hold!"

Then the sky blackened to night. And the terrible dark water broke on
that dike of life; and from all the thin living wall rose such cry of
struggle as never was heard.

But above it ever the Voice called: "Hold! My brave ones, hold!"

And ever the answer came from those drowning mouths, of men and women,
of little children and the very beasts: "Brother! We hold!" But the
black flood rolled over and on. There, down in its dark tumult, beneath
its cruel tumult, I saw men still with arms linked; women on their
knees, clinging to earth; little children drifting--dead, all dead; and
the beasts dead. And their eyes were still open facing that death. And
above them the savage water roared. But clear and high I heard the Voice
call: "Brothers! Hold! Death is not! We live!"

Can Germany Be Starved Out?

An Answer by Sixteen German Specialists[1]

[Footnote 1: Die Deutsche Volksernaehrung und der Englische
Aushungerungsplan. Eine Denkschrift von Friedrich Aereboe, Karl Ballod,
Franz Beyschlag, Wilhelm Caspari, Paul Eltzbacher, Hedwig Heyl, Paul
Krusch, Robert Kuczynski, Kurt Lehmann, Otto Lemmermann, Karl
Oppenheimer, Max Rubner, Kurt von Ruemker, Bruno Tacke, Hermann Warmbold,
und Nathan Zuntz. Herausgegeben von Paul Eltzbacher. (Friedr. Vieweg and
Sohn. Braunschweig. 1914.)]

[From The Annalist of New York, March 1, 1915.]

BERLIN, Feb. 1, 1915.

Probably the most interesting economic problem in the world at this
moment is whether England can succeed in starving out Germany. While the
world at large is chiefly interested in the vast political issues
involved, the question interests the Germans not only from that
standpoint, but also--and how keenly!--from the mere bread-and-butter
standpoint. For if Germany cannot feed its own population during the
long war that its foes are predicting with so much assurance, her defeat
is only a question of time.

That the German Government is keenly aware of the dangers of the
situation is evident from the rigorous measures that it has taken to
conserve and economize the food supply. After having fixed maximum
prices for cereals soon after the war began, the Government last week
decided to requisition and monopolize all the wheat and rye in the
country, and allow the bakers to sell only a limited quantity of bread
(2.2 pounds per capita a week) to each family. It had previously taken
measures to restrict the consumption of cereals for other purposes than
breadmak