GERMANY'S FOOD SHORTAGE

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LXXIV, Issue LXXIV, 4 March 1919, Page 5

GERMANY'S FOOD SHORTAGE

HUN PROFITEERS.

(Special from the N.Z. Official War Correspondent.) . COLOGNE, Feb. 25. In addition to the ordinary militan duties concerned with demobilißatioi and. the formation of strong points 01 the boundary of the neutral zone ow dwindling division is mainly occupiec with education and certain administrative duties in the occupied area. Tin Commandant is the divisional general and under him there are three officers acting as sub-area commanders. At present one o f the; main considerations is the supply of food to the civi' population. Our zone is mainly an industrial one, set in a, district of moderate agricultural and pastoral capacity Factories have had to dispense with thousand® of workmen, owing to the scarcity of raw material and the lack of markets. Undoubtedly the food shortage is becoming serious, and but -for the presence ok" our force there would be considerable unrest, and even Bolshevism. This is fully realised by •the manufacturers. As one of the industrialists put it "1 realise that if the New Zealanders were not here I would not be h.ere. JJ The burgomasters state that people in poor circumstances are suffering in health from want of nourishment, and these number over 10,000. There are m addition 54,000 who are willing to pay for a grant of army rations, whioh is equal to one soldier's ration to four people. There are in addition 400 Allies and neutrals, mostly Italians, who need assistance. In one of the sub-areas there are 3000 children suffering from lack of proper nourishment. The position is complicated by the hoarding and sale of food to people who can afford to pay for it. Undoubtedly the German organisation of rationing has not been effective, and a large precentage of the civilian population have not played the game as the British have played it in their own country. Nearly 90 per cent, of the people are concerned in the Schleiehsandel system, and th© German Government is reluctant or afraid to interfere. The only remedy appears to be requisitioning and entire control by the occupying armies. In one sub-area, with a population of 12.000, the deaths have increased from 140 in 1914 to 300 in 1918. The weekly ration is at present as follows: Potatoes 51b; flesh, s£oz; fat, loz; bread, 4lb. Milk is available only in small quantities for children and the sick. One has only to look at the children to conclude that Germany will feel the effects of this malnutrition for at least another twenty years. In some parts milch cows have been killed to supply meat. The situation a® regards meat has, however, been somewhat relieved by the sale of our useless horses. Four hundred horses of the New Zealand Division have already been sold for slaughtering, at prices ranging from £15 to £20 each. The potato shortage is serious, and the supplies will not last beyond the middle of next month. Already the civilians from one town in our area are making raids on the potato pits in another part of the area.