WAR ARTICLES IN THE "REVIEWS"

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 2963, 29 December 1916, Page 3

WAR ARTICLES IN THE "REVIEWS"

INTERESTING FEATURES DISCUSSED

Tho fact that tho German peace proposals* are said to liav.G- followed on suggestions made by Count Burian, tho Austin-Hungarian Foreign Minister, gives a special interest to an article in the November number of the "Fortnightly Review" on "The Austro-Hun-ganan Army." Tho writer of it, Joseph Szebenyei, states that the AustroHungarian army is seething with dissatisfaction and disunion. The cause •of this unrest is to bo found in the racial differences which divido tho various constituents of tho army. It is "a heterogeneous mass of irreconcilable elements." Austrians and Hungarians have always hated each other, while the various Slav raccs in tho Monarchy hated thorn both, and the war has not changed these sentiments. While the proportions among tlie men in the ranks of the army are 70 per cent. Hungarians and 30 per cent. Austrians, j among tho the proportions aro reversed, 65 per cent, being Austrians. These facts, in conjunction with the fact that tho Austrian policy is not to allow Hungarian officers to servo 'in Hungarian, regiments (so as to render a possible revolution less likely) have caused much anger in Hungary." Up to February 1, 1916, the total AustroHungarian casualties were 4,082,700, to which must be added 200,000 deaths from disease. In addition, the recent terrible losses during tho- fighting against Italy and the Russian offensive of June and July represent at least another 500,000. The writer adds that the Austro-Hungarian armies at'the various fronts and in training number 3,000,000 men. In addition, there are perhaps 1,000,"000 engaged oil various duties in the rear of the fighting line and on garrison duty. These include the last levies of men from -(3 to 50 years of ago. .

Discoveries fn Germany. , •M-r. >T. M. de Beaufort continues, in tho Quarterly Review," the remarkstory of his "Voyage of Discovery in Germany." He tells us a great deal that is interesting about Wilhelmshaven, Cuxhaven, and Kiel. "The wliole place," ho saya of WilliohnsJiavcn, 'is oiio vast complcx of dry clocks; machine shops, boilor factories, iron foundries, etc. A railroad line seems to touch almost every point. Everywhere I saw huge cranos, most of them of sufficient power to lift a battleship s turret, or ono of the new 15-inch guns, or a pinnace,, as easily ns if it wore a bale of cotton. North-west of tho parade grounds are two 'enormous ,PPelin sheds." His walk round the place did not make him, feel that ha was attending the last convulsions of an Empire. Work, Will, and Efficiency scorned to bo in the very air. In thoroughness, h© says, tho Germans can give iiny other nation 12 months' start, and still easily overtake it in the next two. And this of Kiel: "There before ws lay tho great 'Fleet in Being.' Iho sight was superb. ' In front of us, to loft, to right, wherever our eyes travelled, we saw nothing but warships, of all'typcs and ages." But he is convinced that the German ileot is never going to risk a battle in which its existenpo will be at stake. The chargo made'against England by Admiral von booster, viz., that sho desires to'be present at the'peaco negotiations with a ileet intaot, applies to Germany.'

Cermany's Food Legislation. Writing in the "Edinburgh Review" on Germany's food legislation, Mr. J. ! E lis Barker states -that information, which has reached us by way of tho liewspapors and! through privato sources indicates that the general l'ood position in Germany is serious—that there is a shortage, not only of meat and fat eg£s and milk, etc., but of food of every kind. It is obvious, ho remarks, that people oan live with little meat and iat, provided they can obtain enough vegetable food But is there enough vegetable food to supply the wants 'of the people? Ho doubts it. Apparent- > ly, the policy of tho low prices ras had the natural result, of greatly stimulating the consumption, and teverely reduced tho production of food, thus producing a general scarcity, and the attempt to distribute the existing food equitably has proved a failuro. By over-regulating and over-organising in the oconomic sphore Germany may regulate herself into .starvation, anil organise lierself into defeat. .

The Importance of Rumania. J-' the,'food problem, according to Pohticus," a frequent contributor to tho "Fortnightly,which has caused tho Central Powers ! to attack Uuminia 'so vigorously. Ihe British blockade is, says this writer, beginning to be exceedingly effective. Minerals, such as iron, copper, lead 1 , mercury, nickel, sulphur, and coal aibound in Rumania, to say nothing of the oilfields. Germany is suffering keenly from lack of food and raw materials, but by conquering Rumania, slio can provido a vast storo of the foodstuffs and raw material which she requires. It is. noteworthy that Rumania produces almost twice as .much wheat as tho wholo of Austrid, and about GO per cent, as much as is' raised in tho whole of tho German Empire. "The Germans aro attacking Rumania with the greatest energy, not so much from thirst for revenge, but from desire for bread, meat, etc." From all points of view, tho defeat of'.the Rumanian army would be a disaster-of the first niagnir tudo to the Grand Alliance. l'V,r one thing, it would, besides sapplying her with food, enable Germany to send: a largo fleet of submarines by way of the Elbo and Danubo into tho Black Sea. The Lorraine Frontier. The war has brought many surprises, but the chief of them, says Mr. Francis Gribble, ill tho "Edinburgh," has been the importance of metallurgy to its operations. Munitions are wanted in all wars, hut in this war thoy have been required ori a scale which has seriously taxed the. industrial, and, above all, the metallurgical resource - , of all the belligerent countries. Nobody foresaw the extent of the demand—tho. Germans no more than their rivals. But the fact was soon established that metallurgical hegemony spelt victory. In order to treat iron oie, coal is required. in large quantities, and of this Germany and England possess a superabundance, while France has an insufficient supply'. That is why it is essential that France, in addition to recovering Lorraine, should also acquire tho Sarre basin,' with its rich deposits of coal. The commercial and financial people of Germany, says Mr. Gribblo, are only moderately bellicose in tone, and if they are not 'quite as eager for peace as tho Social Democrats, at Jeast they do not seem to liavo any insuperable objection to cutting their losses and making the best of a bad job. But the ironmasters and armourplaters are oven more chauvinistic than the Junkers, though for a different reason. They want, in short, to augment their mineral resources by stealing more of tho Fronch mines.

An Imperial Platform. Thoro is an interesting article in tho "Nineteenth Century" by Mr., Henry Wilson. Fox on the subject of "A. Platform for an Imperial Party." Tho war lias already done inueli, he says, to diminish class N animosities and to arouse a genuine desiro to faco tho futuro in a new spirit of co-operation and endeavour, and the tini® is accordingly rioe for tho dissemination of

now ideas.' "We "want to make the Empire a better place to live in. _ We want to givb to as many of its citizens as possible _ the opportunity of living their lives in security under constantly improving conditions of health and material comfort." Mr. Fox makes some valuable suggestions towards this end, and they are worthy of consideration bv all thoughtful men. A fresh start~in the relations between' the State and omployers and betVeen employers and, employed is imperative, he says, and the basis of new relations must be a wider realisation, of T!Ee fact that increased produotion of wealth is a condition precedent to. an increase in tlie earnings of the poorer sections of the community. As for State action, its guiding principle should be assistance, not control.