal wo all expect. We lack neither resources in men, economic strengtlij nor nrmaments, and the motto for us is to keep cool and hold out." TJio Gorman Socialist journal "Vorwaerts" gives interesting details of the harvest of 1915. This, it remarlts, has been unsatisfactory, The cultivated area is decreasing, and tlio crops are suffering- because inexperienced labour lias boen substituted for the agricultural labourers who have been taken away for the front. <The military strainon tlio railways is causing a shortage of seed and artificial manure, and many manufacturing firms prefer the more profitable business of making machineguns to agricultural machinery. The tone of the foregoing article suggests that the food problem is becoming more complicated.