HUNS' UGLY SPIRIT

New Zealand Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 10289, 26 May 1919, Page 6

HUNS' UGLY SPIRIT

m EDITOR'S W£RNiKG

WOULD RATHER STARVE THAN SIGN CHUSHING TERMS.

Mr Oswald Garrison Villard, editor of the '-New York Nation," who returned to Paris recently from Ger- , many, where he has spent four weeks, has drawn up a report on the conditions in that country, which has been received with great interest by leading members of the American l'eaco Commission and by Mr Lloyd George. In the courso of an interview a .London pressman had with him recently, Wt Viliard says the- most prominent men of all classes in Germany have no hope of preventing a complete economic and political collapse within the next three months if food in Targe is not forthcoming at once, and they are even doubtiul whether it is not t«'> lato now to save the situation witli the amount of food promised,under the Brussels agreement. The only reason, that Ebert and Scheidemann have been | able to hold on so far is the facttnat> tlio Independents have no strong man to offer as an alternative. i Business is completely at a standstill, ] because ct the uncertainty duo; to the delay'at Paris and the resultant P"' 1 ": cal insecurity at home. I FEELING OF HOPELESSNESS, i Reports from Paris attributing violent Chauvinistic designs to tho Allies i appear daily in the German,Press and are creatina a feeling- of hopelessness in all circles," which- is~int«i3iiied.~ by the growing scarcity -of food-, wlnca will ineVitably mean the : collapse of the rationing "system by Juno Ist it aid is not forthcoming promptly. Mr Viliard is strongly of tho belief. that the mere supply of food will ont save Germany from complcto Bolahe'visnUin.. its most., violent.manifestations 4£ JJia .blackade 4s .iiot. also, lifted, and raw materials allowed to go in. The lack of lubricating oils and greases is particularly felt. Seventy-five per cent, of tho blast furnaces and* steel plants'will have shut down within another week, while the coal strikes are further''demoralising transportation. THE LIMIT. Asked'Vwh'afc kind of Peace 'Treaty - the 'Germans would sign, Mr Viliard said he had talked witn various mem-| bers of the German Peace delegation and men of the classes,., and . they _ were unanimously, of opinion., that*, no German Government v\ould. sign a Peace Treaty demanding,.greaiej.,,t.erri-, torial concessions than and survive twenty-four hours. / During the week of Mr Villaru's stay? in Berlin daily meetings were held 6j' : from 50 to 150 representatives of different industries and sections in Germany—a new group each day—to discuss the terms of peace. It was unani-J mously agreed to stand absolutely oft Prseident Wilsons Fourteen Points, to 1 demand publicity in Paris, the presence of reporters at every meeting ot the delegates, and to refuse to sign any treaty, calling for annexations, or heavJiMdemnities, or annulling tna"tf I '"aoiuestic war loans. They; wiuT simply go into bankrupt-cy and Allies to enter Germany and assume, .the government of the country. ■>.:■ ;.-.-\ "RATHER. LOSE LIVES. Mr Viliard pointed out to those who talked in this way that they had first said they would never sign the last - - armistice extension or -give up their - -mercantile fleet, and had subsequently r -'d"one both things. To this the Ger*!"inans replied that those were different situations, and that the universal sentiment of the country would not permit the signing of a treaty such as was proposed in Paris. They * would prefer to lose ten millions of their people by starvation, if necessary. This opinion Air V illard found to be held "by members of the Government, bankers, editors, people in railway, trains, 'soldiers —in laot, by everybody wifcb. whom he came into contact. More than that, he found that during the last three months a very dangerous spirit of revenge has arisen in Germany whiah did not exist when the wax ended. He attributes this to the fast that the Germans ar.e rapidly coming to the conclusion that tho Allies wish to exterminate them, or, at least, totally ruin their industries and commerce. They are determined that if they go down through Bolshevism, or economic disaster they will pull , France down with them/ even-If- it is their last aot as a nation. " ] SPECTRE OF THE RED ARMY. ""| Members of the Government, Alr Villaxd asserts, are profoundly worried by the presence of Trotzky's well-dis-ciplined army on Germany's boundaries arid the fact that they have no dequ- j ate means of protecting'.themselves. ■'l cannot exaggerate tho gravity of tho situation, even if I desired to do ' so," said Mr Viliard, in conclusion, "and I am glad to say that I find a keen realisation of its seriousness among the American officials here." GERMANY'S WEALTH'LESS THAN £15,500,000,000.

A representative of the "Petit Parisiea" interviewed, Dr Heliferich, the former German Vicc-Chancellor,

whose authority in financial matters, still carries considerable weight, in Ger-. » ...manj. Dr Helfferich sets out to. demonstrate! tliat tho costs of tho war should fall upon the League, of Nations, and that Germany is not in a position to face such charges, her en-" tiro wealth amounting, ho says, to lei's than 310 milliards of marks' (£15,500,'WO'.GOajY Gei'ma'ri'holdings of foreign " ' "Stocks, he" says, which before the war wero estimated at 25 milliards, are now confined to stocks that are depreciated or valueless'. American securities served to pay for German imports, which, Dr Helfferich calculates, have exceeded exports by four/ milliards per annum.