AUSTRO-GERMANY.

Taranaki Daily News, 13 February 1918, Page 5

AUSTRO-GERMANY.

GERMANY'S WAR BILL CRUSHING POST-WAR TAXATION. Received Feb. 13,12.30 a.m. London, Feb. 12. Count von Preysing, in the Bavarian Upper House, interpellated the Government as to Germany's war bill and taxation after the war, which, he stated, would be nine and a half milliard marks —fourfold the pre-war debt—necessitating an average taxation of fifty to sixty per cent, of incomes, or the confiscation of capital to a minimum of forty to fifty milliards. Count Breunime, Minister of Finance, admitted that teu milliards of marks would bo required to meet the interest on the debt. Other speakers deplored the statement, creating, as it would, the impression that Germany was faced with financial ruin unless it got indemnities. Count Toerring, the Crown Prince's brother-in-law, declared that the Imperial Government should not insist upon indemnities, but should strive for an honorable peace—not a Pan-German peace.

THE KAISER'S BOMBAST. DEMANDING THE POWERS OF HEAVEN. Received Feb. 13, 12.30 a.m. i Amsterdam, Feb. 12. The Kaiser, in a speech at Hamburg, declared that he wished to live in peace with his neighbors, but a German victory must first be acknowledged. "Our troops will gain it under the great Hindenburg. Then will come the peace we need for our strong future. To this end the violent powers of Heaven must assist us. Everyone, from schoolboy to greybeard, must set his mind on conquest and German peace, and the Fatherland will live."