FOOD PROBLEM IN GERMANY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11509, 4 October 1915, Page 4

FOOD PROBLEM IN GERMANY.

The outlook in Germany as regardsfood supplies during the coming winter is. soinewhax. serious, according j;> reports received »;-:css the b'w.*s frontier from neatra's *aiys the Daily Km press eo'Tesponde.it at Genera). the. German graui and vegetable crops, owing to drought and lack of experienced labourers, are only medium, whereas a bumper year was ex- ■ pected. Reports from Scandinavia, which lias I hitherto aid-.d Germany a great. cee.l I in food supplies, state that no further j supplies will be sent, while in Hungary the people, supported by the local Government, intend tio retain their own crops, which are good, and not allow Austria to hand over a large 'part to Germany, as happened last summer, with tho reseult that tho Hungarians were half starved. Germany will therefore have to depend mainly on her own resources to feed her millions, but she has alreadj' begun to. prepare for tlTs emergency. Tho German Federal Council ha? prohibited all private trading in foodstuffs which form part of the coming crops, and has officially annu'led all sales already contracted in this respect. By order of the Imperial Chancellor a second sugar census is be'ng taken, as it has bee", found that at the first census in June many people "omitted" to declare the amount of sugar in their possession. All quantities of sugar above 1001b must now be declared, or heavy penalties will be incurred. In addition to this, the Mayor of Berlin has ordered the population to secure meat tickets as well as bread j tickets. Two tickets will be? supplied every week, each giving a right to one pound of meat to one adult. The municipal representatives of all the chief towns on the Rhine have held a meeting at Stuttgart, to ask the Government to fix a maximum price lor milk in the Rhine districts.