FRENCH AND GERMANS

Marlborough Express, Volume LX, Issue 230, 29 September 1926, Page 3

FRENCH AND GERMANS

D1SC0RD IN OCCUPIED AREAS. A regrettable incidcnt occurred at ! Coblenz, Germnny, on the eve of ! tlie French national fete, a few j weeks ago, when a torehi ight pro- j cession headed by a hand plnying j the Ma rseillaisc, was parading h through the town. When the pro- J oession approached the Beergarden belonging to the Festhalle, where a large liunibobr oi people had assembled, a Gerinan band playing to the public broko into "Wateli am j Khein" and "Deutsclilancl uber Alles." The French authorities ar- \ rested the bandmaster, Hcrr R,nuch? and have forbidden further orehes- i tral concerts at the Beergaiden. In referring to Ihe incidcnt the | press in Oologne oompared it with j tlic affair at Germesheim (Pfalz) i where the previous week a number oi French soldicrs husied themselves in ! intevforing with the local celebra- j tion, hreaking itp the procession and ] t earmg down fiags, including the : Republican flag. There wais no ipar- j allel, however, because the acting | commandant at Germesheim, on in- | vestigation, altliough he found a cer- i tain amount of provocation on the j part of the population, offered liis ] apologies to the, proper German \ authorities. j A few days before, at Coblez a party of school children on the j Rliine sang "Deutschland uber Alles" in spite of the fact that it was forbidden. Tlie French authorities oontented themselves with taking the nanies of th© responsible per- j son in charge of the children. Jn inspired notices aippearing in the press was laid upon the fact tliat a ! large number of East Prussians wero | at present in Coblenz, this apparently being eonsidered sufficient excuse ] for tlie incident. Q