Evening star., 1915-03-28

pie will wonder how they ever lived
IN an age Of private ownership Of
bread. The state bread monopoly will
seem as natural and as inevitable as
did the state tobacco and match mo-
nopolies which existed in France be
fore the war.
Socialistic war monopolies will per-
Sist after the war also because the
Wis inertia of bureaucracy makes for
their persistence. Every new war mo-
nopoly means more officials. The Off
ciais are salaried and pensionable men.
A European state never under any con-
ditons throws its officials out of en-
ployment. II a monopoly is abandoned
some other monopoly must take it's
place. When war broke out Russia
had to stop the state traffic in vodka.
Vodka and war could not go together
The vodka traffic gave work to 10000
officials. These cannot be turned away,
and Russia, having lost the vodka mo
nopoly revenues. has to stand the eX-
penSe of supporting the officials
Germanys new bread monopoly will
mean state Or municipa. employment
of thousands of officials These will
consider they have a right TO salaries s
for life. That will make it impossible
to do away with the bread monopoly
when peace comes. This will be true
of other monopolies. Russia proposes
to replace the drink monopoly with
temporary war monopolieS of tea and
tobacco Once these monopolies are in
troduced they must be kept,
Probably the political state Of Europe
after the war will also keep war so
cialism in being. The war. whichever
side wins, will mean more armaments,
more militarism and more economic de-
fense measures. States which find out
in this war that they have been weak
ened by insufficient home production of
products necessary for army and for
civilian population will resort to state
socialistic measures in ord er to be bet
ter secured in the next wars England,
threatened by German subma rines, has
not enough wheat, and Germany is with
out copper, lead and other indispen-
sable war things
The states will have to lay in stocks
of these things. SO as to provide for
the next rainy war day. The agltators
in England and Germany who have
for twenty years been clamoring that
the state should store up food and
other necessaries are being justified by
this war. If the states had adopted
this course. Germany would not have
needed to cut down her -four supply to
could afford to laugh at Tirpitz's
threat to torpedo from submarines the
ships which bring her food.
States at war and in difficulty cannot
STOP Ine1F SOCIALISM WneTe tney WILL
One measure leads to another. Ger
many's bundesrat has issued nearly
100 war regulations and prohibitions
concerning the production. employ
ment. import and export and prices of
raw and manufactured goods. Not
content with compulsory distribution
of bread, the German bundesrat is
taking measures to compel the produc-
tion of more wheat and rye. 1t has
before it a bill forbidding the cultiva
tion of beets, on more than a specified
proportion of the present, beet area.
BY driving out beet. the government
will compel the cultivation of wheat
and rye. Any one who grows beets
where he should grow wheat or rye
will go to Jail.
From this it is only a short step to
compelling the farmer directly to grow
wheat or rye Another bill now under
preparation adum brates that. In any