GERMANY'S WAR WORK.

Taihape Daily Times, 20 October 1917, Page 3

GERMANY'S WAR WORK.

THE LABOUR SITUATION. ITho latest German newspapers available contain a good deal of information bearing on the Labour situation. As soon as the Eussian offensive was seen to be inevitable the press began to prepare the public for another winter of war. 'At the same time the Government began to agitate for fresh efforts in the production of munitions. This movement is similar to that which was initiated by Hindenburg last summer, as a result of the battle of this year. For the present the coal problem is the most prominent subject of discussion. In Ms address at Frankfurt, with which he began his

campaign. General Groener, who as head of the War Bureau of the Prussian Ministry of Wax*, is now a sort of Minister for Munitions, announced that the Government is again considering the application of the Auxiliary Service Law to women who were excluded from the scheme last year, though invited to volunteer He said the whole transport system of Germany was now being investigated and he was horrified at the way in which commodities were carried about the country. He declared that he had no fear of a collapse of the coal supply, proviued they had proper distribution. But there must be economy, in industries which were not reducing armaments, However, the Frankfurt Gazette declares that the difficulties in the coal supply which made their appearance last winter are due less to unsatisfactory transport conditions and defective distribution than to production. "No way has yet been found which promises a real improvement, and all the measures thus far Taken by the authorities cannot deceive us about that," the paper declares. The Metal Workers' Union, the largest union in Germany, has demanded payment for time lost owing to the fact that "the working of short time is becoming ever more common in the war industry, on account of shortage of coal, electric current and materials.''