The North Otago Times MONDAY, JULY 23, 1917 NOTES AND COMMENTS.

North Otago Times, Volume CV, Issue 30938, 23 July 1917, Page 4

The North Otago Times MONDAY, JULY 23, 1917 NOTES AND COMMENTS.

The influence gained by , Germans' jsjunpksjsed in "Russian Court'llciiioiri''.' "In lookB iitg back over the last two centurion one notices the growing hatred • inspired by the liko ; ii• recl-ithread can be traced ;" through all these years. The, Gcr- •» man is looked upon by the Russian as the foe who has usurped all that is best in their 'country; The most important positions at Court have been given to Germany; Germans take/a prominent part in every trade, every profession or industry is filled with Germans. For years t])i' Russians have silently resented this. These' long years of rehave at last given vent lo mi outburst of the most violent antagonism against the hated Teutons. This explains the extreme popularity of the present war ' amongst the,middle classes and. the people, for. the "Niemetz' (Got man) is not only, the country's enemy lint I lie private foe of every Russian,'' ; Tho writer, a Russian, says that the Germanophile party "(Ides not consist only of people ' bearing German names, but "includes descendants of old Magyar races; members of the aristocracy who Have lived abroad for a long time; and-boast of a personal ficquainance with the German potentate; former diplomats who have spent many years in Berlin.- The political programme of this party is tJuit Russia must endeavour to renew .tin* ok)'terms of/friendship wjth'Germany... ',' The majority, led by the press, is infuriated to hear such sentiments expressed. , In their, .eyes* the gulf whiclr* the ;.' Kaiser and his satellite;? have cret atf(] between Russia and Germany | caiinew)'be bridged."'

Discussing the shipping situation,. Earl Curzon, Lord President of ilio Council, recently stated' in the House of Lords that talcing steamefts flf 100 tons and upwards, nUlioj end : otifnnP, 1914, the United King, (torn and the itonyinions pressed 10,124 ships with,u 'tonnage of 20.523,70y n. December, 1916,.the total, yumlier oFsliips was &757, wit|i ft total tonnage of 19,765,518. MM'&sot'h mQ i 1914 > in f H same class pf.ships, all th,e,other countries poss(!BS^i.l-f,8§0: , ,-] n .^ e '. cember 1916, tlie,-fl§(iir'DS.Ver«i— Ships, 13,749; t0iinage;.24,002;943: Thpgp figures showed'that our pei*centage was, in the.-first periodic per cent., nud $.2 in the second. Turning to ■ vessels, oLP° toBS ! gross and upwards,' and faking i\ later period in order to bring the' jjgNfftf withiu'/the I scope of the German campaign, there were in Jnne 10H, just short of 3900 vessels,'with an aggregate gross tonnage of ,16,90Q,00'0,. belonging to the 'United' Kingdoiu. This, irtight be taken as more than 1 half the effective tonnage of,the world: 'Oh the number of vessels was-flhoijt 3500' and the totinage just a little; short of 16;000,000. ' The. programme 'fur-which'- the Minister, Shipping, was-• pressing out 3,000,000 .tons;grosß .pej annum. But

'jf' slich'van'' output, was to be realised''il would uc' nl'tfessury to provide iiiis additional, 100,000 workmen, and to doublo the simply of'steel, while allowing at the ramo time the present Admiralty programme to proceed: ' Therein lay the difficulty of the case. The Government was taking'the most drastic steps to acquire merchant ships, .by building, by purchase, and by any other process which 'might be open'to it, There was good ground'for hope that our mercantile fleet would be superior Ito that of any other nation at the end of the war.

Discussing the suggestion, of the Minister for Agriculture:that-New Zealand Farmers should be encouraged to grow wheat, a .northern journal says 'the suggestion is worthy'of consideration, .but it should be considered strictly,in relation'' to New Zealaiid conditions and not accepted merely because the Same Course has been successfully adopted elsewhere. -.ln Britain there'was unmistakable necessity for giving farmers an assured price to encourage them to up their pastures.. Three-quarters Of the wheat consumed inßritalu is imported, and every acre sown in wheat will economise shipping space. In New Zealand .we nominally grow enough wheat for our requirements. There are yeaV'S' hi which 'the home production has to be supplemented b.V imports, but the importations are not considerable, nor can it be said that our existence as a people depends upon them, for. New Zealand pro- \ duces' an abundance of foods that can take the place, of wheat should necessity ever compel ns to regulate the bread supply. So limg as the supply comes as near to meeting the demand as in recent years, it would appear that the case for artificial encouragement of wheat growing is not complete. Presumably the encouragement would take the form of a 1 fixed minimum price, as in Britain, which would ensure an ample supply of wheat by a permanent addition to the pi-ice of the loaf. • It is possible that the future circumstaim of \Ne\v Zealand may make this necessary, but for the present it has not been demonstrated that the evils and inconveniences of occasional importations arc sufficiently grave to justify the permanent tax on bread which the proposal of the Minister would seem to imply.