Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1916-03-05
LABOR SHORTAGE IN GERMANY HAS
 BECOME SERIOUS Effort to Bring Workmen from Holland and Den
 mark 8 Failure.
FOOD PRICES AND
 TAXES INCREASE
Duration and Extent of War ''Is Slow iy killing the Country" Says Ger man Army Oiiicer-'rhe Middle
 Glasses Demand Peace.

l Berlin, March 3.--With practical, tho entire manhood of the countr, under arms, al the fronts or trainill to go there next month, the scarcit, of labor in all parts of the countr' has become a source of increasin. anxiety. This despite the fact tha thousands of working men, skille, and unskilled, Ihave been importet from conquered Poland.
 Many factories have already beel forced to close down and in response 10 the pleading of prominent neanu facturers, the German governmen last month opened offices in Holland l and Denmark for the purpose of in ducing workingmen from these neu. tral countries to come here. The re. suit has been disappointment. The German labor bareau in Copen- hagen, run by the German consulate general, made strong endeavors tc get workingmen for large industrial eoncerns like he Berlin Lokomotivf- abrik,' the "Germania werft.' at Kiel and the Krupp factories. But Danish wcrkingmen have failed to respond many frcm patriotic reasons, for the average, Dane has no love for Ger many, many also because the wages off2red were far too low in considera- tion of the high cost of living in Ger many and because 20 per cent. wages are withheld for war taxes.
 A few ironWorkers who went to the LN yis o,t n1 mediately returned to Denmark say ing that they did not like the way they were treated while at work. They also said that they Sometimes had to wait for eight hours in line in order to buy the daily allowance of bread which their bread ticket entitled them to.
 In Holland, too, the experiment has been a complete failure, which is not very strange when it is remembered that last year there was a large in- Aux of Dutch workingmen, many of whom brought, their families with them, but that practically all returned after few months. having found con- di;ions here unbeatable and wages lower than at home.
 As the German trade unions, of course, do everything to. discourag ge the immigration of foreign workers, the attempt on the part of the gOvern- ment to secure labor from abroad is now about to be given up.
 War Failure.
 It is no longer uncommon to find people in all walks of life, even army officers, who frankly express the opinion that the war is failure and that the sooner Germany seeks a way to get out of it, the better prospects she has of doing so without courting disaster.
 What is slowly killing the coun- try" an officer said to me the other day, .is the extraordinary duration of the war and the number of fronts on which we have to fight and which no German strategist had foreseen.' v
 The high prices and the scarcity of a great many articles of food cannot be said to have starved Out the people, but it is no exaggeratlon to say that the masses cannot af- ford to eat as much as they require to keep physically fit for the hard work that is required of them This is particularly true of the |thousands of women who are now doing mems work, and who never taste meat ana rarely ever have sufficient pota- toes.
 It is the middle classes who are giving vent to their dissatisfaction on all occasions, far more than the work ingmen. who bear their hardshlps in silence.
 Restaurant prices here have not in- creased very much and most Of tue foreign correspondents here find IL the cheapest to take their meals at first class restaurants, which have a reputatic to keep up. In the provln- ciar towns however, as also in some of the state capitals, like Munlch. restaurant prices have gone up n' less than 200 per cent. ..,
 The people of the Bavarlan capital are loud in their denunciation Of the king. The beer is poor and the small quantity of it you get for your money has ruffled the temper of the con- sunlers.
 Saxony's Industries Ruined.
 Saxony probably has suffered more from the war than any other part Of inc empire. The industries of the kingdom have been ruined and busy industrial centres are now like towns of the dead. The only factories run ning are those making clothing and underwear for the army.
 Life in Berlin is daily growing more expensive and the people do not conceal their dread of the threatened tightening of Nhe British blockade. The stores no longer deliver articles houpht because of the lack of hands, All streets are now being cleaned by wc,nen, who. l must say. GO thei, ", work even more thoroughly than did the men. doubt if it is possible, z, to to find cleaner city in the world than Berlin. e,har former self. though there is still some m trade with the scandinayian Countries. The great steamship com