d
not occupied necessary space by election of private clubs the
military authorities would be more willing to grant permission
for the erection of further buildings intended for public good.
Further, if the very men, such as the "camp committee" (who are
all members of the "summer house" club), had devoted some of the
energies which they expended upon the erection of the club for
their own private use to the construction of a public
sitting-room, the building might already be in use.

The British tax-payer is paying a large sum in wages because the
Ruhleben prisoners are unwilling to do the fatigue work of the
camp. The captured British soldiers who have been fighting in
the trenches are compelled to do work in work camps, are often
not properly clothed, do not receive an allowance from the
British tax-payer of 5M. a week, cannot buy food at less than
cost price, nor go to a sanatorium (at the expense of the
British tax-payer) when sick; have not the benefit of expert
dental and optical treatment, have no public libraries,
lectures, schools, debates, or camp newspapers, have not seven
tennis courts, three football fields, athletic games, cricket,
golf and hockey, are not amused by dramas, comic operas and
cinema shows, and above all are not paid extra wages for doing
their own work to make themselves comfortable. All of these
advantages and more which the Ruhleben prisoners enjoy have been
largely the result of the effort of the camp administration
which this commentator criticises.

These rather strong words of Mr. Gerard's display a not unnatural
irritation against a critic whose facts prove unreliable and whose
mental attitude suggests a somewhat querulous bias, but it is only fair
to remind ourselves that after long internment all suffer from nerve
strain and many suffer very severely. Under these circumstances complete
reasonableness is probably more than any of us would be capable of.

SHORT RATIONS.

At Ruhleben there are (with the exception of some negroes) English only.
The English receive many packages. The German authorities have been
tempted to rely on those packages increasingly. That is the state of
things revealed in Dr. A. E. Taylor's report of June 14, 1916. [Miscel.
No. 21 (1916).]

A review of the present ration of the prisoners of war indicates
that it is the aim of the 'Kriegsernaehru