est opinions
expressed by Arthur von Gwinner, President of the Deutsche Bank,
are worthy of serious consideration. His chief points were:--

1. The belief cherished by the mass of the nation that a Central
Europe Economic Alliance will amply compensate us for any
shortcomings elsewhere, and enable us to sit back and snap our
fingers at the rest of the world is too absurd to be entertained by
serious men. Our trade, import and export, with Austria-Hungary
was as great as it could be for many years to come, and it was only
a small part of our total trade. After the war, as before, the
bulk of our trade must be with countries now neutral or enemy, and
we must seriously consider how to hold and add to this trade in the
future.

2. The solution of the labour problem will be vital in the work of
reconstruction. We must make every provision in order to forge
rapidly ahead immediately after the close of the war.

_No German, except for necessary reasons of State, should be
allowed to leave the country for a number of years after the war_.

3. Before the war 3,000,000 Russians came to us every year at
harvest time. These must continue to come.

4. We have done wonderful work in scientific agriculture, but the
limit of productivity of the soil has undoubtedly been reached.

5. Do not place too much hope in an early war between the United
States and Japan.

6. There is great rejoicing over the sinking of enemy ships. It
should also be remembered, however, that we are not paying any
dividends at present.

In the discussion which followed the statements of Herr von Gwinner
and from various channels of reliable information which I made use
of in Germany, I found a serious view taken of these and other
topics, of which the great body of Germans are quite unaware.

Take the labour problem, for example. For years Germany has
recognised the necessity of a rapid increase of population, if a
nation is to smash rivals in industry and war. Not for a moment
during this struggle has Germany lost sight of this fact. Many
times have I heard in the Fatherland that the assurance of milk to
children is not entirely for sentimental but also for practical
reasons. Official attempts are being made at present to increase
the population in ways which cannot be discussed in this book.
"You get yourself born and the State does all the rest" was an
accurate analysis of Germany before the war; but the State looks
after everything now