PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

Otago Witness, Issue 3339, 13 March 1918, Page 57

PATER'S CHATS WITH THE BOYS.

" SINK MORE U BOATS." ■ - They are nothing if not spectacular in America. About the end of last a captured U-boat was cut into three sections, shipped to America, where the three sections were put together and exhibited, the Mayor of New York, assisted by notables, using the occasion as an incentive to persuade -people to buy Liberty bonds. But they could not wait until the three sections were landed and linked up. As soon as the 40-ton stern section was ashore, it was surrounded by a huge hoarding, bearing the legend : "This is a. captured U-boat. Buy Liberty bonds and sink more U-boats. U buy a bond." Then it went on a journey, accompanied by Liberty bond campaigners, and "as at laboured on its way aeroplanes appeared overhead, and dropped bomb 3 on the crowds. These, when opened, were "found to contain imitation Iron Crosses, and the following message from the Kaiser to his friends in this country : 'Don't buy Liberty bonds. I hereby award all American citizens who can afford to, and who do not, buy Liberty bonds, Iron Crosses in token of their devotion and loyalty to me.' (Signed) Kaiser Wilhelm.'" "A PERMANENT PEACE." The Germans tell us that they are aiming at a permanent peace. So they are; but, as usual, the expression must be looked at from the German point of view. Supposing we glance at Germany's position for a moment or two. The Central Powers, dominated by Germany, have certain fixed aims : (a) the prevention of a Slav consolidation; (b) the complete control of the Baikans; (c) the mastery of the Mediterranean; (d) control of Asia Minor, Palestine, Mesopotamia, and Egypt, the last to link up with German East Africa, and her other African dominions, plus what can be taken from France, Belgium, Portugal, and ourselves;' (e) the restoration of her overseas possessions; (f) greater control of the North S-ea shores j (g) indemnities. These will give Germany control of (a) raw products: (b) the whole of the Turkish Empire; (c) the Slavs; (d) a solid Colonial Empire; (e) the North Sea; and will throttle Russia both in the Baltic and in the Black Sea; will reduce our Empire to impotence; will threaten the United States; and will be followed by the subjugation of Brazil and Argentina. And this is not'an impossible programme. ANATOLIA, KARS, AND BATOUM. These are three names given in the cables as being surrenders made by Russia to Germany—for surrendering them to Turkev means the same thing. But why Anatolia ? This is practically synomymous with Asia Minor, which Russia had not taken. Kars was ceded to Russia in 1878 at one of the dismemberments of Turkey, and now it has to "be given back 1 Batum or Batoum is. I imagine, a much greater blow, for it is the Black Sea port exporting immense quantities of oil, and its products, brought from Baku on the Caspian by pipe lines and tank trains. It also exports wheat, timber, wool, maize, manganese, and a few other desirable things. By the by, note that Rumania has pledged herself to help in extending a railway from Hungary to Odessa, which will tap the rich wheat lands of Southern Russia. IS OUR- FLANK THREATENED? Take your maps and get to work think-

ing. If Germany makes the Ukraine and Rumania subservient to her, gets petroleum, wheat, and meat irom these and further east provinces, converts the Black Sea into a German lake, makes use of oppressed people as helots, and gets the Bolsheviks to look upon us as their enemies, what is to prevent Germany and her myrmidons from threatening our Mesopotamian position? The general idea seems to be that we can advance through Palestine to Aleppo, and up the Euphrates to the same point, and so retain control of Mesopotamia and Palestine by cutting Turkey's supplies there. But will this be possible under the conditions now obtaining i Not only has our position in Upper Mesopotamia become precarious, but in Eastern Europe, in the meantime, at anyrate, Germany has become more powerful than was originally aimed at, for, while not relaxing her hold upon the Balkans, she has made greater strides, territorially, politically, and commercially than was her first intention. Perhaps, however, Germany will be virtuously magnanimous by and by, and say she will restore everything if we do the same. But that will be a German victory. Do you think I am a pessimist ? Not at all;.but supposing I were, that is no reason for blinding our eyes and refusing to see happenings. What we. should do is to be prepared for the worst, and fight for the best. But importing 1000 motor cars in one bottom, loading up ships with petrol instead of with goods more necessary, and spending record sums on gambling will" not help us to fight our best. WHAT ABOUT JAPAN? Dr Morrison, the poltitical adviser to the Chinese Government, when he- was in Dunedin about a month ago, gave us some very interesting and informative information on China and Japan. China, we were told, was ready to come in in 1914, but was prevented; and the same happened in 1915. What prevented? From what he said one'could imply that Japan prevented, though he did not exactly say so. But why did Japan stand in the way? The masses were pro-Ally, and so was the navy. But the army was trained on the German model, by Germans and by Japanese officers trained in Germany. Again he did not tell us all this, but, reading between the lines and supplementing by reading, that is what the position amounted to. Then an ugly possibility arises. Japan has fought Russia, and almost immediately after made friends with her. Japan fought China, and now we hear that* she aims at tutoring China, and, 1 as a preliminary, Japan and China are on good terms. If so it suits Japan, what is to prevent her from going over to Germany? In effect, Russia has done so. What happened in the Napoleonic wars? Nations changed. sides because it suited them. SAND-BAGS MADE OP PAPER. The Germans cannot get jute to make bags with, •so they use instead paper string, woven and treated chemically to toughen it. Try an experiment. Get a sheet of tissue anct roll it between the fingers to a thickness of a thin string and see what strength is needed to break it. Then get three of these tissue-paper strings and twist them together into a stouter spring, and break it if you can. If the paper is made of a proportion of fibre, weeds, etc., all the better, and even better still if it is toughened. Do you know that large numbers of the so-called Panama hats are only woven paper string? That accounts for their losing their shape so badly when they are wetted. They come from Japan, I am told. By the by, Germany is getting immense quantities of paper pulp from Sweden —pulp that used to" go to Britain. The same thing is happening with dairy and farm produce.