The Bridgeport evening farmer. [volume] (Bridgeport, Conn.) 1866-1917, 1917-08-24

and even the shops have, in some
cases, been ransacked, in order to
satisfy government requirements.
The metal industries, again, can
hardly have been flourishing, the
conf1scation of all brass and copper
household implements, and even Of
lightning conductors, for munitfon
purposes is sufficient proof of that;
while leather, before T left Germany,
could only be obtained as a favor at
nine marks a pound. and rubber was
practically unobtainable at any price.
Even about coal there were difficult
ties, because the coal which was not
required for the blast furnaces of the
gun foundries was wanted for the ex-
traction Of benzol, to be used instead
of petrol; coal. for the modest pur-
poses of central heating, was con-
tinually to seek at Ruhleben.
Shortage of Raw Material.
These things being SO, it is more
than a little difficult to see how, or of
what, the alleged German stocks can
have been manufactured. Moreover,
proofs abound that the Germans are
finding it very difficult to supply
themselves with most of the goods
which they normally export. A limit
has been imposed on the amount of
dress material which may be used in
any given articles of clothing. String
is being made of paper for lack of
hemp; boots are being soled with
wood for lack of leather: jute SUBJ
stitute Is being used for sacks; the
Press is in perpetual panic about
the paper supply, because the wood
pulp is being used for substitute for
1 orr %,-io
the brewing Of beer and on the boiling
of soap; all the available cement is
required for the qualification of the
trenches; one has heard of a dearth
of field glasses, surgical instruments.
and medicines; we, at Ruhleben, had
to wait a long time for both blankets
and bedsteads because the existing
stock was said to have been absorbed
by the hospitals.
It can hardly be- said that these
facts fit in with the popular picture
Of Germany vast storehouse, full
of goods ready to be dumped; and
| that picture also conflicts with the
evidence deducible from the balance
sheets of the banks. These show
! much larger sums than usual lying
on deposit, ready to be invested IN
the war loans; the inevitable infer
ence being that less, not more, money
than usual is being devoted to the
ordinary purposes of German COM
| merce and manufacture. So that it
is very difficult, indeed, to believe in
the real existence of those stocks
But If, by any accident. they do.
exist, so much the better. There will
be an indemnity to be paid pre-
sently; and Germany is IN no posi-
ton to pay it in gold. for the most
strenuous efforts have only succeeded
in raking in about $625,000,000 into
the Reichsbank. The balance will
have to be paid in goods, or by mort
gaging the future labor of the people.
We can requisition the goods, just as
the Germans have repeatedly requisi-
toned goods in the territories which
they occupy. They will be put on
the market, Of course, for that is the
common fate of goods; but we. not
| the Germans, shall fix the price and
the circumstances Of the sale. We
certainly shall not dump to our own
| injury, but shall simply HQuidate the
bankrupt stock in whatevera markets
and at whatever prices are most con-
1 dicive to the interests of our own
I trade.