'4 
Land &: Water March 7, 191 8 
Leaves from a German Note Book 
THE war has wnmght grwit havoc on Gcnnaiiv's 
population. Not onlv have the losses in the field 
lieen stupendous, but the people at lionie have 
surfcred to such an extent that the number of 
deaths per annum now exceeds tlie number of 
births. Germanx's population is dedinin;;;, and there is no 
doubt that this problem is, and will continue to be, one of 
the most serious which the rulers of Germany will have to 
face. So urjient has the matter become that two new measures 
have just been introduced in the Imperial Parliament for 
the purpose of ameliorating the situation. One is directed 
against venereal disease and consumption, and the other 
will punish with pains and penalties the artificial restriction 
of births. 
It is genexally admitted in Germany that the British 
blockade has in the long run tended to reduce the vitality 
of the Gertnan people. Underfeeding for a period of over 
three years could not but undermine the national health, 
.ind the resort to food substitutes only made confusion worse 
confounded. There are at present over ten thousand food 
substitutes in use in Germany, beginning with substitutes 
for ordinary bread and including substitutes for well nigh 
everv other eatable. Bread made of maize, barley, oats 
and potatoes was to be expected ; but bread in German\- 
is also made of straw, hay, wood-fl:)ur., beet, Iceland 
moss and mushroom-flour. Incredible as it may sound, there 
are also substitutes for meat, made of congealed blood or 
wood glucose dyed red. There are substitutes for eggs, milk, 
lemons, tea and coffee, all for the most part harmful to the 
system. Despite official action to check the growth of this 
ivil, food substitutes continue to spring up and the national 
health declines in consecjuence. 
The ravages of consumption are becoming fearful, and the 
toll of venereal disease immense. The combined result of 
.ill these forces is to send down the birth-rate ; and to improve 
the birth-rate will be the main purpose of German statesmen. 
There" is much discussion already as to possible measures 
for achieving this result. 
One of the bills already referred to will aim at healing the 
'liseases which have eaten into the nation's vitals. Bonuses 
ire to be allowed t(/all parents who have at least three healthy 
children living ; sanitary and comfortable dwellings are to 
be erected, especially in w(jrking-class districts, and taxes 
ire to be levied on bachelors. 
Germany "Victorious" 
Despite these and other difficulties at home, the junker 
Militarists are puffed up more and more by their 
• victories " on the Eastern front. Their invasion of Russia 
■ ven in their view needs a decent excuse, and you may trust 
he Prussian militarist to have an excuse readv for the meanest 
action. The Vienna Arbeiter Zcititng knows the character 
of its Ally and pleads sarcastically (or some one to make a 
compilation of Wolffs lies. Wolff", be it noted, is the tele- 
graphic mouthpiece of the rulers of Germany. 
How does Wolff—more familiarly known as W.T.B. (Wolff's 
lelegraphic Bilreau) —smooth over the continued invasion ot 
Russia now when negotiations are supposed to be in progress ? 
^ In the first place, the peace with the Ukraine imposes upon 
Germany the necessity of safeguarding the frontiers of the 
new .State. She can only do so bv driving the Russian armies 
further mland. Secondly, there is a danger that both iinarchv 
and cholera may mfect Germanv from Russia. It is therefore 
necessary to push these as far from the German boundaries' as 
possible. Thirdly, the people of the Baltic Provinces and 
of P inland are urgently calling on the Germans to succour 
them. Finally (and here the cloven hoof peeps out) the 
X mvasion is not of the ordinary kind, for will not a purely 
Socialist State, Ukrania, benefit bv it ? How then, can the 
German Socialists have an\- objection ? 
Even so illustrious a personage as Prince Max of Baden 
who appears to have sprung into sudden fame as a result of 
the war, sinks to the level of Wolff's argument. He stated : 
It has always been Germany's historic mission to be a dam 
against the destructive forces that come from the Fast We 
d.d th..s m 955 at Lechfeld, in .24, at Liegnitz, and in 1914 at 
rannenberg Hindenburg's victories were not onlv Cermanv^s 
victones, they were Europe s. Anyone who has "not grasped 
Ins fact ha^ not grasped the real basis of our anger agains 
Kngland .VVe must again be on the watch against the great 
danger that threatens from the East. A moral infection Ton 
^,J^ \ ^'"^" '''°''^'''' *"^ P'='S"« ^" imminent, all civilized 
btates take common quarantine measures. To-dav infected 
Kussia desires to carry her disease into healthv States Counter 
measures are therefore urgent. ' >-ounier 
One of these measures is to conclude peace, and Prince ilax 
lays down four iirinciples to govern peace discussions : 
(i) Germany must insist on the freedom of the seas, wliich 
means that non-combatants should be kept out of the war by sea 
and land. A blockade of starvation must in future be impo.ssible. 
