LACK OF SUPPLIES IN GERMANY.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXIX, Issue LXIX, 26 May 1915, Page 4

LACK OF SUPPLIES IN GERMANY.

HERR BALLIN INTERVIEWED

Herr Ballin, the great shipping king of Germany, has been interviewed by an American paper. After giving, an optimistic account of the German position as regards foodstuffs, Herr Ballin observed: "It is quite true that there is not quite as much copper as we would like to have. But rest assured, we have copper in plenty, and we can get lots more, even if none come in from outside.

"It is true that there is just now a scarcity of oil; that is, we have all that we need for the army, but for general, private, and commercial use, oil has been placed on the restricted list. We are more or less short of petrol, although ways and means may be found to secure that now. For our motor cars we have come across an excellent substitute in benzol.

"Just let me give you a little inside information. In a few cities in the northern part of Germany we have 12,000 tons of the finest copper available. I am referring to the overhead copper wires used in connection with electric tramcar services. This overhead' wire can easily be replaced by steel wire, and as a matter of fact we can do that almost immediately. Steel ire would answer almost as well arj the expensive copper wire now'in use. Of course, there are thousands of other ways through t which we could secure all the copper we need.

. "I confess there is a scarcity of ! rubber. We had to seize all the rubI ber for the army. We import rubber from Northern Brazil, but as long as there is enough for military purposes, the civilian population must* simply put up with a few discomforts. Remember, that these are war times," Amplifying Herr Ballin's admission, the interviewer mentions the case of the Harvester Trust, which has a large actory in Northern Germany. Owing to the complete deficit of lubricating and other oils which have been seized by the Government, the factory was obliged to shut down for several weeks. Now each factory is being allotted a strictly limited quantity of oil for manufacturing purposes. Painters are also suffering great in- j convenience, a* they cannot mix paint j "'th. benzol.—London correspondent of j the Christchureh Press.