SENSE OF VICTORY GONE

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3059, 21 April 1917, Page 7

SENSE OF VICTORY GONE

| -—4- : : ENGLISHMAN'S PICTURE OF GERMANY THE TWO BLOCKADES > " j (London "Times" Correspondent.) Paris, February. 15. I have Lad an extremely interesting ' conversation with one of tho very few - JJii.tish subjects who have been living i in Germany in complete freedom since i the beginning of the war. He_.hus • now been allowed to leave, and is proceeding on parole to the United States. I He left Berlin last Saturday in tho i midst of a spell of tho coldest weather I Berlin has experienced for 88 years. Germany is going through a transport > crisis exactly similar to that of Great Britain and France, and with similar • results as regards coal supply. Coal I costs about 50s. per ton, but owing to ; the'cold weather and also to transport > difficulties, small quantities only are s . available in the capital, wbero coal ■ lines are a regular feature in the streets. 1 My informant confirms all the aci counts given by neutrals of the situa--1 tion in Berlin. He does not pretend for a moment that the German people ' are by any means starving, or that 1 they havo reached any point of acute depression. Having been able, as have but few of the neutral observers who 1 havo written upon Gorman conditions, to watch tile eliemy sinco the very beginning of the war, hia impressions are perhaps not as clear cut as those of an occasional visitor, but they are never-, theless more valuable. The Fight For Existence. All the, old certainty of victory has gone. The splendid feeling that triumphant Germany was facing a world in arms has given way to the tremendous anxiety of tho light for existence. The submarine super-frightfulness has created two definite sc'lioolb of opinion | among tho general mass of the people, Both aro agreed that tho war may be dver. in May or June, but ono school still thinks it will end in the starvation of England by the submarine blockade, while tho other is gloomily certain that it. will end in tho British Fleet's successful blockade of Germany. Tho German capital is struggling with exactly the same 'problems which -confront tho Paris authorities. Hore the dust-bins lio about tho streets until 4 or 5 o'clock in. tho afternoon; in Berlin so scarce is labour and transport that tho courtyard of every block of buildings has beconio a big refuse heap. Hero tho French aro endeavouring to incrcaso their sanitary staff by recruiting North African labour. In Berlin the work of tlie dustmen is very largely in the nncl Russian prisoners of war, who move about the capital without any escort. All tho old brilliance which aroused tho enthusiasm of Amorican correspondents in Berlin in tho early days of the war has disappeared. Tho theatres arc half empty and imheatctl, tho audienco sitting in its ovenioats and •pelisses. Drastic lighting regulations havo also been introduced. The German woman spends all her time, to judge from conversations in trains and tramcars, complaining of tlie food regulations, and speculating upon what sho will bo able to get in return for her food cards. Straits of Berlin Populace. The civil mobilisation has, ou the whole, been successful, bufc there is a noticeablc lack of enthusiasm among tho women for war work. In Berlin factories, at any rate, there- is no attempt to brighten tho life of the munition worker which at all corresponds with tho work of tho British Munitions Welfare Department. Raw materials havo been lacking jh more than ono munition factory 'in Berlin for the last few weeks and tho real straits in which the population is being placed in some cases is shown by the fact that, owing to the requisition of all rubber, people are running their bicycles on tires mado of rope or oven of wood. An enterprising and dishonest firm has made quite a lot of money toy advertising and selling "Continental tires" of wood. People bought them, believing them to be the real article, only to find that;'they were absolutely 'useless and warped at tho first touch of . damp. Tho Emperor is hut- rarely' seen in tho capital, and would seem rather to have been forced by the immensity of the struggle into the background. . On tho day of ono of Germany's "victories" this British observer counted from his bedroom window no fewer than 37 flags hoisted in honour of the event. Every one who knows Germany also knows how thorough havo been the celebrations of the Emperor's birth(Jay. Yet oil the last Imperial birthday this Englishman was able to count only eight flags, where three months before lie had counted 37. 'fnroughout the city, although there was a big ceremony at the Donij it was practically only the . official buildings which had hoisted flags, and the display of private bunting usually to be seen on this occasion was noticeably absent. In Germany'people are convinced that their sufferings are 110 greater than those of the French. The enormous difference between tfi'em is perhaps, best' shown when I say that the thing which most impressed this ~Eng- f lishman on arriving in France after three years in Germany was the magnificence of the French horses. Anyone, he declared, who tried to drive a Berlin horse in the streets of Paris would be summoned for cruelty to animals. _ Those who know the ordinary condition of the Paris fiacre horses will best appreciate what this means, and how significant it is oT~ conditions in Germany.

loams' matches will be fired to-mor-row, at Broadway range, Miramar, between the Suburbs and Old Navals at ranges 300, 500, 600 yards. The Petone Club will 'hold its final shoot for the season to-day, at the Waiwetu range; ranges 300, 500, and 600 yards, 7 shots. The members of the Karori Defence Rifle Club will fire the first match for J]} 0 C.A.C. cup. on the Fetono Itiflo Club s raiyge, at Waiwetu this afternoon, at 300, 000, and 600 yards ranges. Prizes have been donated for the handicap men.