The Washington herald., 1917-11-18

Norwegians and the Swedes. Food
profiteers in those neutral countries
control certain supplies of food, and
sell to the Germans. eager to get the
stupendous prices the starving
Teutons are willing to pay, careless
Of the food scarcity among their
own people. But. the authorities here
are confident, the day Is almost at
hand when the peoples of the neigh
boring neutrals will compel their gov
ernments to stop the sale of any food
to Germany. so that they may be able
to eat themselves. And when that
day comes, the plight Of the central
powers, will be worse than 1t Is now.
Wilson's Prompt Steps.
Much credit is given here in officia,
circles to President Wilson and his
advisers for their firm and promr.
steps to cut of supplies to Germany.
The desperate situation that confronts
the enemy this winter is held to be
due, In no small degree. to the terror
inspired by the embargo among profit
eering neutrals. America" a high
the war, already by really blockading
said to me, Has done more to win
the war, alreody, by really blockading
Germany, than IL she had put twenty
divisions in the line in France, or hau
advanced us ten times the money she
has so generously offered"
OF only less importance for the
future OF the war than the famine
in food is the famine in raw ma
terials Leather, rubber, cotton, are
unobtainable. Information here to
the effect that nickel and copper
have given out arouses optimism,
among munitions manufacturers who
know how essential these metals are.
At Hamburg are great shell fuse
works. and these are now operated on
part time. because there is not enough
metal. Even the most indispensable
commodity of all, steel. is giving the
German authorities worry.
Some 100000 tons of ore yearly are
imported by Germany from Sweden,
and the continued supply of this
quantity. or of anything like It, Is
rendered more than doubtful. The ore
question is not one that can be dis
cussed in public at this time. 1t may
be said, however, that IL any way
could he found seriously to curtail
the ore supply from Sweden to Ger
many, it would be impossible for Ger
many to continue the war. Here, too
American pressure may ultimately
prove useful.
Cannot Buy Shoes.
One of the bitterest complaints
made by the people of Germany as
the fourth winter approaches is
their inability to buy shoes, or
clothes, or underwear. A German
may have two suits. four changes
of underclothing. four pairs of
socks, per year. if he can buy them.
Most Germans are unable to get even
this iron ration. and, when they do
get clothes. they find that they are
supplied with imitation cloth, just
as they get imitation food. All the
Cloth" now put on the market for
sale to civilians is made out of pa
per yarn" And the inability to keep
warm, with paper clothes, no fuel,
and not enough food to keep the
fire of life burning at more than
the lowest temperature. has much
to do with the prevailing sickness
and depression.
Conditions in Austria-IIungary are
much worse than in Germany. l am
not able to give figures concerning
the harvests or the food rations;
but l have been assured in circles
familiar with all the secret informa-
tion that leaks through from the
Dual Monarchy that the only rea-
sons the country is holding out are,
first, the presence of German troops
and German commanders, which
make revolt against Prussian dom
nation dangerous for the civil au-
II H. -,
court circles in Vienna and among
the Magyar magnates who rule
Hungary that the suspension of
fighting will be the signal for Il
bloody revolution in which the long
oppressed subject races will take
vengeance on their masters.
It Is natural that the presentation
of the terrible facts about the in
ternal conditions of Germany should
arouse optimism in allied countries,
ard expectations of the approaching
collapse of the enemy empires. There
is one warning. therefore, which l
promised to try to bring home to
American when / was permitted to
have the figures given above. That
warning Is this:
Germany is not the only country
which has food difficulties, where the
strain of war Is felt more terribly
than Americans can conceive. Ger
many is hanging on in the despair
ing hope that one or more of the al
lies may crack first The slightest
slackening OF effort on the part of
any one of the allies, especially on
the part of the United States. would
inevitably encourage the rulers of
Prussia to dragon their people into
holding out" even if half die in
the process. The way to shorten the
war is to go on getting ready on the
assumption that 1t will last forever;
then, when the German realize that
the strain is not Weakening the al
lies as much as it is telling on them
selves. the war may end with sud
den and dramatic surrender.