THE GERMAN ARMY.

Taihape Daily Times, 20 November 1918, Page 5

THE GERMAN ARMY.

MUTINOUS. TROOPS. Not only is the German army filled with despondency, wrote Mr. Leonard Spray, the Rotterdam correspondent of the London "Telegraph" at the end of September, but;!it is seething with a mutinous spirit, which has found repeated and open-expression. I learn that outbreak's of an alarming character have occurred in ■', several units, principally" Bavarian and Silesian. The most serious case occurred a short time ago,, just previous to the- successful British attack in the Scarpe area. There was a wholesale revolt against orders among the troops on the Arras front. This terminated in a whole Bavarian division being disarmed, and placed in close trains with Prussian Guards', and transported to Bavaria, where they are now in a prison camp. Recently, too, certain units belonging to one of the most famous fighting Silesian regiments mutinied, with the consequence that nearly 100 soldiers were executed. These sensational outbreaks, amazing as they are in themselves, are at the same time only symptoms of the

general collapse in the moral of the \ German army. Another is the huge number of desertions that are taking place. It is estimated that in Berlin alone, at the present moment, there are over 200,,000 deserters. These consist alone of soldiers who have not returned from leave, and exclude the large number of deserters from the fighting front, who are" scattered about all over. thjS country. The authorities meet with the "greatest difficulties in tracing deserters, who have both trie latent sympathy and the active connivance in hiding themselves of the i mass of the working classes. Notwithstanding that, hundreds of defaulting soldiers have been arrested, and it is not an uncommon sight in

the streets of Berlin to see deserters handcuffed and under escort being taken to prison. As a matter of fact, the stream of deserters has been flowing steadily for several months past, though it has greatly.increased: in volume during the last few weeks.. The death sentence has rrot been imposed, and instead defaulters are sentenced generaliy~to fifteen years' ment;.' A large dumber, having' had' their spirits broken by solitary confinement,- have^ f been''released and sen't"' back to the ranks. , '-" : " •*''"' •*■'

At the front, refusal to obey the orders 'of officers "is of an almost wholesale character. This not only appliesto commands to attack, but.to orders, of a purely disciplinary character,, Eoiv instance, officers going into the front line trenches to rebuke men for petty" infringements of disciplinary ■.-. rules; have simply, been told to clear out; jandj in some cases.,have'' been threatened \ with assault.. I am told that the spiritof discontent is not confined t 6 !: the men, but that many officers, realising' the hopelessness of Germany's 'tary prospects,-are in a. bad" and have lost much of their keenness.- \ The prevailing mood in the army is:' more than reflected, at any rate;' among the proletariat. • i learn' that in the munition factories 'there 'has Been adopted. a general policy of "ca' canny," to" which the men have been urgee by the womenfolk, as a possible means of ending the war. Despite the drastic steps of the authorities, the evil is spreading, and has resulted in a seriously decreased output of munitions.

The above facts explain to some extent the series of appeals which the authorities have recently caused the German newspapers to make to the public not to believe the rumours which are circulating. The latest of these, published yesterday in the "Lokalanzeiger," complains that, despite the War Minister, von Stein's, recent speech, "the evil has eaten its way in" The paper appeals to the patriotic elements to "close their ears to unproved reports and rumours which are calculated to create bad feeling among the masses." The patriots in question are further called upon to report "incorrigible story-tellers" to the authorities, so that they may "receive their well-deserved punishment?' What I have recorded above, however, are facts, not fuinours, and it is probably these whicl; are causing what the paper calls "bad feeling among the masses."

The matter is referred to by the "Vorwaerts" in a remarkable article dealing wfth the Crown Prince's interview- In passages of biting sarcasm, the Socialist journal contrasts the Crown Prince's war defence remarks with some of, his earlier utterances, and also points out that the heir to the throne's declaration that he regard it as "desirable that the enemy should be destroyed, "because there is roonj in the world'for all nations." is singularly different from his father's pronouncement of June 16, that the war was between two world conceptions, "one of which must conquer over the othe*."' '