"HASTENING TO RUIN."

Marlborough Express, Volume XLIX, Issue 250, 21 October 1915, Page 6

"HASTENING TO RUI N."

DISILLUSION^ItN GERMANY.'

BERLIN MOURNING, FOR ITS

DEAD

LONDON, Aug. 31

A peisonage belonging to a neutral Stntv. has given the Paris Matin impressions gathered during . a recent visit to Berlin.

."In the German capital, n he remarks, "you see chiefly women) old ,raen. and children, and a continual passing to and frb of wounded soldiers and men returning to the front after a visit to their families. But Berlin has the appearance of a dissolute city, and there is more vice to be met'with, than there was in the pleasure resorts of Paris before the war. Up to 1 a.m. the cafes and bars of Berlin remain open. Only the dancing halls are closed." Motor-cars ~ are difficult to find. There is a lack of petrol, for the Germans have not succeeded in finding a substitute. There is also a lack of rubber. The harvest has been good, and food is plentiful, though very df..--. Germany has copper in abundaiw<, procured fx-om the Swedish minos. * The ore is treated in Sweden, and then imported for the needs oi the Austro-German armies^ # The meat reserves appear to be diminishing, as the sale has just been regulated. Within the last few clays meatcards have made their appearance, similar to $hose for bread. A MORAL BLOCKADE.

In the other' towns, more than in the capital, the -visitor" notices the? flb.ocviioe of adult men, and receives the impression th*t the male contingent of the population is exhausted. The increased cost of articles of prime necessity assumes disquieting proportions. "These, says the neutral Jnformant of the Matin, are facts. Now for appreciations. Germany is hermetically sealed as regards the entrance of news from abroad. The traveller, on entering and leaving that country, is thoroughly sen.rched.~his person, Ms trunks, parcels, everything, by a cloud of functionaries none too obliging:. All his papers are confiscated, subjected ■ to a searching investigation, and then returned to his domicile—an excellent ! way of learning the nature of the written matter imported and the address of the traveller. The most private papers, even those of your j pocket-book, have to be deposited, and <iro scrutinised. It is a moral blockade. "What is the state of mind of the Germans? In my opinion, the people [ want peace. It "bears sadly the loss of its numerous sqkliefC who are fallI ing'daily: the'great burden of the war weighs heavily on its-weary . shoulders, and discontent grows m; proportion to the cost of lining. As a proof of this I take the attitude- of the Berliners on the day that Warsaw fell. The taking of Warsaw, the capital of Russian Poland, called forth no popular enthusiasm or stir. Only thevomeial flags appeared at the widows*. In the streets there was silence and also disillusion, for it was I manifest that the enemy's army had escaped the ■encirclement and annihilation which the staff hoped- for. • t;Tho people- would like to have dope I with it. It desires peace. The Kaiser's proclamation on August Ist. the anniversary of tho declaration of war, fell flat. " . "The poot>lo does not show its discontent, which is smouldering like the embers beneath the ashes. The haughty arrogance of the beginning of the war has given place to degression. It does not believe bulletins of victory any more; it counts its dead and suffers in silence. It receives official manifestations of .joy in silence-. In the course of my stay at Berlin I have had occasion to ponder over the deep truth, of the saying of one of your great revolutionaries: 'The sileno of the peoples is the lesson of Kings.' " In conclusion, the neutral adds _ an anecdote. Princess Victoria Louise, the Kaiser's daughtov, was lunching at the Avell-known Esplanade Hotel (of which the Kaiser'is a shareholder^ with the Prince of Lippe. All round, were diplomats' tables. At one of these tables sat members of the Turkish I'Jmbnssy. Further on were neutrals. Tho Princess took up tho M:itin, one- of the first numbers of August, which spoke of th«* Kaiser. Raisinsl; hnv voice so as to ho hca»'d, she said it wai wrong to blame b^y father, "who Ikhl not desired iho \vn r. ''

The Matin's informant summed up his impressions thus:— i:Tt is mv settled conviction that Germany is hastening to ruin. She is not yet at th<* end of her tether, but theiv are manifest signs of exhaustion. The vioVnt por>nlnr desire for peace is a siiv-ificnnt symntom. One sees tnws of nttrition and weariness in Go'T.xinv whidi are not to he i^ev. v.it)i in Frunre. Hold fast; resist all siio'.i^estions of peace-; you will crush (iermany."