London, Oct. 24.
Germany is in rather a desperate situation with regard to raw materials and foodstuffs, according to informed quarters here German production, these circles declare, cannot be expanded and public expenditure must grow. The alternatives are intation, or a further drastic reduction in_consumption.
Present stocks of foreign raw materials are estimated, at the mo: at Rin. 800,000,000, equivalent to one-tenth of the stocks in 1914. Germany has no foreign exchange and Foreign holdings etc, have already been liquidated while German credit has been at zero for years, Future supplies, the same quarters continue, depend on the capacity to produce and export. There may be temporary relief in plundering the stocks of conquered countries, but this would impair their future productivity and make them a liability instead of an asset.
Soviet Russia, in the opinion of these informed observers, cannot be conquered, and imports from that country will have to be paid for, as it is unlikely that Russia will grant long credits to a bankrupt State.
The big gap in the German supply of foodstuffs is believed to be eggs, butter, lard, vegetable oils, etc. There has been a shortage of fats since 1935, and this is likely, the same quarters declare, to become a decisive factor in Germany's food supply in the future. Hence- the importance of Holland. Denmark and the Baltic States. The creation of technical armaments, it is added, has been driven far, but maintenance and re-Placement require reserves and resources.—Reuter-class, the distress of the population due to prolonged poor food and clothing, the closing of factories due to a lack of raw materials and the rising resentment among Roman Catholics, numbering nearly half the population, at inroads of Communism from the east.
Herr Hitler, the correspondent adds, has ordered complete dissolution of the Roman Catholic Church before the end of the year and the forma-Yon of a Reizh National Church, in which the Fuehrer will be the highest official, replacing Papal authority.—Reuter,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.