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Hokitika Guardian, 25 September 1929, Page 4

"Whatever the political effect may have been of the occupation of the German Rhineland by foreign troops in terms of the Versailles Treaty, there is certainly no indication, remarks an exchange, that the British participation in the occupation has left any results detrimental to the restoration of good feeling between the British and the German peoples. Indeed, there might appear to be some ground for the conclusion that the British ' troops have been, as it were, ambassadors of goodwill. It must at all events be a cause of satisfaction to the whole Empire, that, now that the time for the evacuation of the occupied zone has come, substantial evidence is being afforded that the British soldiers are leaving behind them a fine reputation ■ and a splendid record. The farewell order issued by General Thwaites testifies to tne lasting prestige gained by the troops for themselves and for the British army in the estimation of the Germans by reason of their soldierly hearing and efficiency and their considerat.on and courtesy to the civilian populace among which they have been quartered. The attitude of the people of the Rhineland bears out what the General has said. In the beginning it mtjst have been full of resentment and/distrust. t But of- that all outward sign would seem to have disappeared. Mr Atkins has gained the esteem of the Germans, and his genius for winning popularity has not failed him even when he was placed as an intruder in the territory of. a. defeated foe. In eleven years of occupation many friendships have been eslahlished, and the parting, as the German newspapers observe, has not lacked its indications of reluctance on both sides. Tne picture touches the imagination agreeably. • How much better this than that the troops should march out of the zone of occupation in an atmosphere as chilly as that in which they marched in! In the discharge .of their duties in the Rhineland the British regulars have bee/i faithful to the tradition of the army to which they belong, and have justified the pride with which the nation regards them