New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1915-05-16
WHEN THU VWQ01 IVES OFFARAINE FOLLOW WARS TRAI
Horrors of Star.
vation i'm Pro.
longed Sieges
of Some Past
Conflicts.

Meadow land and orchards the men bearing IA,
ships upon their shoulders over the bars and ,b,I
lows, hurting themselves in more than Ber,sr.
fury upon their cOuntrymen's besiegers spittin,
Spanish cavaliers upon their whale harpoon, q,
dragging them with barbed boathooks 70 WITH,
reach of their deadly henching knives And n.
Spanish fed when they thus saw the sea "devour.
ing the earth beneath their feet, while on IA.
waves rode a hotlls manned by determined
race whose courage and ferocty we're knovn
throughout the world"
II is scarcely supposable that these horizon A.
siege and famine will be repeated in tho prsssn.
war; though such cheerful optimism must h
based not upon any notions OF superior humanity
but upon the reflection that with present mod.
of warfare siege is likely TO be prolonged SUI
fciently to induce starvation. So far as the re,o-
luton and endurance Of the beleaguered and TIA
inexorable ferocity Of the besiegers 60, the year
1915 might easily afford parallel TO Lond,r.
derry or TO Leyden. What is, however, not only
quite supposable, but also quite probable 10 TIA.
in some countries the devastation Of lands, tie
slaughter or removal Of workers. the seisurs o.
all available supplies for military purposes and
the prevention OF importations will reduce H.
non combatant populace to deadly starvation.
Indeed, there is reason for believing that IN
some OF the countries the pangs Of privation q,
already widely felt. The drastic action which Tia
German government took some time ago In a..
questerng for its own administration all supple,
of breadstufs was highly significant. and cannot
have been void Of effect There was before the
war. in fact, marked contrast between the COS,
of Good in Germany and in Great Britain, which
goes far toward explaining the zeal Of the Ger.
mans for preventing imports into the British
Isles. The average price Of bread in London Be.
fore the war four and half cent. FOR q two.
pound loaf, price which had prevailed for years.
In Berlin, on the other hand, loaf Of white bread
weighing only nineteen ounces cos. seven cents
In other words, nineteen ounces cost as much In
Berlin as fifty ounces In London. That was an
advantage 70 the Briton over the Teuton OF 1853
per cent. Moreover at this price the Berlin
bread was inferior in quality 10 that In London
The staple bread Of the German working classes
was, however not fine wheat bread, but black
bread, containing large sdmixture Of rye -four.
This was made in losves weighing nearly three
pounds-to be precise, two pounds fourteen and
a half ounces-and these cost ~ cents each;
price which in London would buy three pounds
and two ounces Of fine white wheat bread. Which
is Of the greater value as food, particularly for
workingmen and soldiers, the fine wheat bread
the mixture Of coarser wheat and rye is
matter OF some dispute.
What total obstruction of foreign commerce BY
blockade would mean to the chief belligerents may
be estimated from some recent statistics Of their
import and export trade in foodstuffs Of all kinds
The greatest importer Of food supplies in the
world is Germany, both in gross and net Her
imports amount to $3.50 ,OOO and her exports
10 only 1898 100000, leaving net imports Of ST..
242, 900 000-a colossal volume, the loss Of which
could scarcely fail TO cause speedy and desperate
distress. The second importer Is Great Britain
with sl,lO3 100000 imports and 1888 1000 en-.
ports, or net imports of food, drink and tobacco
of Sl,240,00O000 France is much more nearly
self-sustaining, but she imports s3iQ,O00,oo0
and exports $l7O,0OO,0OO making her net imports
of food $4,000 600. In Russia the balance is on
the other side. Her imports of foodstufs are
set down at only s67,O67OOO, while her exports
are 494,27S0OO, making her net exports s427,
2O6,OOO. Russia could therefore easily get along
without foreign supplies, and France could also
do so; while for either Germany or Great Britain
complete blockade would mean starvation.