Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1919-03-07
Conference at Spa
Comes to an End
Suddenly Today
HUNS ASK FOR
GREAT SUPPLY
BU Associated Press

LONDON, March 1.-The ne
gotiations at Spa relating to the
shipping question have been
temporarily broken Off, accord
ing to n German wireless mes
sage received here to-day. The
Allies, the message says, de-
mandcd that all the rcmain-
ing German merchant ships
be handed over Internationally,
without being willing to UNDER
take the obligation of supply
ing Germany with foodstuffs.
The German delegates, it Is add
cd, received instructions from
their government that the ques-
tion of shipping, finance and
food supply must be dealt with
only as whole. The German
message continues:
"The quction of handing over
the merthantilc fleet can only
arise if adequate food supplies,
say 2,500,0OO tons of foodstuffs,
are assured Germany until the
2 new harvest. The entente could
not agree to this.
"AS the instructions of both
sides did not go beyond this,
French delegate proposed that
negotiations be broken on,
whercupon the two special dele
gates left Spa"
When the allied commission went
to Spa it. was believed that the re-
lease of the ships was merely ques-
tion of days. 1t was proposed to
the Germans that in return for the
use of the ships. a rental be paid.
ha n rrnGif
against their food account.
The Germans, however, replied
that this would be inadequate and
that there must be a guarantee of a
steady, uninterrupted supply of food.
No country was in position to sup
ply this food under the German con-
ditions, so the question of credit re-
mains unsettled.
Berlin. March IA Danzig dis
patch reports the arrival there of
the first food ship since the raising
of the Baltic blockade. 1t carries a
cargo of vegetables from Holland.
consigned to Danzig by Dutch mer-
chants. -.
The dispatch states that the Amer
lean food commission at Danzig has
to the Entente Pow
ers that permission be granted for
the importation of Danish and Nor
wegian herring on account of the
precarious food situation in Ger
many.
The American commission is re-
ported to have allowed the city of
Danzig five hundred tons of lard
and bacon in Acknowledgement of the
services rendered by German au-
thorities in the transmission of food
consignments to Poland.
Berlin, March T. 1.-The present
unrest, terror and crime are diseases
of the social body which it is unable
to resist because it has become
weakened through privation and loss
of blood" says the North German
Gazette. "The German people can
recuperate only when it receives its
raw products that will permit it to
work, and food in order that it may
live.
Biamcs Conditions on Foe
"Our enemies are denying us both.
Their attitude is the real cause of
the present crisis and the prevalent
criminal activity. In view of these
events, they should realize it is con-
trary to the International law of hu-
to permit fallen foe to lie
helpless on the ground They should
not overlook the fact that the sue
cessive weakening of Germany also
reduces its resisting powers against
and that it is a danger
Gus thing to be neighbor to a
house in which the plague is rag
ing"
The governing board of the So
ciety of Physicians and Surgeons has
sharply condemned the strike in
Germany on the ground that it is
gravely jeopardizing public health
through the stoppage of all trans
portation and telephone service. as
well as public utilities. Sanitary
crews engaged in checking the spot
ted and typhus fevers declares they
are unable to do their work because
of the strike.
Rail Men Stay at Work
The Vorwaerts, the Socialist organ,
reports that railway employees refuse
to walk out, declaring tie strike
wholly the work Of irresponsible
political wirepullers" and that inter-
ruption of steam traffic would fur
ther aggravate prevailing economic
The clerical and station
forces in the Berlin d.stcict have am
nounced that they are stan ling back
of the present government.
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