Great Britain

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXV, Issue 80, 8 April 1915, Page 5

Great Britain

THE AMERICAN NOTE.

AN ANGRY GERMAN PRESS.

"ENGLISH STARVATION WAR.''

United Pkess Association. (Received 8.45 a.m.) Amsterdam. April 7

The German newspapers angrily comment on the American Note.

The Cologne Gazette says: "The Note gives carte blanche for an English starvation war, being so drafted that England may simply leave it unnoticed, having no reason to fear American action, while the Note contains a veiled reproach that Germany is not observing the principles of warfare recognised by civilised countries." FAVOURABLE PRESS COMMENT. New York, April 7. The newspapers express satisfaction with the Note's insistence on the rights of neutrals to ship, accompanied by the demand for reparation. They are confident that the Allies will rightly minimise inconvenience or unjustifiable interference. The Herald believes that any serious issue with the Allies is impossible. Paris, April 7. The French Press pays tribute to the courteous nature of the American Note, and expresses the opinion that it should not 1)0 difficult to avoid misunderstandings.

THE DRBNK PROBLEM.

"TAKSNC THE PLEDGE."

United Puesb Association. London, April 7

The King's anti-alcohol decision has tired the popular imagination- Peers, society leaders and commercial men are joining in the movement. * Mr Lloyd George lifts received a hundred thousand abstinence pledges. Another fifty thousand signed the pledges at Edinburgh. The Archbishop of Canterbury, in a sermon, exhorted those unable to bear arms to help the country by abstaining from drink, and said the effects would be startling and enormous, and would change the whole situation. A staff of a dozen sorters is working on Mr. Lloyd George's correspondence on the drink question. Nine mail bags on Saturday were received, each containing six thousand letters, and there were two on Sunday, including many letters from men in training, supporting prohibition. The Times, in a leader says that ,DQW that the drink question is: fully and freely discussed on broad sentiment, the nation dislikes the idea of complete and compulsory prohibition, though probably it will be accepted if the Government emphatically declares that it is desirable and necessary. Yet the English race does not like extremes, and specially abhors extreme measures enacted by law.

INDIAN NATIVE PAPERS SUPPORT PROHIBITION. (Received it.3o a.m.) Bombay, April 7. All the vernacular newspapers in the leading articles praise the King's prohibition of alcohol. LOYAL WELSH MINERS. Received 8.45 a.m.) London, April 7. Two hundred thousand Welsh miners returned to work with admirable loyalty to Lord Kitchener's appeal. WILL THE WAR END IN 1915. MEDICAL MAN'S OPINION. Fremantle, April 7. Dr. Thring, who had charge oi' the Australian volunteer hospital in France, has returned. He said he was convinced that the war would soon be over. He had reached this conclusion after conversing with two well-known members of the British military staff. Both thought that Germany would be beaten by August, or September at the latest. He thought it unnecessary to sacrifice life by invading Germany, but that economic pressure would speedily tell a tale. Although Germany may not bo actually short of food, she must soon run short of munitions and horses.

TURKISH MINISTER EXPECTS SOLUTION BEFORE NOVEMBER.

Pa lis, April 7. liO Matin publishes a Geneva despatch to the effect that Djavid Pasha, Turkish Minister of Finance, is reported as saying that the war cannot last much longer. The Germans were unwilling to lace a second winter campaign, and he expected a definite solution hv the end of October.

INTERNED CERMANS ATTEMPT TO ESCAPE.

London, April 7. An attempt by a hundred German officers of some distinction to escape from the detention camp near Maidenhead was foiled. They tunnelled for twelve yards and pierced the concrete wall. The Press Bureau issues a statement that the Foreign Office understands that great improvements wpvp made in the Ruhlben camp in the

last few weeks-. The chief disadvantage in regard to the supply of bread has been reduced, and the entire work of the kitchens is now in the hands of the British. The allowance of meat and other food for interned civilians

now being received is far in excess of the-former allowance to all in the un-self-supporting category. Over two thousand lately received four marks each weekly from the British Relief Fund, and this has now been increased by one mark. Arrangements are proceeding to secure, a sanatorium near Berlin, where the interned prisoners needing medical attention will be sent. The sanitary arrangements have been greatly improved, and a large space allowed for exercise and recreation.

MEMORIAL TO PROHIBIT LIQUOR SALE DURING THE WAR.

(Received 11.55 a.m.) Loudon, April 7. A memorial from merchants and manufacturers employing many thousands lias been presented to the Government in favor of prohibiting the sale and manufacture of liquor during the war. The memorial lists are not connected with the temperance organisations. WAR OFFICE APPEAL FOR ARMAMENT WORKERS. (Received 11.55 a.m.) London, April 7. The War Office has issued posters appealing to skilled and unskilled men to offer their services to the armament firms. MISCELLANEOUS. London, April 7. George Booth, a member of a Liverpool shipping firm, is the mouthpiece of Kitchener's Munitions Committee. The papers suggest that lie fulfils Mr Lloyd George's "strong man."

(In the House of Commons, on March 10, Mr Lloyd George said the Government intended to organise the whole engineering community for the purpose of increasing the output. They were looking out for a strong business man, with push and go, to carry things through for the duration of the war. The Allies' success depended on the step.) The Labour Conference passed a resolution against Laborite members of the House of Commons speaking on platforms where attempts were made to justify the war, and carried a further resolution approving that the party should resume its national propaganda and direct attention to the persistent misrepresentation of the conditions and habits of the working people, and the grave problems of taxation and unemployment arising at the conclusion of the war. The conference declared that the Government must immediately disclose the terms on which it is prepared to negotiate for peace. Mr Clyncs, M.P., writing to the Independent on the Labor Party's conference and recruiting, said that strong action, not neutrality, was the Socialists' natural calf when brutal and treacherous crimes were committed such as those in Belgium.

Thirty-four millions three hundred thousand pounds were subscribed for the Treasury Bills issued at the end of March. The average discount was £3 2s Id. Tenders for a further fifteen millions close on April 13th. Renter's Paris correspondent states : Official estimates show that Germany to March 15 had lost 21,276 officers, of whom 9925 were killed, including forty-three generals. Paris, April 7.

A German wireless message states that twenty thousand square miles of Prussian territory are now held in Central Poland.