CAPTURED AT SEA.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LIII, Issue 16230, 16 May 1916, Page 8

CAPTURED AT SEA.

MEN ON NEUTRAL SHIP.

MISTAKE RECTIFIED.

Washington, May 14.

In a Note to the Government of the United States concerning the seizure by a British man-of-war of certain Germans, Austrians, and Turks of military age, who we*e on board an American steamer bound from China to San Francisco, Sir 'Edward Grey, British Minister for Foreign Affairs, expresses regret for the incident, and agrees to release the captured men. The Note reserves Great Britain's decision regarding the question of the principle arising out of America's contention that a belligerent is not entitled to forcibly remove- persons from a ship flying the American flag.

GREECE'S EMPTY COFFERS.

NO MONEY FOR SALARIES.

AWKWARD PREDICAMENT.

Discussing the embarrassment of the Greek Government for. want of money, which was referred to in yesterday's cablegrams, Mr. J. M. N. Jeffries, th«» British war correspondent, writing from Athens, says :— .

The coffers have been exhausted by the continuance of the" mobilisation, and the Government is even unable to pay its Civil servants. 1 know of cases in which employees in a- Government office, on going to draw their salaries, have been told by the cashier, " Sorry. I haven t any money. Come next week. I may have some then." Small sun.s like the pay of telegraph messengers have even been in 'abeyance. It is a common sight in Athens to see the wives of men who are with the colours demonstrating for the small pittance due to them outside Government offices and Ministers' houses. There was a disorderly scene, when 200 women outside the Ministry of the Interior cried, " Give us bread, give us bread !" The police had to be called to disperse them, amid screams and shouting. Recently information reached me from a reliable source that the Government was forced to send a messenger to one of the chief banks here to ask them to send 50,000 drachmae— once for current expenses. The Government intends to introduce taxes on. practically everything than can be taxed and super-taxa-tion on anything prosperous. The scheme will come before the Chamber in a couple of days, but its reception will be cold in view of the country's dissatisfaction, and even if passed the taxes will take time to collect, and when collected they will probably be inadequate. The Government has made proposals in .London for a loan. It is in the highest degree undesirable that we should grant a loan to the present Government. While lighting for her life against Germany pure logic demands that England should not grant a loan to any Cabinet which is not also an enemy of Germany. . The refusal of a loan or the offer of one only on unacceptable conditions to the present Ministry would not be misunderstood by our sympathisers here, whose numbers grow daily, the French defence at Verdun having greatly encouraged everybody. s -" M PJ e ? en . fc Ministry is forced to resign, M. Zaimis would probably form an interim Ministry. He is proUlWnd could pave the way or M. Venizelos. It SvS g^ ly * m **°™£ Germany can give the Gounaris-Skouloudis Ministry a In nV* Credl , J f ™™ is useless and fore hX%f d '• im P° s& M°- We thereSen use it ™ lng P ° Siti ° Let «"

A FRENCH VIEW OF VERDUN.

PILES OF GERMAN CORPSES.

Mr. H. Warner Allen, special correspondent of the . British prL with™tS French armies, gives the following extract man *"« of a '*™*' man fighting at \erdun:— v,!! is true that the Boches have advanced three or dour miles, but what a price they have paid for it. There were no trenches, no shelters or defences left. Nothing has been able to resist the bombardment of their big guns, and all the time they were firing on our first lines with 12m and 15in shells. After the bombardment we fought in the open, and as soon as our 75's came into pfay what thousands of corpses! The Boches were mowed down like a field of corn. They advanced over their own dead only to raise the pile of corpses still higher. If this goes on there will be neither mountains nor valleys left in this hilly country for the valleys will all be full of German dead. It is true that we have had heavy losses, but they are nothing compared with theirs. It is only in the Twentieth Century that such things have been seen, and I am beginning to wonder if God is powerless to stop this war, which is a veritable massacre. ... I am convinced that the Boches will never take Verdun, for their big effort has been broken. . . . I should be miserable if I bad to leave the front lines, for I have defended Verdun ■for 19 months.

DUTCH AND GERMANS. WORKERS POORLY FED. Germany may provide soldiers, but employers are finding it increasingly difficult to secure neutral labour to replace the men called up. As there is now fittle shipping trade between Rotterdam and the Upper Rhine many Rhine companies have forced their engineers and stokers to serve with their barges for German inland traffic. This has aroused much opposition by the men, and the organ of their trade union points out that it is impossible for Dutch workmen to make a long stay in Germany owing to the food shortage. "There are," it says, "not sufficient fats, meat, potatoes, bread, and other foodstuffs, and long residence in Germany is unnecessary." The men now refuse to sail from Rotterdam without obtaining a guarantee for a quick return. The Vulcan Company has therefore agreed that all barges shall return to Rotterd&n at least once a month to enable the men to recover from the effects of insufficient nourishment.