GERMANY IN WAR TIME.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 1356, 4 February 1915, Page 4

GERMANY IN WAR TIME.

BERLIN PRETENDING TO

BE NORMAE

ANXIETY BENEATH THE

SURFACE

Messrs Frederick Palmer and Corey, two well-known American correspondents lately returned to England from a prolonged visit to Germany.

“In Berlin,” remarked Mr Corey to an interviewer, “there are two stock phrases in the mouth of every German you meet. One is ‘Are you not surprised to see that everything is normal ?’ The other ‘How long do you think the war will last ?’ And there is an intimate relation between them. At first sight everything does look normal. The lighting of the streets is unchanged, the tramcars are running as usual, the restaurants and theatres are open, retail prices have not been raised. You can get a meal in a Berlin restaurant cheaper than you can in Eondon.

“But wholesale prices have risen and are still rising. There is a Government regulation to mix rye with wheat bread and to put a certain percentage of potatoes in rye bread ; people are warned to

economise with all food supplies. Still the Minister of Agriculture has stated that including the next harvest there are enough foodstuffs in the country, without getting a pound from outside, for 21 months.

“There is. I admit, an appearance of normality on the surface, but you get under the surface very quickly. I went one day into the largest dry goods store in Berlin at 4 o’clock in the afternoon, the favourite shopping hour for women. There were only five customers besides myself in the whole of the place. Afterwards I ■ at ten big shops in the fr.shnuabk, quarter—in seven of nicta there were no customers, in 1 :ee only one or two. “At the Hotel Bristol, where we were staying, only one elevator was running. The bar closed at q o’clock, a striking contrast with what one remembers the night life of Berlin used to be. I don’t know how many guests were in the hotel, but my personal belief is that there were not more than a dozen rooms occupied.

“When I was in Hamburg I stopped at the big Atlantic Hotel. There were only 15 persons at luncheon and fewer at dinner. “No moratorium has beeu declared iu Germany, the Germans make a great point of it. It is also true that there is a general understanding that nobody shall press for the collection of debt. The wonderful banking system of Germany prevents credit from collapsing, “The opinion of a good many unprejudiced people is that if this war lasts a year Germany will be absolutely and completely broke. In Hamburg the number of vessels entered—all, of course, neutral bottoms—is now, according to the American Consul, only a seventh of what previously came iu.

“On the other hand, one cannot fail to be impressed with the wonderful spirit of the people. They are absolutely united, and while they are not all so confident of their invincibility as they were at the beginning, most of them are. The bulk of the nation are assured that sooner or later the Kaiser’s army will get through to England —they regard the invasion of England as a certainty, and their hopes are centred on that.

"The more intelligent men one meets frankly admit that the original programme has gone all to pieces. If they are unable to break through the western line of the Allies they do not know what is going to happen next, because it is admitted that Germany has put her maximum power of attack into this advance and cannot hope to renew it with the same violence, HATRED OK ENGLAND, "There is,” Mr Corey said, ‘‘an intense hatred of the English throughout Germany. People talk quite kindly of the French and Russians by comparison; to judge by the newspapers, France and Russia may be regarded as mistaken perhaps, but, on the whole, well meaning nations. And there are frequent suggestions that a compromise may be arrived at either with France or Russia, or both ; so as to leave Germany

free to settle with England. “Every German is firmly convinced of two things. They believe that the Fatherland was the subject of an unprovoked attack, and was forced into the war. And they believe that the Kaiser’s plan ot first crushing France and then dealing at her leisure with Russia would have gone through had it not been for England.

“It is still held that there was every reason to suppose that England would not interfere in the quarrel, and she is virulently hated now because she has smashed up the German programme. GERMAN COMPARISON OK FOES. “Vet they speak very highly ot British courage, far more highly,” Mr Corey observed, “than English newspapers spoke of German courage, at any rate in the e«;iy days of the war. “I heard the very highest praise of the British soldier and of the tenacious way in which they hold the trenches. The Frenchman they regard as the more brilliant in attack, but for bull-dog courage in holding on the palm is awarded to the English,

“And there are plenty of men in Berlin who have reason to know. The number ot wounded is simply inconceivable. You meet them everywhere in various stages of canvalescence. There are, I am told, 1,100 hospitals in Berlin with accommodation lor about 45,000 men, and there are at least 40,000 wounded in Berlin —many of them, ot course, nearly ready to return to the front.

“But the impression one gets is that Germany is pretty nearly at the bottom of the sack as regards men. We saw volunteers drilling wherever we went —many of them stunted, who certainly would not be accepted for military service in ordinary circumstances.

“bluff.”

“There is no doubt about one thing. Germany is putting every ounce into this war. In addition to the regular army, they claim to have 2,300,000 volunteers in training. You may, or may not, credit that, but there is no question that every available man in Germany is a volunteer. Social ostracism is the penalty for any youngster who is fit to join the colours and hangs back, “The spirit ot the people is admirable, but everywhere you hear that question : ‘How long do you think the war will last ?”

“The Germans are great organisers," was Mr Frederick Palmer’s considered opinion on this aspect of the question, "and the condition of the nation at present I should describe as organised optimism. They were sure of victory at the beginning, whether they are so sure of it now I can't say, but they are keeping up the bluff.

"What one observes as the great difference between Berlin and London is that in Berlin they are pretending that everything is normal—“business as usual.’ The hotel clerk ‘will see if we have room for you,’ when he knows that the place is pretty nearly empty. In London the authorities seem to want to impress everybody that you really are at war, but I can’t find much evidence of it except in the darkened streets and the closing of the restaurants at 10 o’clock."