The Washington herald., 1916-03-07
German Babies.

ltelling US that Germany mas dihPie suPPi'N" W
food and can never be starved into submission
DR.. Edmund Won Mach the other hand in
his anxiety to secure uninterrupted transit Tor
canned milk for 100000 starving German
babies tells a far different tale and adds that
he has the permission of official Germany in
the person OF Ambassador Bernstorf to tell
it,
There is here want OF coordination OF ac-
ton that is so un-Teutonic to be suspicious
What is the answer? Nobody believes that the
German babies need be in want of milk. Only
an insignificant fraction of the total milk pro-
lduction of a country is used to feed young chill
Idren. And before the war Germany produced all
the milk for her own needs But even if we
suppose that every COW in Germany has been
killed there remain the four great agricultural
countries, Holland, Denmark, Switzerland and
tSwcden from which infinitely more milk be
obtained than the German babies drink, and
with which Germany has uninterrupted COM
munication.
The real trouble is not that the milk is want
ling, but that the OF German railways for
military purposes has prevented the shipping of
it to points where it is needed The problem is
further complicated by the fact that the German
mothers who should be nursing their babies are
working in munitions factories. These babies
cannot be fed upon milk that has undergone
long journeys or been exposed to contamination
to any extent. On the other hand, of the four
countries mentioned only one, Switzerland, pro-
duces canned milk in any large quantities. But
canned milk is the thing that would meet
the occasion Its transportation is easy and it
keeps indefinitely
The truth of the matter is that while Germany
has enough food of a sort in actual bulk for her
entire population she cannot spare either the men
to handle it or the rolling stock to carry it,
can it be kept moving from point to point &C
cordng to any satisfactory schedule. The geo.
graphical position of the country, highly salts
factory from a strategic point of view is economi-
cally unfortunate The lines between the re-
spectve fronts must be kept clear. Immense re-
serves of rolling stock must be kept ready for
emergencies that troops may be moved rapidly
and suddenly from point to another. Trains
of munitions, of food and equipment must be
kept running night and day in all directions.
To lesser extent all this is true of France,
where, however, the supplies for the army move
practically all in one direction, while there is
hardly any transferring of troops. 1t is scarcely
true of England at all. Keen observers have
always recalled that long before Germanys actual
per capita supply of food was exhausted-if
indeed it could be exhaustcd-her machinery for
Transporting and distributing the would
give way And Dr. Won Mach's efforts are
rather strong indication that it is already giving
way to some extent. 1t is easy to see, under
the circumstances how immensely Germany
would be benefited If only city, Hamburg,
say, could be supplied with milk from overseas
IF additional proof Of this fact is necessary it
can be found in the L. s. Consular Reports Of
the price of food commodities in Germany. Many
of these prices are no higher than in the United
States. Some arc lower. If it meant that all
over Germany these articles OF food could be
people would clearly be living in the lap of lux
ury. Milk, for example, has recently been quoted
as costing less than it does in the United States
Ito a large extent these prices kept down by
municipal regulation. But it is obvious that
where the of transporting foodstufs
wanting that in itself will have the effect OF low
cring the price Of the commodities in the local.
ties where they are produced and which will be
naturally ovcrstocked
One enormous advantage accrung to the allies
from the control OF the seas is generally over
looked and that is the potentiaties that go with
lit for replacing expensive and inconvenent rail-
road transportation by transportation by sea. If
goods are to be sent from Newcastle to London
or from the south of France to Paris they can in
either case be landed aboard ship and reach their
destination without seeing a railroad. But in
Germany every pound OF beef must be sent over
Ia railroad and over railroad that is needed for
military purposes
1t is not to be thought that the German au-
thortes have overlooked this possible state of af-
fairs, but it was one which of necessity they
could only guard against in part. Even Germany
never expected to be fighting four different
fronts and to be shut off from the seas at the
same time. That she has already tackled the
problem with astonishing results is generally ad-
,,;ttad hut II would take wears to buiId I'm 4