The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1917-04-21
GERMANS CONSERVE
SUPPLY OF CLOTHING
All Wool, Cotton And Leather Has
Been Communicated by The Gov
cinment-Shortage Used as an Ar
GIument That Nation, Unprepared,
Did Not start The War.

AT the same time that the German
Government takes care to provide for
the food and shelter of its people it
I takes thought also for the assurance
OF a supply OF clothing for them.
This is a very different matter from
food ana shelter. Food Germany
can produce herself, if not in the
quantity to which ner people have
been accustomed still in such amount
that with care and economy they
might struggle for years, il the QueS
ton of food alone were controlling.
Shelter is, Of course, always and only
matter OF domestic administration.
. The German arrangement has taken
care of that effectively, and even if,
in the end. that arrangement fails i'll
some particulars it is merely a do
meStic difficulty, between Germans,
and has no significant bearing upon
the relations of Germany tG other
nations.
But clothing is not a domestic pro-
duct for Germany. Thirty years ago,
more or less, Germany was a wool
producing country, and in those days
she could have taken on d struggle
something OF the character of the
pl tStii OiIC w ilIIUiI ISSllIlS Tic IftIo-
ship that she now suffers from lack
Of wool and woolen clothing. Cotton
however, which enters into the cloth
ing question as much as wool, Ger
many does not and has not produced.
1t is out of the question for her.
Some of her tropical or semi-tropical
colonies might have developed Il cot
ton production, but it had not been
accomplished when the war began,
and even if il had the capture of
German colonies by her enemies
would have ended that source of sup
ply, even if the blockade had not cut
it off absolutely.
These being the circumstances
Germany has been forced to get
along as best she could during the
war on the stock that was in hand
when hostilities began. Those stocks
were considerable, for Germany be
ing great industrial nation, always
had large stocks OF raw materials on
hand. They were absolutely neces-
sary to the successful conduct of her
enterprises. But these stocks were
merely the usual provision for the
normal business. l could not learn
that they had been specially aug
mented in preparation for the exigen-
cies of war.
AS matter of fact, | do not be-
lieye that that question entered the
mind of the average German, mill
tary, naval or civilian before the war.
But it has entered the minds of a
great many of them since, and they
like to make use of it now as a clev-
er and plausible argument for the
proposition that the war was not the
product of German desire or plan.
This argument is simple. Germany
was not prepared economically for
this war. If Germany had planned
to bring on the war and had worked
sss
come, she certainly would have been
prepared for it economically. 1t
would have been very easy for Ger
many to lay in huge stocks of raw
materials of various kinds which she
would need in the war, and especial
ly of wool and cotton. 1t could have
been done without attracting the
least attention or exciting the least
suspicion anywhere in the world.
Germany was one of the great tex
tile producers of the world. She was
entitled to have on hand at all
times enormous stocks of wool and /
cotton. 1t would have been easy to
prepare in this way. But this prep
aration was not made. Consequently
as no essential phase of preparation
for war was neglected by the German
Government if it expected war, the
fact that this essential matter was
not cared for is proof positive that
this war was not planned by the Ger
man Government.
First and last a good many Ger
mans of more or less substance and
official rating have talked that way
to me. But l usually found singu-
lar thing about their argument. If
we discussed the outbreak and char |
acter of the war long enough it al |
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