The weekly Alaska citizen., 1918-01-28

of November marked probably the blackest period in the history of the German food supply, not indeed in the actual supply, but in the outlook for the winter and spring. The public had already become aware that the breadstuffs harvest was poor and the fodder harvest bad, but further reve- lations came rapidly during the month which must have an all but catastrophe effect on thinking people in Germany. The supply of vegeta- bles, it became known, is very made quate everywhere, there is hardly any prospect for help from the fish trade, and an alarming drop is shown in the prospects of the already scanty SUD- plies of milk, butter and fat.
 Finally. on top of all this, 1t be- came clear during November that the potato harvest is disappointing in the extreme. The quantity shown in the official returns is indeed so disap- pOluliu6 IudL Iile duIAO11IAcS IcAuSc tO accept the revised estimates, declare the farmers liars, and propose to call in the military to requisition stocks. Moreover, the quality in different parts of the Empire is reported as ex- tremely poor, so that an unusual per centage of loss can be counted on with certainty.
 It Is now regarded as certain that both the meat and the bread rations will have to be reduced in the early spring, despite a desperate effort to gather up all the remain ing foodstuffs in the occupied terri tories. This latter movement is like ly to be extended to extreme limits during the winter. with the result that the inhabitants of all occupied territories face the prospect of abso- lute starvation for Germany's benefit.
 In an effort to stretch further the supplies of foodstuffs, orders have been given for wider use of potato flour, but this movement is found diff ficult owing to the scarcity of potato flour. To obtain more at this time is not easy, for it is necessary to dry and mill the potatoes, which takes time, and just now more than the usual time owing to shortage of labor, coal and other requisites. Hence, until February. bread must be stretched with fresh potatoes, meas ure of doubtful expediency.
 The failure of the fodder harvest coincides with generally unsatis- factory hay crop. This is leading to increased slaughter of pigs, falling off in weight of cattle slaughtered, and a steady diminution in milk and milk products.
 The place of meat cannot be taken to any extent by fish, for the supply of fish is very poor, and the authori ties hold out no hope of any improve ment. The obvious emergency food is vegetables, but there has been a failure of the market-garden crop in many districts, and the wholesale evasions of regulations as to illicit sales have apparently left the mar kets almost bare.
 AS late as October, there were good hopes of satisfactory potato crop, and many people described the coming harvest as almost bumper" Early in November the estimates grew more sober, and during the lat ter part of the month the truth came out. The harvest is almost total failure. Of course. the authorities de- clare that the revised estimate "can- not be correct" the harvest must and shall be at least medium one; the farmers are lying, the military will be called upon to uncover the hoard ed stocks, the farming districts will be compelled to deliver the quotas which they were assessed in expec- tation of a normal harvest
 The German newspapers have aban- doned the pretence that things will be easier this winter than last" but they still cling to the hope that pros poets may be changed by some mira cle in Russia or Italy. The Berlin correspondent of the Cologne Volks- zeitung, discussing the prospects of the fourth winter, says:
 Tt will be the hardest yet. Every household will feel its hardships more, because all the small stocks in storerooms and cellars have been us- ed up. The harvest has not turned out well. Nevertheless, the nation can hold out if three conditions are fulfilled. Every possible surplus should be brought in from Rumania, Belgium and France. All grain must be seized for the common store. Potatoes must be used for stretching the breadstuffs"
 The increase of illicit trading is the subject of fiery editorial in the Brunswick Volksfreund, which says:
 "As soon as an order is issued, three-fourths of the population seek how they may avade if They have