LAND OF GRAVEYARDS.

Taranaki Daily News, 22 April 1919, Page 5

LAND OF GRAVEYARDS.

A PICTURE OF GERMANY. Germany is pictured as "a land of graveyards," by Lieut.-Colonel Searle Harris, of the United States Medical Reserve Corps, who recently returned to Paris after having investigated conditions east of the Rhine. He says that the German nation is bankrupt, the people are actually starving, and that "probably no one will ever know the number of casualties suil'ered by Germany during the war." "There are no eggs, no milk, and only half a pound of beet sugar for each person per month," lie says, in giving details of the situation. "Shopgirls have lost from ten to forty-five pounds in weight, while everyone shows a lack of vitality. I found children going to school shod with paper sandals or with cloth shoes to which wooden soles had been attached. No one knows the composition of the black, gritty bread that is being issued in limited quantities by tickets. Tuberculosis is increasing and skin diseases due to lack of nourishment and lack of soap are prevalent. One beneficial result of the low diet which has been enforced upon the German people is found in the fact that it has helped many who were overeaters. Bright's disease lias decreased, and diabetes has disappeared. There is no more gout in Germany, but, on the other hand, intestinal diseases have greatly increased. These are attributed to coarse bread. The beer that is being sold has no substance." Conditions which he had found in Germany have led Lieut.-Colonel Hani-- to the opinion that many women and children will die or become defectives if not supplied with food. "The Germans who overran France," he says, "should be punished and permitted to starve, but not the women and children, Hungry men and women do not make good neighbors"