FROM A PARIS WINDOW.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 70, 22 March 1919, Page 22

FROM A PARIS WINDOW.

(From Our Special Correspondent.)

PARIS, January T. SHORT COMMONS IN PARIS. M. Beret, the Minister of Agriculture and Alimentation, has been very peneroub in hia New Year's _ritts to the French. The food restrictions are, it appears to be made les3 stringent—in the near future. Like the traditional barber who advertised, "Shaving free, to-morrow," M. Beret cheers us up with optimistic promises of plenty at aonie undii-clotfcd date.

The bread ration is not to be increased until the next wheat crops are harvested. Jlut demobilised soldiers ot a.nv or no profession are to be allowed a ration of half a kileg per day. All that a soldier need do to obtain that ration is to <jet his discharge from the army, something that is, as everyone knows, as

easy ns for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. Another encouraging assurance is that the soldier ration will be increased SU per cent—as soon as tile depleted stocks shall have been replenished. The rice regulations are to be rescinded some day, perhaps when the Asiatic labour which has been xitilised in France during the war shall have been, shipped back to the East. And it will be possible to obtain coffee and chocolate without -wa-iting in line ten or | twelve hours —as soon ac some big cargoes now en route reach Fisench, ports. I Another of SI. Boret's stimulating-; statements is that wine is plentiful. The, prevailing , prohibitive prices arc due, it! appear?., to the shortage of transport material. The Vintners' Syndicate has| hinted vaguely at a further increase in; prices. But M. T!eret threatens to flood; the market with such a supply of foreign | and Algerian nines that the competi- , tlon will soon counteract the vintners' move. That is pleasant news; but one wonders why, if wine is as plentiful in France as CM. Beret says, he does not, flood the market with it at once? He is, it appears, prevented from doing it only by lack of transports; how then is he going to transport the foreign and Algerian wines which he is holding as a cold douche over the heads of the vint-. ners? The meat outlook is rather disquiet-. ing, but the crisis is to be overcome by the importation of vast quantities of frozen meat —another drain on trans- 1 port. People who are fretting over the difficulty of procuring butter in France, 1 will find comfort in the announcement! that Argentina has untold stores, and that great shipments are to be sent here an soon as possible. In short, the outlook is most reassuring—for those- \\ ho have a long life before them. THE SEINE IN FLOOD. With the continued rise in the Seine, which threatens to stop all river! traflic. another grave problem with re-! gard to foodstuffs is raised. Paris de-J |/i'iids almost entirely upon the river I boats for alimentation, and the risk run by goods on the Quais is the subject of much pre-oceupation. On the Quais there are important stocks of coal belonging to the American Army, and it is feared that it will be impossible to remove them. The coal belong-ing to Ihe city of Paris is reported to be in safety. At the Pont Royal, where the normal summer level is at the 2m 50cm mark, the reading yesterday was 5m ldi-m. It may be recalled that in January, 1910. during the great inundation uf Paris, the -Seine rose there to the 9m 10. mark, that is the highest known during two centuries.

River navigation, though srreatly re-| stricted, was still possible yesterday. It is feared, however, that it will soon cease absolutely, for the Seine yesterday marked 4m. lOem. at the Pont de la Tournrlle, and when it reaches the 4m. :<oem. mark thereon, all the barge traffic is forced ti> stop. The Service of Xavi■gation says that it expects a further slight rise. PARISIANS ENTHUSE OVER WILSOX. To appreciate and understand the remarkable enthusiasm for Woodrow Wilson in Paris, one must have seen with one's own eyes what the Americans have done for, and done in, France since their entry into the war. American money, munitions, and, finally, men have indeed accomplished wonders. j But apart from all this, Parisians have always loved Americans and their dollars, which have helped to rebuild so many and impoverished noble French csI'Utehen, and been spent in such a reckless manner in tUeir shops. President Wilson and his charming wife —whose portraits and smiles meet the eye in every paper and window—appeal particularly to the French, ever since the French Ambassador chronicled the following incident dealing with America's entry into the war: —".Tusserand, or Vivian, or come such French diplomat, described how President AVilson was one day leaving the White House, when Landing met him on the steps with the news that Germany lad declared its submarine war. "It can't to true,' replied the President. 'There can be no doubt whatsoever about the truth of it.' 'Very well: I have promised Mrs. Wilson to take her out to the golf club. Come back in an hour's time and prepare everything." The "preparations' , were the passports for the German Ambassador and his staff. Punctually an hour afterwards, another short interval took place between Wilson and Lansing, during the course of which the former observed to his Foreign Secretary: "Tell BornstorfT that when he leaves our territorial waters, he owns his thanks to Britisli and French loyalty.'' This scene, forming the prelude to one. of the most momentous happenings in their histoj-y, has made a dt'i'jj impression on all Frenchmen.