The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1919. THE GERMAN SITUATION.

Taranaki Daily News, 26 November 1919, Page 4

The Daily News. WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 26, 1919. THE GERMAN SITUATION.

The events which are transpiring in Germany are sufficiently ominous to cause disquietude among the Allies. The intriguers of the old regime are past masters in the art of engineering demonstrations to inflame the people, and to ascer« tain the trend of public sentiment. These "kites" are so skilfully handled that the wirepullers are not discerned, so that if they fail in their purpose the flutters die a natural death, while' if they succeed there are always means of developing matters in a way that savors of opportunism, and not of cause and effect. That the present military movement has been deliberately organised appears to be beyond doubt; its public appearance has been timed to a nicety, and the central figures chosen with astuteness—Hindenburg and Ludendorff. It is significant that the occasion chosen for the demonstration was when the central figures attended the "War Responsibility Inquiry—in itself little more than a farce, but fitting in well with German hyprocrisy—and with the duplicity tactics of the German Foreign Minister, Herr Noske, who is an adept in blowing hot and cold. It is worth while noting that Herr Schiedemann wrote recently in Vorwaerts: "The Government is merely the decoration of the fire guard behind which the reactionaries are about to re-erect Kaiserdom. The entire army seems to be at the disposal of the Monarchists." Simultaneously with the publication of this statement appeared a cable from Amsterdam, stating that "much apprehension exists in Republican circles in Germany, the fear being that the enthusiasm in favor of Hindenburg foreshadows a Monarchist coup." It is small wonder, therefore, that considerable apprehension exists over the situation in Berlin, especially as the demonstrations (as doubtless they were intended to) have seized the popular imagination, particularly in the case of the young soldiers, students, and the whole of the rising generation. "There is," says a recent cable, "plenty of combustible material ready to take fire at any time." It is something more than a coincidence that these outbreaks should have occurred in connection with war responsibility, and at a time when the American Senate is endeavouring to make the country withdraw from further intervention in European armed conflicts. There are now three-quar-ters of a million German soldiers known to be under arms, and some

idea may be gleaned of the large number who are not known to be armed, from the statement made by a member of the House of Commons, who discovered 25,000 [German soldiers stationed in the marshes of Eastern Germany. There are also the repatriated prisoners from Britain and France, and very considerable forces in Russia, a captured army order revealing the fact that the German Government's order summoning the troops to return from Courland was merely bluff. Nor is this all, for the wily Noske is busily organising special military guards in all the cities, ostensibly for protection against Spartacists, but totalling 300,000 formidable and thoroughly disciplined and equipped forces. All this means that Germany is steadily and stealthily arming—not for protection against internal outbreaks, but for reinstatement as a military Power, and to gain that she would use every means at her command by fair means or foul. According to General Maurice, a reactionary rising in Prussia may be expected at any time, and that will be when the wire-pullers decide. It is expected that during the present winter season there will be considerable suffering on the part of the poorer classes, and that mrlead to outbreaks which will afford an excuse for a Monarchist attempt to regain power. Evidently it will not take much to precipitate a crisis. Meanwhile, Bermondt's troops are returning in (considerable force to Berlin, where, it is said, they are likely to join the Monarchist forces. Treachery on Germany's part is only what may be expected, and the Allies have had plenty of experience with Germany in this respect. Altogether the outlook is fraught with anxiety, and it behoves the Allies to be prepared for all emergencies, as well as to be rigid in their insistence on Germany fulfilling the peace terms to the letter. The danger may not be immediate, but the necessity for being prepared is imperative, for a return to Kaisepdom will mean another war sooner or later.