Ottumwa tri-weekly courier. [volume] (Ottumwa, Iowa) 1903-1916, 1915-12-21

campaign of opposition to the censor
! is being waged by the newspapers OF
| Austria and Hungary. A memorandum
| to the prime minister signed by pub
| fishers and editors, points out that
| the newspapers existed during the
| first year Of the war under a milder
censorship and succeeded in serving
! the country worthily and periodically.
Ills it not then unjust they ask, that
an increasing number Of restrictions
should be applied daily? The news
papers are tired Of being allowed to
speak onlys of city authorities and
fraudulent army contractors, and seek
1 the restoration of the small freedom
which they enjoyed in pre-war times.
/ Since the war, it is stated, thirty
seven Hung arian newspapers published
!, by Czechs, slovacks, Slavs and Ru.
Lmanians have been suppressed.
Stockholm-In order to avoid the
consumption of grain and potatoes,
! the manufacture Of alcohol and fodder
| from reindeer moss Is Deing tried on
an extensive scale in northern Ger
many Reindeer moss Is very plenti.
| full in the arctic regions of Scandi-
navia being the principal food Of the
reindeer during the winter. Several
large shipments of the moss have
been sent to Germany during the past
two months
| The Hague. Netherlands-The re-
striction by the Dutch government of
the movements of metal workers who
! were intending to go to Great Britain
| to take advantage of high wages there
has called attention to the position of
the Netherlands in connection with
war supplies.
| The enforcement Of the regulations
was surprise to the workmen con-
cerned. several thousand Of whose
comrades had been employed in Ger
man munitions factories since the be-
| ginning of the war The labor repre-
sentatives who conferred with the
government officials were told that
| the action of the authorities was
necessary because so many men were
| leaving whose service would be in
valuable to the country in case OF
Ineed. and that the prohibition of emf
grafton is now applicable without re-
gard to which country they might
wish to 60
The Metal Workers union has en-
tered an energetic protest against the
stoppage of it's members emigration,
and has brought forward statistics to
show that many of them are out of
work in this country. At the same
| time the union demands, In case the
order should remain in force, an in
! crease Of 35 per cent in the mems
wages. and the government is consid-
ering the problem thus brought for
ward as it affects the workers in the
government factories.
For many years some of the Dutch
newspa pers have been calling atten-
ton to the necessity of establishing
efficient arsenals and ammunition fac
tories under Dutch state control to
provide sufficie war material for the
Dutch army under all conditions. in
stead of leaving the military forces
of the country as hitherto dependent
on. foreign contractors. Possibly as
result Of this agitation, the state
since January, 1913 has possessed an
arms and ammunition factory on the
Hembrug at Amsterdam and an arsen-
al at Delft These state institutions
have been recently extended to include
the construction OF certain parts OF
flying machines and sea mines, but
the entire output is based on the re-
ouirements of the small Dutch army
on peace footing.
Much has been done since the begin
ming Of the European war to place the
Dutch army in a position to cope with
modern conditions Of fighting. Under
the circumst ances the government
deems it unwise to publish even ap-
proximate figures as to what has been
done, but 1t may be taken as a fact
that the Netherlands is prepared for
most eventualities.