Hidden Door of the Secret Hoorn.

Hokitika Guardian, 10 February 1923, Page 4

Hidden Door of the Secret Hoorn.

ANOTHER ARMS FIND IN GERMANY. j ANGER AT ARMED FINES. HEREIN, Dec. I. The decision of the Allied Council of Ambassadors to line the llavarian towns of Ingolsludl and Passatt each fc&j.OOO, and if the money is not paid December 10 to seize it, as a punishment for recent attacks on the officers of the Inter-Allied Commission ot Military Control, has been heard throughout German with the utmost indignnt ion.

There is naturally a howl of rage in the Press. "Rlailtmail upon Illackmail” is the headline in one ol the most moderate Merlin papers. The public nice told that the lines are an act of French vengeance. The Socialist Vorwarts points out that they show that the front of the Allies has been re-

united. It is that in(:t which is troubling serious thinkers. At both rngol.stadt and Passau there was an organised attack on British and I. I 'reach, ofiicers who were engaged in the discharge of their duties. A similar incident had already taken place at Stettin. These thiee outrages are merely three incidents in the systematic campaign to flout the Commission and to prevent its carrying out its plan of disarming Germany. Matters have come to such a pitch that a short time ago the head of the Commission had to ask for a surety that he would he supported hy the Allies, and stated that if he did not receive this he would beg leave to resign. I.KTTKIiK 1(1X1111 Ml). After ihe late outrages the Allies 'wen forced to take strong action unless tin % wen- prepared to see the Commis- ■ i.oi i,-eatoil with contempt hy Geriiiiini . The (lerniiin (lovernment ttiitl the German military .authorities are determined to keep every shell, every gnu. and every pistol which they can from the dutches ot the Commission. At Breslau, lor instance. German liui--.0,1 ollicers who accompany the Allied olti -crs oil a visit of inspection have ignored letters sent to them, and for -oine time they succeeded in holding up the work of the Commission. A disgracefully characteristic episode at Leipzig has recently come to my notice. It deserves to he recorded. Two Allied ollicers. having reason to believe that .arms above and beyond the number permitted wore concealed at the cavalry barracks, went on a visit nl inspection. The regiment was away and the barracks were in charge <>[ a voting officer. The Allied olbccrs found the door of a room locked. They were told that the kev had been taken away. They insisted'that the door should he opened. There was a delay of some hours before a locksmith was brought to do the work. KICKING AT II IK 'V ALL. When Ihe dnm was opened they foiiml is |ad |o a room crammed with iron bedsteads piled one on the oilier, met which they had to climb. In one eornui w-us .laor. ,ii,(l the German lieutenant: 1,, II it a ill. do! it - (‘0,0,1 ; 11, is. .Ilia nl the '.Bled nllic.-r: "‘ill I" the other side the room and kicked the wall. A coucmilcd door gave way and he Utmhled through it into an adjneoiii room oranimed with arms, ammunition. and military accoutrements carefullv arranged and ticketed. Tlie Allied officers were also to visit another part of the barracks where thev had reason to behove small arms were concealed. When they mado 11 1 .■ second visit to the place tliey found that- the regiment had been hurriedly i brought hack. The men made a hostile demonstration, and the commander told the Allied officers that he could not he responsible lor their salety ii they entered. The Government supports this campaign against the Commission. It causes persons suspected of giving information to the Commission to lie arrested on a charge of high treason. .Moreover, it lias been sttccesslul in retaining I of), non more men inarms than is permitted by the Treaty of Versailles. These are the’Creeu Police, who have a inilitarv training, are under military discipline, and are dressed like soldiers, and have most of them served in the old Arniv. Wily does tile German Government require a second Army of 100,000 men? The reply should come from those who are indignantly denying that I here is any truth in the revelations made in The Daily Mail of Tlitssn-Gorman militarv understandings.