NOTES ON THE WAR.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17614, 19 October 1917, Page 4

NOTES ON THE WAR.

The suspension of all cable and commercial communication between Great British and Holland creates a new situation that is bound to involve serious hardship for tho Dutch. The immediate cause of the difficulty, according to a cablo message a few days ago, was tl'iat Holland was permitting the transport by rail between Germany and Belgium of cement, sand and gravel for concrete, tho Dutch lines boing used to relievo tho strain on the Belgian system. But the purely commercial arrangement between Britain and the Netherlands has not been working well, and a modification of tho agreement, which was under negotiation, is now. said to havo been abandoned. Simultaneously tho Allies aro involved in another controversy with according to an American report, which alleges, that Swedish diplomatic mails were searched at Halifax, and that a quantity of compromising correspondence was discovered. It is noteworthy that the American participation in the war has permitted the general tightening of the blockade of Germany, but at the same time neutrals aro suffering because their supplies havo been cut off. Pessimistic critics say that tho effect of the blockade policy ha 3 been and is to throw Holland, Denmark and Sweden more than ever into the arms of Germany, but the 'Allies have taken that risk into consideration.

An Associated Press correspondent a few months ago reviewed the position of Holland at considerable length, obtaining from an official source at The Hague an extended statement of the Dutch view. His general survey of tho facts is of interest just now. "While the vast transit trade over Holland into Germany has long since been absolutely cut off by the British fleet," he wrote, "with the exception of quite insignificant quantities _ of goods smuggled across the frontiers, Germany is still obtaining considerable supplies of badly needed goods from Holland, the produce of Dutch farm 3 and market gardens, butter, cheese, eggs, milk, vegetables, meat, bacon and the -like, as well as fish. A radical alteration has been brought about in tho division of the country's surplus products, however. Up to the middle of last year tho high prices offered by Germany and Austria were drawing the great bulk of Holland's surplus agricultural produce over her eastern frontier, and the normal trade with Britain had fallen almost to vanishing point. Holland was thus not only running great risk of losing its old British customers permanently, but it became evident that the country's oversea supplies of fodder grain might be entirely cut off if these continued to be merely converted into food for Germany.

" Tho result was a resolve to divide the country's surplus food produce between tho Entente Allies and the Central Powers in the same proportion as before the war, and the Agricultural Export Bureau was established to control that task. Under an agreement with the semi-official British and General Trading Association, it has for months been dispatching certain fixed proportions of exported foodstuffs to the British market, to Franco or the Belgian Relief Commission, while the remainder all goes to the German Trade Trust by the medium of the Central Purchasing Company, which now monopolises the import of virtually all foodstuffs in Germany. What part of these latter goods going eastward reach Austria is not certainly known. Of butter, one-quarter goes to Britain and three-quarters to Germany; of cheese, a third to Great Britain, and the rest to Germany; bacon, oork and other meat, half to

either; vegetables, a quarter to Great Britain, and three-quarters to Germany ; milk, thrfce-quarters to Britain, and a quarter to Germany; potatoes and potato flour, half to each ; eggs, up to a quarter to Britain and tho rest to Germany. No arrangement lias yet been come to in regard to tho exportable sugar crop, but probably half will go either way. Under a separate, agreement with tho Netherlands Oversea Trust, Britain receives virtually all of the Dutch margarine exports.

To add to Holland's troubles, Germany announced a few weeks ago that the arrangement by which she furnisher! coal in return for foodstuffs could not be carried out. Germany was already hundreds of thousands of tons bs-liind in her deliveries. " Tho ono great preoccupation of Holland at present is its grain and coal supply for tho coming winter," telegraphed tho correspondent • of tho New York "Times" from The Hague in August. " For the ono she is dependent upon America and for tho other upon Germany, so that tho news published today that the coal agreement with Germany lapsed July 31, and that no coal will bo forthcoming until new contracts aro signed, caused alarm throughout the country. Recent rumours that importations of coal havo been suspended havo been systematically denied, but to-day the truth is published, and the Dutch public knows that it has been hoodwinked. People had been led to believe that after the delivery of much-needed potatoes to Germany—an accommodation which forced tho Dutch to eat rice for several weeks instead of potatoes—the delivery of coal would bo continued until winter. These potatoes, which at present are an important food itom in Holland, were sacrificed in order to help Germany over her worst food crisis before tho new harvest was i>eady, and it is now reported that Germany has not even fulfilled her coal contracts up to the end of July." Failing to obtain sufficient supplies from Germany, Holland turned to Britain, offering in exchange additional supplies of foodstuffs. A tentative agreement was reached, but it is now stated that the arrangement has fallen through because Germany declines to grant immunity to tho coal ships.

A few days ago it was reported that the German submarine U 293 had ■escaped from Cadia, presumably with tho connivance of local Spanish officials. The number of the boat suggested that the Germans had either been building submarines at an extraordinary rate or that thoy were numbering their boats out of order, with the object of deceiving tho Allies. They havo certainly been building rapidly, but tho explanation of the high number may be that certain series of numbers were assigned to each of tho yards building hulls, and it is possible that a U4OO might have been afloat before the 200th had been launched. Mr von Wiegand, one of tho three or four American newspaper correspondents whoso work tho German Government accepted as entitling them to remain in Berlin after the American declaration of,war, published in Mr Hearst's " New York American " recently, an estimate of the piospectivo strength of the enemy submarine fleet. Ho states that at tho end of May last Germany had 184 U-boats in commission, five new ones awaiting crews, and fifteen in uso as submarine sclioolboats for training crews. He adds that Germany is turning out a new U-boat every two and a half days, or an average of ten or twelve a month. Not counting losses, in was believed when Mr von Wiegand left Berlin, that Germany would havo 235 submariucs at the end of August. Actually, according to German statements, tho new additions to tho submarine fleet exceed tho losses by six or eight a month. The latest U-boats have two periscopes and duplicate parts for these. Tho turrets built on the hull aro not part of tho hull itself, and there is a watertight hatch to cover the floor' of the turret through the body of the hull. If a shell carries away a turret or puts a holo in it the hatch can bo closed, and the submarine, Mr von Wiegand says, enn divo without being put out of commission.