(2) The world must not be divided into two opposing camps. 
each arming again.st the other. 
^ (j) There must be no economic war after the war. 
(4) Africa must be opened up to the white rates on a just basis 
and the black races must be allowed to develop. 
It will be seen that all four " principles " will tell fn favour 
of Germany. Prince Max^has not a word to sav about 
Germany's misdeeds throughout the war, about her violation 
of Belgium, about the Lusitania and hospital ships crime, 
about aerial attacks on defenceless women and children. 
Freedom of the seas forsooth ! Of course, Germany would 
like to achieve a state of affairs where she might be safe 
from starvation or economic boycott. But what does Prince 
Max offer in return ? Only that Germany will condescend 
to discuss peace terms. 
Prussia Puffed Up 
The truth is, that events in the East have filled the Prussian 
Junkers with pride. They regret only one thing— the 
resolution of July 19, 1917. The twenty-fifth meeting of 
the German Agrarian League illustrated the extent of this 
pride. There was the old tone of joy in brutal force, the 
old conviction that the Germans are the salt of the earth. 
.\ few extracts from the speeches may be of interest. 
As long as the enemy sees the majority resolution of July 19 
supreme, we shall have no peace. 
Germany's future can only be secured by a strong monarchy 
and a mighty army. 
What we have lacked hitherto is a healthy national selfishness. 
One cannot get away from the impression that God must have 
been angry when he made this man (Bethmann-HoUweg) Imperial 
Chancellor. 
Only fools believe in a reconciliation of the peoples. 
The ruffians in and out of Germany who stir up bitter feeling 
against Hindenburg and Ludendorff are not worthy to tie their 
shoe laces. 
This war is- a struggle for world-domination. 
This pride manifests itself in a large part of the Gernlan 
Press. " The First Victorious Peace " is how reference 
is made to the peace with the Ukraine ; the peace with the 
Bolsheviks will doubtless be the second. This is harmless 
enough, but their o.verweening pride makes these gentry 
presumptuous. No one in Germany, so the Hambiirgischer 
Conespunde7it assures the world, ever intended to reduce 
l'>ance to a second-rate Power or to starve out England. 
But to-day it is different. These two 'countries want the 
war to continue ; they place the Germans before the alter- 
natives " You or we." If fighting is to go on throughout 
191S, which (iermany honestly desired to be a year of peace, 
then she will not be answerable for the consequences. 
German conceit shows itself in vet another way. For 
some time past there has been little talk of indemnities in 
Germany. Now indemnities are again a will o' the wisp 
for the Junkers. In the Bavarian Diet recently Count 
Preysing wanted to know whether the large German war 
debt was to be shifted on to the shoulders of the enemy. 
The war expenditure now amounted to a sum equivalent 
to 65,000 million pounds sterling. If the enemy cannot be 
made to bear this load, there will be nothing for it but for 
the Government to confiscate wealth. But Count Preysin,<' 
is after all only a mere member of the House. \\]\a.i did the 
Government say in reply ? 
The Bavarian Minister of Finance, Dr. von Breuning 
informed the anxious Count that of course the burden would 
be shifted on the enemy if the military and political situation 
allow the Imperial Government to do so. 
Mr. Rathom's "Fairy Tales" 
The Germans appear to have been piqued by Mr. Rathom's . 
revelations. Curiously enough they do not categorically deny 
them. All they do is to make reflections on Mr. Rathom's 
character. He is a man with a shady past ; he is said to have 
attempted to do away with his wife bv means of ppisoned 
cherries. This is a characteristically German mana'uvre 
When they cannot deny a story which tells against them 
they abuse the narrator. The Frankfurter Zeitun^ calls 
the revelations " Fairy Talcs," spun out of the author's 
imagination, and is sure that no sensible people will give 
them credence. sanda simplicitas ! 
[This paragraph xvas shown to a personal friend dJ Mr Rathom 
whom It amused immensely. Mr. Rathom, it so happens ,1 
very happily married. 'En. L. dcW] ' 
