THE SIEGE OF GERMANY.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 5, Issue 193, 21 July 1916, Page 2 (Supplement)

THE SIEGE OF GERMANY.

It is essential, in discussing the inter nal condition of Germany as it has been affected by the war, to bear >d mind tho words of the Gorman Chan cellor when he said: "The German na tion in case of real scarcity, is read/ to lower the standard of life, which has risen remarkably during tiie 'as decade." Boastful and unreliable as Herr von Bethmann-hiollweg has shown himself to be in many of his public declarations, there can be no doubt tint in using these words lie was expressing tho views of the great mass of his countrymen, and conditions of life in Germany will have to become extremely hard before of themselves they can bring about a conclusion of the war in favour of the Allies. At the same time, the "Daily Express," in the first of a series of special articles, the publication of which was commenced just before the mail which reached hero this week left England, claimed to have available information which made it clear that among large sections or tho population a strong feeling of warweariness is becoming apparent,

aroused principally by the steadily growing difficulty of obtaining the

necessaries of life. Impartial neutrals who have been in eloso contact with Germans of widely varying classes have I teen especially struck by this feature of the situation. Thus, l'ro-fes-or Haglun, a Swede, who was in Berlin in February, wrote in 'ha "Dagens Xy'ieter":— "An indescribable impression of warweariness lias taken hold of the popu'a. tion of Berlin. Any looker-on is ;t once struck by it, and this war-weari-ness is apparent- not alone among the iho civil population. The soldiers, wounded and unwotuded, whom one sees make in the mass a concentrated impression of spiritual and physical fatigue."

This spirit of war-weariness is particularly noticeable among the common people, and evidence is accumulating, despite the determineu efforts of the German authorities to hide the truth, that there is a s..eadily growing .e----sentment against the privations from which the poor are suffering. JJn.'f accounts of various tonus of unrest have appeared at different times u neutral newspapers, but so far th?y have been received with considerable reserve in the allied countries. It lias been impossible to obtain confirmation of these popular outbreaks from the German newspapers, as all mention them is apparently rigorously excluded. Among the pi a es at which, <iecording to neutral newspapers, rioting and street demonstrations took place in March were j in addition to the cas:tal, Munich, Dnsseldorf, Munster, and

Frankfort, while various centres :n Wurttemberg, Westphalia, and AlsaceLorraine were also declared to be affected. At the time of writing, "Express " claimed to have absolutely, authentic information regarding th». outbreak in Berlin in the second vreek<

in March, and it is evident that the affair was extremely serious. It may bo summarised jn the words of a Danish doctor, who was an actual eye-witness of tho occurrences:—

" I was sitting in a restaurant in Berlin when I heard the sound of rioting and shooting. Every one became alarmed, and a rush was made for the entrances, when srmed police came :n and ordered the people in the restaurant to remain there. After a time some were allowed to leave, but were ordered not to enter certain streets in the neighbourhood. I had business in one of those streets, however, and was permitted to go there. I saw many Killed and wounded, mostly women and children. The bodies were being carried away fjiiickly. I was to'd that niachhe guns had boon used against the mob. - '

These manifestations of popular unrest are strong tributes to the effective manner in which the British blociado is steadily sapping the energies and staying power of our enemies. Not

only is it becoming clear that a large and ever-growing part of the population of Germany is underfed, but their sufferings are becoming known the men in tho German trenches. As a highly p'aced neutral who recently visited Germany on official businsss put it: "These hardships become known to soldiers in the held, and hava liad the effect of lowering the morale of the army." A Letter received fro a a neutral Minister in Berlin affords direct evidence of the extent to which tho supply of absolute necessaries -s being affected.

" Life in Germany, and especially in Berlin, is very hard. The bread which can now be obtained is bad. Meat, butt.T. lard, oil, vinegar, rice, macaroni, potatoes, and coffee are l>oth scarce and dear." He adds significantly that " while distress is widespread the people are submissive and well disciplined'' — with machine guns. Emphasis may be given to this picture of the conditions in the capital by the following statement made from another source, on which the "'Express* assures us reliance may be placed, with regard to the situation at Bremerh a veil

"The lower classes get neither meat nor fish. The dole of bread allowed ta them is scarcely sufficient for the fiW* meal of the day. The prncipal articl® of diet is vegetable soup, made with potatoes, ( arrets sugar, while they make the bread palatable with a kind of marmalade made of potatoes boiled with rhubarb and sugar. Only * quarter of a pound of butter is each person per week, while mainly reserved for children and valids, and even -for them the supply is insufficient.'