GERMANY'S PREPARATIONS

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXVIII, Issue LXVIII, 17 October 1914, Page 2

GERMANY'S PREPARATIONS

IN HAND FOR YEARS

That the ten.se international situation created by the Balkan conflagration two years ago—when Great Power faced Great Power, warily watching for weakness and finding none, and when all Europe trembled for fear of Armageddon—convinced the Kaiser that Der. Tagg was in sight there is now do doubt. By the time the Treaty of Bucharest had been signed by the Ministers plenipotentiary ofServia, Greece, Montenegro, Turkey, and Bulgaria, active preparations for the war of 1914 ■had commenced in Germany. How thoroughly the Germans prepared their plan of campaign, ensuring ample food supplies, ail adequate gold reserve, and proper epuipment for troops, is admirably described by. a German gentleman who has just returned to Melbourne after an extensive tour of Europe. For obvious reasons he doe^ not wish his name published, . but li; observations are of paramount interest r.t the present juncture, "I spent two mo'if'-s r.\ Germany,1' he says. "And I left by tlies.s. Roon— perhaps escaped is a better word, in view of what happened to me —just a fortnight before war was declared on Russia. I may say that my visit to Germany was made after an absence of several years, and my interest in the country, its people, arid its potentialities was keener than that of the average tourist; hencs my observations werej more critical, I am a naturalised British subject, and have lived the greater: part of my life in Australia ■; so, ma' measure, I have concurred in the general idea that rupture cf friendly relations with,the Teutonic Empire was inevitable ; but, at the same time, ss a native German, I had prayed that \ üblic conviction would prove wrong. , I have mentioned this to convince you that I was keenly interested in ilie social, industrial, and military phases cf the national life. How closely tK.se phases are -interdependent T did l.ot fully appreciate until this summer. GATHERING FOOD. I "One topic in which a great r any Germans were interested was ihe stee of the potato crop cf 1913. Last vt-ar all previous records were eclipsed, v'Len 30,000,000 tons of potatoes were grown. "Straws show in which way the wind is blowing. A record potato prop, but a diminished export. The German army emergency ration is four ounces o! desiccated meat-, salt, pepper, peas, r.nd potatoes.. Mixed with water a t]::ck' gruel,'rich in nutrition, is easily iiacle, Significant? War was pn.'tha liorizui, but very few knew it "Another development which puzzled business men', was. the immense importation of wheat, chiefly from Canada, Russia, and the Argentine. Last year Germany imported three times as much wheat as in any previous year of her history, and that despite the fact ,that her own wheat'crop was a record one. Horses must be fed, civilians and soldiers must eat, war interferes seriously with agriculture. "In the spring of the present year— when it is autumn' in Australia—German shoe manufacturers commenced working their plants overtime, filling remarkably heavy buying orders for the Government. Those manufacturers were jubiliant. It did not occur to many of them that their own military experts have said that soldiers, in time cf war, require a new pair of boots every thirty days. "A year ago vrool buyers purchased stocks unusually freely,, and were pleased with the heavy demand for woollen goods which had suddenly set in. Copper, buyers were put to" it to'buy advantageously in a peculiar market. Soldiers use blankets, overcoats, socks; cartridges require copper caps; shells'are banded with copper so that the rifling cannon barrels may \be threaded and the rotary motion necessary to secure accuracy may be imparted to them, j "Wheat, .potatoes, chemicals, metal, ' woollens, must all be paid for. When larger quantities are purchased larger stocks of gold are required. Germany has been the heaviest gold buyer in-the'-I world for twer years past. ; I "All those matters I have mentioned were straws. Close students were puzzled as to the meaning of. it all, but now they have been abruptly enlightened. • '•..". .■■■■-. I A MYSTERIOUS ENVELOPE. | "So, much for industrial prepared-' ness. It was when the Roon on which I 1 was a passenger, arrived at Colombo, j early in August, that the fact that the date of actual war was pre-determined by the Kaiser's advisers was most strike ingly impressed. upon me. j "It was. the day war broke out between Britain and Germany. The Roon had taken on 600 tons of coal during the next day.-Just after dinner that evening the captain, with whom I was on terms of the greatest friendliness. I received a wireless message, which read': 'Don't tranship the cargo of wool.' The' captain showed me the message; but li have forgotten the signature.- It was' only one word. > Just after midnight1 that night all lights'on board were put! out, and when the passengers awakened' the next morning, instead of being in! Colombo waiting for our coal, we were' racing east to Java at full speed. We' were told that war had broken out, and, I following orders, the ship was proceed-I ing for the nearest neutral port. i "I questioned the captain as to tliel source of his informaaion. 'You remem-j ber,' he said, 'the wireless message* I received about* wool?-' I told him I did. •'Well/ ho said, *a few months ago—in May—all captains of German mail-boats were given a sealed envelope, on the cover -of which was written a certain word—the surname of a man. Our instructions were to lock the envelope' away unopened, and we were not to open it under any consideration until

such time as v/e received a cable or wireless message signed by the ' s-me ' name as that typewritten on the envelope. The; meawifft ; might#be meaningless, but the signature was the "order to, break the seals. Well,' he ended, lI got the wireless, and I opened the envelope. It said inside: "War has broken' out between ourselves and Russia, France, and England. Remain where you are if it is a neutral port, if not proceed immediately with utmost despatch to the nearest neutral port." The captain did not say whoso name was signed, but I presume it must bave been that of a member of the German Naval Board. Well, we reached Batavia unmolested, but it was an exciting run while it lasted. However, one may regret to know it, there is no question that Germany had prepared thoroughly, and the statement that their troops were ready to the 'last button of the last man' had abundance of evidence to justify it."