Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1918-02-01
Mister of Interior Confers With Home Army
 Commander.
WASHINGTON SEES
 SERIOUS SITUATION
Wore Significant Than Appears in Ke. ports Say Officials at |. S. Capital Strikers De.
 Mand Peace.
uy Associated Press }

tfiS HSSotllttu ifeSS.D
 London, Jan. 31.-The broad fea- lures Of he news Altering in from Berlin today are:
 First. that the strike momevent un- doubtedly is extendng; and,
 Second. that the German authorities are endeavoring to minimize the i'm portance of the movement.
 This far there has been no news re- garding the decision of Minister of the Interior Walraff a, his conference with General von Stein, commander of the home forces, as to what attitude the government will adopt
 Reuters Amsterdam correspondent says in a telegram dated Thursday that the strike obviously represents th" situation in the least sombre light.
 Try to Minimize. situation.
 Tine German senli-offi5ial news agency says the trouble is stationary and that no disturbances occurred Wednesday; that police intervention was needless, and that work was promptly resumed in several manu- factories of Greater Berlin, but that in other quarters operations still were suspended.
 In the upper Silesian industrial region, according to this news agency, the strike has gained virtually no ground, and adds it that news from Rhineland and Westphalia also is re- assuring.
 Tn Spandau work is in full swing in most of the government work shops, according to the news agency, which concludes with the assertion tha ttrades unions refuse to have any, thing to do with the strike.
 dispatch to the Associated Press from Stockohlm says the German strikes are largely due to the scarcity of food. quoting the Svenska Dag bladet's correspondent who asserts that the people are indignant over the exportatiln of flour to Austria, and al- so over profiteering and the illegal procuring of foodstuffs, which flourishes, despite the utmost efforts of the authorities.
 The strikes in Hamburg and Kiel have resolved themselves into hunger demonstrations.
 Want Peace.
 The strikers committee, which was formed in Berlin with representatives of the two wings of the SOliacist party as members of it, has formulated cer- tain demands. but generally speaking an early peace without annexation or in,'emnities, as opposed to the Father land party's agitation" for the con- tinuance of the war, seems to be the greatest desire of the workers, who threatened reprisals for the arrest of their leaders. These reprisals. ac- oording to one report. have already commenced turnout the country, owing to the refusal of Herr Walg- raff to meet the strikers, and his action in going into conference with Lieutenant-General von Stein, former Prussian minister of war and now commander of the home forces, pos- sfbly with view of suppressing the strikes by military force, has further angered the men and women, for the latter also in many cases have gone cut
 The German press generally con- demns the strike, and warns the strik- CTS that they have gone the wrong way about getting an early peace, and are instead harming their country. Some of the papers, however, blame the government. The Cologne Gaz- cite says the workers council, form cd at Vienna during the recent strike there, has become prominent body Affects War Industries.
 Numerous industries necessary to the prosecution of the war have head quarters in towns where strikes are in progress, and doubtless they are af- fected by them. Notable among these industries are the great shipbuilding yards at Kiel. the military airplane end balloon factories at Arlershof, the large arsenal and ammunition plant at Spandan and the great coal and iron mines, and foundrias, in the sWestphal- ian region.
 More Serious Tken ApDears> Washington, Jan. 31.-Advices to, H