THE AUSTRO-GERMAN PRESS

Dominion, Volume 8, Issue 2447, 28 April 1915, Page 9

THE AUSTRO-GERMAN PRESS

what they are saying HOW OUR ENEMIES ARE FARING The accompanying extracts from German and Austrian newspapers are of interest as throwing some light on conditions and the state of public opinion in the countries of our enemies. A report just issued by the Vulcan Works, one. of the largest of'the German shipbuilding and engineering companies, states that, since the'war began, there has been absolutely nothing done in ordinary shipbuilding, either on new ships or repairs, at the company's yards at Hamburg and Stettin. Some Government work has beon done, but how much, of course, is not revealed. The engineering branoh Appears to be in a still worse plight, for the State railway authorities have placed much fewer contracts for 'ocomotives than they usually do, and the export trade is at a complete standstill. The costs of pro-' ductibn have increased to a greater, extent than selling It is significant also of the eoonowio "strain on the country that the supply of locomotives is not being fully maintained. The work that is being got out of them must be much above the normal anlount, and tho position cannot fail to get worse. The directors console themselves with the reflection that "when the war has been brought to a victorious conclusion," the shipbuilding trade will be brisk.

A pen-picture of the Kaiser appears in the "Kreuz-Zeitung" of February 12 from its war correspondent with tbo German troops in Poland, who says:— "The Kaiser appeared with General Mackensen, ana passed along in front of the officers and troops. 1 had not Been him since the time when at the beginning of. the worihe spoke to the crowd from the baloony of the castle in Berlin. "For one moment I had formed the impression that he had become terribly gray in the campaign. That, however, <vas an error, which arose from the fact that his head protector, which he was wearing owing to the extremely cold weather, was gray. "The supreme war lord appears, on the contrary, extraordinarily fresh and elastic, even though' the seriousness of these last months has left, marks on bis:, features and a certain bitterness which formerly was not present comeß into his voice when he speaks. "When I saw him I could not help thinking of the Kaiser parade in 1895 on the Sparidau drill ground. How brilliant he then looked, how forceful, how confident in the future and victory P'

Some time ago "Vorwartß" drew attention to the practioe of certain Berlin schoolmasters in compelling their children to learn by heqrfc Li6sauer's "Hymn of Hate," and condemned it as a degrading course and contrary to all accepted canons of pedagogy. The Socialist journal now pillories another large communal school in Berlin where a scurrilous piece of doggerel was recited at a social gathering when the parents were present. The chorus of this lyric was sung with great gusto by the children. ■ There was a verse about' the Russians, another about the French; but the lines which bronght down • tho house were those directed against England,

The Berlin "Lokalanzeiger" is devoting considerable space to recording public opinion in the shape of letters from its readers. They are all interesting, ranging as fhoy do from question about socks for the soldiers to attacks on the .enemies'of Germany. ;Dr. Gravell writes as to why Germany must win: "Because the future rests with' the Germanic race alone. The Latin race is exhausted, the Slav faces are undeveloped as yet, the AngloSaxon races' fritter their strength away in the, pursuit of egoistic and material interests. Only the German race, together with the Scandinavians and the Dutch, has enough idealism left to give the world, something new, pure, and godlike. A. nation that has produced a Richard Wagner in our times possess6B_ the highest culture. 'Militarism' is the'outward manifestation of inner intellectual force, morality, and prosperity. For lack or these qualities our opponents will perish. Siegfried, the hero of our race, kills the false dwarfs and delivers the sleeping Valkyrie—i.e., the culture of the future shall be roused to new life by the sun of Germanism."

Tha supply of food in Vienna' in January, 1915, was declared in the official report to be on the whole (satisfactory, though .certain necessaries of life had gone up in price. In the case of flour alone there had been no increase in the supply. Despite strong pressure by the Vienna Municipal Council, the Government has been unable as yet to evolve a plan for lowering the prices of flour, which are close-i ly._ affected by the prevailing high prices in Hungary and other parts of the monarohy. . The Municipal Council of Vienna has, therefore, procured a large quantity of jpaize for the peopje, and _in order to introduce this hitherto little-used food more readily, is printing on the back of street-car tickets, and in other fitting ways, recipes for the use of corn meal.

"Die Zoit" and other Viennese journals are publishing an urgent appeal to the Government to fix maximum prices for the principal foodstuffs. The Austrian Women's League has sent out a circular to its brandies inviting members to boycott the pork shops, for a fortnight in the. hope .of affecting an abatement in priceß.

The Munich "Medizinisohe Woohensohnft" states that during the present war tetanus has proved to be more frequent than had been anticipated. In the majority of cases tlio wounds which became infected were ill-looking and ragged. The outbreak occurred l soon after the arrival of the wounded, thus showing » relatively reuioto exposure. This does not appear to have been so much the case m the Franco-Prussian War. The causes are as yet obscuro. One may accuso the conservative management of the wounds or the increased amount of exposure to dirt, etc. What is to le done to check this infection? In all oases of shredded wounds soiled with dirt which reach Hamburg antitoxin is at once injected. There is, however, an insufficient supply of the latter at present, so that the doses have to be restricted. For the wholesale production of tlio scrum a sufficient number of good healthy horses is indispensable, and all sucli liavo been pressed into war service. The Army authorities could supply for this purposo otherwise sound horses with strained tendons,.

The Liberal wing of the Austrian Chamber of Deputies at a rccent reunion forwarded' an enorgetic protest to the Government against the famine prices of sugar and the continued severity of the I'ress censorship, which suppresses the remonstrances of patriotic citizens and still compels many newspapers to appear daily with several 'columns blank.