The sun., 1917-09-30
GROWING COAL SHORTAGE
MAY FORCE EARLY PEACE

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failure. So too have been the har-
vests, while most OF the cattle and live
lack Of fodder.
Most significant Of all are the orders
which have been issued from the De-
partments Of Justice in Germany and
the Dual Empire to the effect that
as few arrests are to be made as pos
sible owing to the difficulty Of feeding
prisoners, while similar directions.
based on analogous grounds. have
been issued to the armies on the var1-
Gus fronts. That Is why 30 little quar-
ter IL given by the German and
Austro- Hungarian troops and why one
shudders for the fate Of the wounded
who fall into their hands.
President Wilson's embargo putting
definite stop to all the oversee sup
plies which Germany has hitherto re-
ceived through Holland. Sweden and
Denmark has had the effect Of bring
Ing the food question to an acute
crisis. As stated the other day by
Herbert Hoover. the National Food
Administrator, at the great business
mems convention at Atlantic City, the
question Of food is destined to win the
war the crux OF which is starvation.
Germany and the Dual Empire are
like beleaguered city which has been
reduced TO the point Of surrender by
means Of hunger.
The Coal Problem Grave One.
But food is not the only question
that weighs so heavily in the balance
in determining the duration Of the
war. There is the problem of coal.
which may be described as equally full
Of menace. Those who do not sue
cumb to starvation in Germany and
Austria Hungary are threatened with
death through cold. So terrible has the
shortage Of coal become that even
now. while still In the early autumn,
the running Of railroad trains there
has been reduced to a minimum for
lack Of fuel, while traffic on surface
lines in many Of the large cities and
towns. both great and small. has been
abe ndoned altogether for want of the
coal needed to generate electricity.
Street lighting has been suspended and
theatres, public gardens ana other
popular resorts where citizens in times
past were wont to foregather after
nightfall for relaxation and entertain
ment all now close their doors at sun
down through absence Of illuminants.
Factories all over the country are be-
ing obliged to shut down through in
ability to obtain coal. When the cold
weather comes, especially II the win
ter be a rigorous one. there will be no
means Of heating schools. Government
buildings. public institutions and even
hospitals. and the already terrible suf-
ferings which the people are now un-
dergoing will become more than they
can bear.
1t may be argued that Germany has
coal mines OF her own, and still retains
possession Of the tremendously rich
coal mines in eastern France, whence
during the first two years Of the war
she drew immense quantities Of fuel.
But the output Of the coal mines in
Germany has been reduced to a mimi
mum for lack Of man power, the min
ers having almost all of them been
drafted into the army or into munltion
works and the excavation of coal left
to quite old men. to women and to
boys under the age Of IA. Az for the
coal mines in eastern France. they are
no longer available. AS soon as ever
tho Germans realized last summer that
they would be unable to hold them any
longer they proceeded to wreck the
machinery completely and to flood
them. Indeed. the systematic destruc-
tion Of the French coal mines has
been so great that. according to Henry
Franklin Bouillon. the French Cabinet
Minister so recently in the United
States. II will require at least two
years Of terribly hard labor in order
to restore them to working order and
to render them available for use
Within the last two months Holland.
Switzerland, Denmark and Sweden
have each offered Germany foodstuffs
and live stock in exchange for the
coal needed to run their railroads.
their street lines and their industries
But in spite of the fact that her peo-
Pile are hunger stricken Germany was
compelled to decline the offer. so great
is her own shortage.
This coal question Is one Of the great
problems created by the war, and II az