The Dominion. TUESDAY, MAY 13, 1919. WHAT WILL GERMANY DO ?

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 195, 13 May 1919, Page 4

The Dominion. TUESDAY, MAY 13, 1919. WHAT WILL GERMANY DO ?

The immediate question raised at tho Peace Conference conccrns the extent to which the members of the German delegation can rely upon the support of their nation in the attitude they have assumed. At the moment of writing it is uncertain whether there will be a complete rupture of negotiations or an attempt by Rantzau and his colleagues to create delays. One message states that Rantzau will visit Berlin during the coming week and return with his Government's coun-ter-proposals. Another declares that he has'ordered all members of the German delegation to bo ready to depart within forty-eight hours "owing to tho severity of the_ terms.' It is, of course, for the Allied' Powers to permit or prohibit a,ny course making for delay, while the withdrawal of the whole enemy delegation would be an act of open defiance calling for the instant adoption of penal measures against Germany. The main question upon which everything turns, however, is not what the German Government and its delegation are desirous of doing in resisting the imposition of the Allied terras, but what it is possible for them to- do in this direction in view of the temper and inclination of the German people.' Such a question is not to be answered offhand, but some light is cast upon it by recent political developments and tendencies in Germany. Looking only at the main current of events in that country, it might 'he supposed that the mass of the German population is prepared to go to almost any lengths in supporting a Government which stands quite obviously for what is worst in Pan-Germanism and Prussian militarism, and has hardly attempted to conceal its real character. Any disguise hitherto worn has now been frankly cast aside. The tone taken by Rantzau and by _ his colleagues at Weimar clearly indicates their full sympathy with the men who made the war and are diredly responsible for the infamies without number of which Germany was guilty. Long before its delegation reached Versailles, however, the German had shown pretty plainly where it stood and stands. , For instance, in the course of his impudent and laboured attempt to set Germany on an equal piano with the nations whom she foully outraged and' whom fate has now made her judges, Rantzau accused tho Allies of needlessly prolonging the blockade. He declared that as a result hundreds of thousands had cJicd of cold and hunger since November.. Tho truth is that for whatever starvation lias occurred in Germany air:ce November the German Govern-ment-is directly and absolutely responsible. Tho Allies at the outset undertook to supply food to Germany as soon as reasonable armistice conditions had been complied with, and by its refusal to accept these conditions the German Government prolonged the period of strict blockade and intensified such privations as were suffered. As recently as March, Scheidemann, Rantzau, and the rest of the gang were excluding food supplies from their allegedly suffering country by refusing to hand over the German commercial fleet. This is only one of many revealing facts which appear in'the record of the Gorman Govern-' ment. The cablegrams havo dealt at some length with its activity in organising hostile measures against the Poles. Less has been heard about the elaborate German-Magyar . intrigues recently organised against the new Czocho-Slovak State. Some weeks ago a correspondent of the Morning Post mentioned that a Bohemian delegate had made a detailed exposure of this conspiracy,'before the Council of Ten, and that papers had 1 been seized showing that the plotting against Czechoslovakia had been in every way comparable with German espionago during the war. "In itself, the correspondent adds, "there is nothing surprising in that to those who know the German mentality, but the fact is amazing if it is to be rogarded as the act of the Government of a people which is being driven b,v famine into ultra-Bolshevism and which is suing_ the Allies with the object of securing food supplies." Such activities on the part of the German Government are not confined to Central Europe. For instance, an article by a well-known German-Ame-rican in New York Current Opinion for April declares that Germanophile propaganda is being conducted as vigorously as ever in the United States,' though by more subtle'and insidious methods than were pursued before that country entered the war.

The men who now rule Germany have shown- their hand just as boldly inother directions. It is an impressive fact, for example, that the vast structure of German bureaucracy, which is part and parcel of the autocratic regime, remains substantially intact. Two months ago the Weimar Government- announced an intention of granting increased allowances and pay to all "German Republican officials." An informed commentator observed that in tho case of the Prussian bureaucracy alone the • promised ' concessions would amount to the record sum of ovor £25,000,000 a year. The increases were made payable from January 1, 1919, on all salaries not exceeding £650, and were based on a scale whereby the lowest salaried class of officials received the highest relative increment. From the Government viewpoint, it was justly remarked, "the grant has the double advantage of earmarking considerable public funds and of reminding the beneficiaries that the old bureaucracy and the present Ministry stand or .fall together." In the ways which have been touched upon and in others, and most plainly of all in the current proceedings at the Peace Conference, the German Government lias made its character manifest to all observers at home and,abroad. Apparently it believes that the time has come to assume an attitude of truculent defiance and trust for continued fortune to the obedience of a servile population at homo and to a loss of spirit and cohesion in the Allied nations.

It will be strange indeed if tho blatant German defiance does not consolidate the Allies in a determination to go to all lengths necessary in order to enforce a just settlement. As to the German population it is possible that nothing but the sharp measuresof compulsion it is open to the Allies ttf adopt will disturb its torpidity. This, however,

is not certain. While no consequences arc entailed, the German people arc no doubt ready enough t<> applaud tho truculenco, of their peace delegation. Whether they will go so far in supporting it as to brave the penalties of. a strict blockade is a question yet to . be answered. With tho question tentatively raised, however, some of the political tendencies that have- appeared in recent months arc interesting. Admittedly there is at, present no widespread and well-organ-ised opposition to the Government, but detail developments have occurred which bear a significant look. Some time ago, for instance, the idea was mooted of setting up a Rhenish Republic to act as a buffer State, between France and Germany. ScKEiDEJiANN violently denounced the plan in tho Weimar Assembly, but according to the Berlin correspondent of the Manchester Guardian he spoke without the support of the people chiefly concerned.

It may he doubted (the correspondent observed) whether the people of Rhineland are really unanimous in their resolve to stick_to Prussia, or even to the German Empire. As a Tact, very strong forces in these provinces are making for separation.. The powerful Catholic interest, the financiers, and a large section of the middle classes are bent on severing the Prussian connection, which seems to be upheld by the Majority Socialists and a. section of the manufacturers only. True, those demanding an ojutononious Rhenish Republic loudly protest their fidelity to Germany as distinct' from the Prussian connection, but this protestation should probably not be taken too literally.

These observations were penned less than two months ago, but it is interesting in the same connection that .when the German Constitution was drafted in January some influential support was given to. a scheme for breaking Prussia up into a number of autonomous States, and an attempt was made to set _up the macninory required to bring about this change. In recent days the proposal apparently has been_ thrust into the background. In this larger matter, as in the case of the Rhineland, however, it seems distinctly possible that there are actual and potential, lines of division in Germany which would assume practical importance if the nation were called upon to suffer new and needless privations in supporting the latterday representatives of the military caste anr] the Pan-Germans.. Granted a steadfast and unyielding attitude on the part of the Allied nations, Germarrtruculencc in any case will collapse sooner or later like a pricked bladder. But, unless appearances are deceptive, this result ought to be hastened by a cleavage of German interests.