"DOWN TO ZERO"

Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 36, 10 August 1918, Page 10

"DOWN TO ZERO"

GERMAN CIVIC MORALE

ESCAPED PRISONER'S IMPRES-

SIONS.

The following is a statement written by a, prisoner of war lately returned from Germany and published in the San Francisco Chroniclo :—

LONDON, 16th May. Life in Germany to-day is at a very low ebb. This is no random expression intended to raise the spirits of our pessimists. I was taken prisoner in February, 1915/ and during the past three years I have seen things gradually grow from bad to worse.

When I first arrived in Germany there was abundance for nearly everyone exeeDt the unhappy prisoners of war. To-day the only place in the enemy land where it is possible for anyone but a plutocrat to live within the limits of human decency is on a farm. The farmers are the be3t-off class in Germany. It is true that they are compelled to surrender a large percentage of their produce to the State, but they manage to hoard a good deal, risking the heavy penalty for so doing. Rich townspeople walk miles to farms in order surreptitiously to purchase two or three eggs, at 7d each, or a little fresh butter. Tobacco is unprocurable. For the sum of five shillings I was able to purchase, through the prison guard, about twenty ounces of camouflage tobacco, consisting of some dry leaves, which when smoked tasted like peppermint. Generally speaking, the German pub lie is disappointed in the results of the war. It is impassible for tliem to reconcile the splendid victories claimed by the military party with their increasing hardships.

From opinions expressed in factories .whore I have worked the average German outside the military clique would consider pea.ee at any price a godsend. He is not elated by tho downfall of Russia. The much vaunted effort on the West front does not inspire him. He just hopes- for the. war to end. I think the great strike at the beginning of ths present year was a. genuine expression of the enemy .workers' discontent and dissatisfaction with the Junkers. Six months before the stviko Allied prisoners engaged in Government factories were countled by German workers as to their attitude in the event of a gemiin a'stoppage o£ work. Needless to say, we assured them we would be amongst tho first to lay down tools. Only the prompt measures taken by the authorities prevented the strike from reaching proportions dangerous to the war' lords. The German militarists organised processions carrying banners on which appeared portraits-of Father Hindenburg and huge notices imploring the workers, not to desert their brothers on the Wast front. . ;

But perhaps the most effective method adopted to arrest the strike was the offer of large money rewards for the names of the ringleaders, and these were invariably betrayed.

Allied prisoners knew of the migration of German troops from the east front long before the great offensive took place last MaTch. The whole country seemed to bo swarming with reserves, and we frequently wondered whether the British authorities were aware of the coming concentration.

I do not know how many German prisoners have been transferred from Russia, but Russian prisoners to the number of hundreds of thousands remain in Germany. Many of these poor creatures, quite illiterate, hardly re-. member the whereabouts of their homes. If they know the towns whence they came, they have but the vaguest idea viiere they are situated, and, as for getting homo, the obstacles to them are insuperable. .

The plight of captive Russians is a miserable one. They are treated like dogs. Very few letters and no parcel over arrive. We frequently shared our parcels with them, and a great friendship sprang up between us.

After a few months together we had no difficulty in understanciing each other. In- fact, one of the most interesting features of prison camp life was the remarkable way in which we became tolerably good linguists, conversing by signe, and using sentences made up of English, French, and German words.

Wh&tever may be the real feelings of the enemy soldiers in action on the Westfront, the morale of German civilians is down to zero. Only' an influx of food would tend ,to restore t-lfeir confidence and ambition. One wonders how much longer German civilians will be ablo to stand the strain, but I do not believe there will be a revolution. The people have neither the courage nor the strength to overthrow their Government.

The men were most thankfully the unexpected recipients of a triple blessing which brought to them a strong ray of hope in what had come to bo a hopeless plight. The salvage party had accomplished almost tlie impossible. And this was not their greatest achievement. It was tho forcing of a way of escape for the raen after they had been evidently hopelessly entombed that was tlie marvel. Ingenuity backed up .by tireless tenacity, resourcefulness that absolutely refused to- own either defeat or despair, and such practical appliances as probably only Britons covild devise and bring into operation at the shortest notice, triumphed over difficulties that seemed insuperable. It was a miracle of accomplishment. Yet another tribute to the brains that have brought us to a position of pre-eminence in the nautical world, and shall keep us there to all time. But this miracle of accomplishment was made possible only by on act of daring which cost one hero his ■ life, and almost led to the sacrifice of another. Knowing as they did that the chance of reaching the surface from such a depth offered only the slenderest chance of success, they determined to lead the forlorn hope. Covild anything save British heroism" rise to such heights as that?

What a picture for brush or pen is offered in the scene of rescue in the dead of night, when these dazed prisoners won onco again their liberty. They came forth in single file from the prison house. Near the "head of the procession was a bronzed sailor, one whose coolneso in the dragging hours of extremity had done- much to maintain the flickering life of his comrades. He thrust out at wto's length his oilskin and followed with a. wonderfully nithblo step, thus providing the only touch of lightness in the grim tragedy. Who can, attempt to- gauge the depth of feeling of these newly-Hberated men? Never did the istars seem so bright to them as they did',, on that memorable night, never, surely, was freedom moro highly prized, and certainly never was fresh, frosty air breathed with such gusto. Some little distance away goodly shelter was awaiting them, and from there they despatched hurried messages to loved ones at home, to relieve hearts nearly broken by suspense. And a while later a grateful little company heard read to them by one of the survivors the metrical version of the 124 th Psalm. They needed no preacher to interpret to them its beauty and its significance—for they had been there, and they knew : And as fierce floods Before them all things drown, So. had they brought Our soul to death quite down. ' Even as a bird Out of the fowler's snaro Escapes away, So is out soul set free. ■ Broke- are their nets, And thus escaped yta.