TURNING THE TABLES.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 169, 28 April 1916, Page 4 (Supplement)

TURNING THE TABLES.

Germany has long been denouncing j with unbridled fury what she describes j as England's " infamous plans for tho starvation of Germany,'• and she excuses the deliberate and premeditated murder of inoffensive English villagers on the ground that it is a "just retribution" on a nation which is using its sea-power to deprive German women and children of food; and that policy she declares to ho "dastardly and iniquitous." la view of this fact, a London contemporary recently expressed j the opinion that it was t me to remind | tho world, and especially the neutral [nation,;, that it was Germany herself j which initiated this "dastardly and rkjuitous policy." It was the official':;/ I declared intention of Germany to -rink I every British ship" and every other 'ship' of other nations which dared to carry food or any other supplies to England." This threat was reiterated in the new campaign of outrage announced a few weeks ago, and now -n progress. It was Germany which initiated and tried to carry out the "great submarine blockade" of British rmd by means of this deadly form of warfare actually succeeded at the outset in sinking a number of British ves--1 sis. It was not "dastardly and iniquiI tous" then. It wos "the glorious campaign of our U boats"; it was "the dauntless courage of the heroes of our undcr-water craft, whose daring and resource arc slowly but surely starvj ing our hated English foes into submission." Tiie polcy only became "dastardly" when the British Fleet turned the tables on German submarine strategy, and "iniquitous" when the German plan fai'ed and the British plan succeeded. What was the fate which Germany deliberately planned for us? There is one dark chapter "l modern history winch offers a full and complete and eloquent and tragic answer to that quest'on. It is the story of the siege of Paris by Germany in 1871. a siege which was prosecuted with the same ruthless barbarism that marks German methods to-day, raid would hnve been repeated in the case of EjiglanJ had it not been for the British Navv. The story of tho sieeg is rc-tol:l by our London contemporary, from contemporary records. Famine conquered France and the French in 1«71. The authors of the famine were the Germans, whose rigorous and impenetrable blockade brought what was then, as now, the strongest fortress in Europe to submiss ; on in i.33 days. Two million people were lock-Hi up in Paris. There were soldiers there manning the forts, which never fell tc I hostile attack. But the sufferers from I the siege included a great civil population—women, children, and old men unfit to fight. It was the dire necessity of saving these from absolute starvation which made capitulation inevitable. French and Prussian alike recognised* how victory was to he won. I Before the siege, in the interval fol'oxj ing the disaster of Sedan, provisions ' of all sorts were hastily collected into j the capital, which counted on holding | out until the arm'es which it was hopI ed the new provisional Government : wou'd be able to raise could come im) and trap the invaders between the fortress garrison and the relic ing forces. "Cattle and sheep." record' Captain i IT. M. Hosier, in his "Story of the 1 S'ege as Seen by a Resident." "were | collected together in the Cham]) do ; .M;irs and other open spaces, on tho 1 green slope.- of the fortifications, and

:tl! around between the ramparts and the forts, under the protection of the latter. There wa • then no fear of famof meat really became insignificant.'' Suarrows and other small birds, says Captain Hozier, were cold at Is. to 2s. each., and he sets out as ordinary prices, which ruled for weeks, the following: Fowls—lo-. to 50s. each. Ducks—3os. . Pigeons—Bs. to 10s.

ine, or even r.f scarcity, except of gre.'ii vegetables. Such was the tenor of nearly all that was raid an.l printed in Paris in September, IS7O. let savs the same .writer, "no sooner was

! Paris invest wl tl.an we bcgn-i to ft- 1 J our he.'ph ssutss it is needless t > d>v"'i! i on the condition of the population, rc- | duced to an ounce of horsellesh a day. i without li.-li or poultry, except at enor-

mous prices, butter, eggs, potatoes or other vegetables. The j our women and the cooks in every family were compjl-!-d to stand for hours at the doors of the butchers'* shops, waiting to purchase their morsels of meat; in many cases they took their stand overnight, in order to reach the counter befo.'C L'he meat had disappeared, and thus, during the coldest weeks of one of the severest winters known, and frequently with nia-t-os of half-me'.ted snow I etiealii their feet, live, six, and even e.:gln hours did these poor women wait, an I then often found the stock of meat ex.;aust:d; and as the distribution only took place once in three days, sometimes extended to lour, this supply

Rooks—os. Hnrcs-i.2 to £3. Rabbits—3ss. to -10s. H:nn—los. per pound. Preserved beef—ls-s. per pound. "Poor seamstresses," lie adds, "shop Kirk, men too old for service, singers, dangers, actors and actresses, starved or fell into i'l-hcaiih Hi their garret', with few to heed them or lend them n hand. The mortality increased rrnm less than 3.000 to more than 0.000 deaths per week, exclusive (if those ;'i tli • military hospita's end ambulance*." The late Mr Henry T.ahnuchere was one of those who endured the siege and

kept a diary. Here i.s an extract under date December 15. 1-70: "In the Rue Blanche there is a butcher who sells dojjs, cats and rats. \ prejudice hr ar'scti aan-t rats, because the doctors say that their flesh is full of trichinae. I lad a slice of spaniel the other day: it was by no means had. something like lamb; hut T felt like n cannibal." In her "France in the Nineteenth Century." Mrs K. \V. Latimer writes: ''ln October butter rose !■> -0, a pound, cabbages were sold

by the loaf. Eggi wers 12s 6d a doren, and milk soon became unobtainable. Poor little bab.ee died like flies. All kinds of meat were eaten—mule, antelope. elephant's trunk (for the animals in the I>al ' i ' , ' /a)0 wo, '° toou utilised), bear, kangaroo, ostrich, yak, varied the bill of fare for those who could afford to eat them." The Hon. Captain Bingham, another English, dari-t, tells us, under date January 25 \- : "\ : "People nro dying in hundreds for want of nourishment; Paris, in fact, is in extremis.'' A final extinct from Mr Labouchere may lie given as a pendant. Mr Labouchere was. like most Englishmen at the time, not unfriendly to tho Germans. Yet this is how lie had to wri'e of their conduct as victors. The extract is dater Versailles, February Gth, 1871: "The Germans are spoiling tho Egyptians with a wngeance. Even in this town, und"i- tiie very eyes of the King, there is one street—(he Boulevard de In Reine—in which almost every house •.* allsjlutely gutted. This I hear, was done by the Bavarians. The German army may have many excellent qualities but chivalry is not among them. War with them is ii business. They are courageois, without one spark or heroism. After fighting all day they will rifle the corpses of their fallen foes of every article they can lay their hands on. and will return to their camp equally happy because they have won a great victory for the Fatherland and stolen a watch from one cf the enemies of the Fatherland." From Atti'a to Wilheslm, always and ever— THE HFN! Yet the Huns howl pitoously when the people he has provoked too enmity turn on him. The tiger squeals when.lrs would-be victim threaten,!, to scratch 1