Evening star., 1917-11-27
Cause of Grave Depression.

In no one item Of this account is there
actual suffering to be found. But
when one adds the items. and-ref1ects
that no relief is to be found in amuse-
grave depression from which the Ger
| man people are suffering. 1t is impor-
tant to understand that the people
have not vet lost hope. The greater
part of them firmly believe in eventual
German victory. They are undergoing
these miseries because they believe
this. When the realization of inevitable
defeat comes to them it seems certain
to me that the collapse will be a sud-
den and an overwhelming one.
1t is not precisely accurate to say
there is no amusement. On the other
hand. the theaters and concert halls
throughout the empire. The morbid
Ibsenism of two years ago has gone
out of fashion and the people de-
the incessant demand felt by these jaded
| and worn-down nerves for some relief
| from the ever present griefs and pri
vations may be seen: But all this is
| relief for the moment only. They step
\ out of the theaters to face the reality
they had momentarily forgotten
I This reality is made up of sadden-
| ing items such as the people of no
| other of the major helligerents are
compelled to meet. The daily report
| of deaths and wounds from the front
| is common to all. But in Germany
there is also the story of the ravaGes
next street and of the danger of a
coal shortage for lack of man labor
| and of the possibility that under feed
| ing may be converted into starvation.
| The boy of the household has been
called to the war, for boys of sixteen
| and one-half years have now been
su.nmoned to the colors The father
of the house is at the war or is en-
| In cd rt-{tt he
! warrior men of fifty-five are now
liable to call-or else he has been sent
home to wait the day of his final call.
Moral Standards Decline.
The moral standards of the people
have been breaking down. Juvenile
| nisbehavior. petty theft. illegitimacy,
are all reported increasing.
AS people the Germans face indus
trial stagnation and grinding taxation
and practically universal poverty even
f the central powers win the war. II
what the allies believe is inevitable
comes to pass. and the central powers
lose the war. the Germans know they
face national bankruptcy plus individ-
ual bankruptcy plus reputation and
iconfiscation
IF the verv best happens we still are
ruined" said Berlin banker to a
friend of mine in Switzerland this week
This picture has not been painted in
too black colors. There has been un-
reinstatement rather than exaggeration
But from this brief and neutral-tinted
statement of conditions as they seem to
exist from across the line in Switzer-
| land the reader may arrive at an un-
derstanding of the utter depression
which reigns in Germany today. No in
| dividual in all the warning countries Sc
hopes and prays for peace today as the
| German. believe.
But it would be both unfair and un-
wise to represent the German as hav-
ing lost heart and courage. There is
| every reason to believe that he will
fight on for at least another year. He
still hopes for peace on his own terms
| The German plans for next year.
war are more sweeping and more sci
entifc and more murderous than they
have been for any of the past years OF
war.