GERMANY'S INTERNAL MENACE.

Dunstan Times, Issue 3133, 4 September 1922, Page 2

GERMANY'S INTERNAL MENACE.

(By Sir Philip Gibbs.)

The disquieting news irom Germany following the recent assassination of Bathenau brings ki closer vision to all who have been studying the after-war psychology of the German people of the inevitable conflict which, must take place in that country. Whether it will bo a bloody struggle, phinging Germany into anarchy and civil war to its full 'heights of tragedy, no mortal man may say. * There is still hope; that the essential love of order among the German folk, weariness of blood, strife and. half rations after the European war, may avert some terrors of the impending crisis. Nothing can avert a political convulsion more violent than what has yet happened. For the German people have not yet decided' between the two opposing ideas which divided them from top to bottom and that decision must be made by the urgent pressure of events, by the very necessity of life. One idea is a. democracy fulfilling the obligations of defeat so .far as is humanly possible by growing common sense and the friendliness of other people no longer desirous of vengeance beyond the bounds of justice, and realising the interdependence of all civilised nations in commerce, society and'health. That was Rathenau'« philosophy and for that he was killed. On the other side 1 is the idea of monarchical Germany holding fast to old traditions of might and military force, with a sternly disciplined' democracy drilled to obey orders and 1 die as gun fodder when so required. The „.old caste, faithful to the old imperial * /lag and sceptre idea, the aristocracy, with all its peiTogatives of rank and wealth against the rising claims of democracy, lies low for a moment in provincial castles or Berlin apartments, needs time to establish its policy of ' force against all enemies within and without. But it is convinced it can avoid the obligations of defeat by stubborn resistance until, in twenty years from now or lees, defeat itself will' be turned to victory by a new invasion of France, with or without Russia in alliance, and the next time without a halt to Pans. Thoso two ideas dash within the soul

of the people, which is Germany, like the conflicting natures of Jekyll and Hyde, acid and alkali, positive and negative electricity. The clash of thought must lead to explosion. One side or the other must win with no uncertain victory before the riddle of Germany, and with it that of Europe, is solved. It i« easy to understand the fafce appeal made by monarchists to great masses of German mind. It is an ap-

peal to the old sentiment, which is very strong in the German mentality ; to self-interest, which, is after all the

dominant motive in most individuals, audi to' hatred, fear and greed. How easy is propaganda when based on those impulses. When 1 was recently in Germany all classes above peasants .laborers and factory workers were in a state of nerves because of the loss of Upper Silesia, and the extreme difficulty of

paying indemnities without new crippling taxation. In order to meet the demands of the Allied Towers the Government of which Rathenau was a. member was faced with the necessity of taxing capital and all forms of luxury and small professional incomes with merciless severity. Kathenau, as Wirth's right hand man, was ready to do so with religious zeal. In a remarkable book called "In Days to Come" he had made a tremendous attack upon the morals and mentality of the German aristocracy and financial adventurers and had outlined a philosophy for a new Germany which should win great victories of peace bv austere self-sacrifice and civic virtue. He proposed a scheme of taxation which was radical and ruthless iu its attack on inherited wealth and war profits. I beard him make his firstspeech in the Reichstag, in which he vaguely forecasted his purpose. It was received with jeers and mocking laughter from the Wight. They looked upon him ae a renegade hypocrite, for he was declaring war upon his own class, preparing to bleed Germany to death, as thev thought, for the purpose of paying the Allies. through their subsidised press the; leadens of reaction in Germany were able, as they arc still able, to exert a powerful influence upon public magination. They pointed to the humiliation and weakness of Germany, "hilflos und hoffenlos," under its present government, compared' with the power and glory of the empire under the monarchy. Ignoring the necessity of paving war indemnities, they struck fear into the middle classes by prophesying their ruin and the downfall of German industry and commerce if taxaton increased. By emphasising the increasing difference between England and Kaance they suggested', without stating it plainly, that if only the German people were to bide their time and renew their allegiance to the old military ideals, trust their former leaders, hk'o I/iidendorf and Hindenburg, the Whole weight and burden of defeat could be overthrown and victory secured over I'Vance and all other enemies.

If .was an easy game to play on minds of German structure, exasperated by French severity, convinced' that Ihe Versailles Treaty is impossible of fulfilment without absolute ruin, witlfi unhealed 1 wounds to their former pride, with secret faith in their own supremacy and genius among European peoples, with rage as well as terror in their hearts because of the falling mark and their approach to bankruptcy, despite their enormous industry and almost superhuman efforts to recapture their world-trade. It is a marvel to me. not that Germany should be pulled toward reaction but that so strong an element among the German people should show unmistakably that they will fight to the death", against a renewal of militarism, hark back to old traditions Of kaiserism audi junkerd'om. The idea, very firmly believed in England, that the German people are lightly taxed is entirely false.

The German workingtnan has one immeasurable advantage over the British workingman. He has to work. There is practically no unemployment in Germany. But lie pays 10 jier cent, of his wages to the State, and they are not magnificent. In spite of getting nearly twenty times- his pre-war salary in marks he is far worse off now than I hen. owing to the rise of pi-ices and the fall of the purchasing power of the mark. The smaller middle, class fo'lk arc severely taxed, the professional classes have hard times to make both ends meet, soiite of them are in dire need. The only people who arc doing well and escaping obligations are the financial gamblers and old junker crowd. There is therefore a genera,! sense of bitterness and exasperation with present conditions, and there is no man or woman in Germany, as far as I know, who does not believe it is itnwossiWte to assvkttve «v<i\vt burdens: of debt to meet the full demands of the Allies without breaking under the strain. . I have never disguised my belnet. based on careful economic inquiries, that it is actually impossible for Germany to pay according to the full penal tie's imposed bv the Versailles treaty. Great Britain, victorious in war. richer than Germany, would undoubtedly tall

into ruin if faced with the costs of the war incurred by all .the combatant nations. It is self-evident therefore that the present basis* of German reparations is an economic fallacy. Our insistence upon those payments plays into the hands of the, German reactionaries, weakens the moderate leaders like Wirth. I cordially agree with Lord Grey, who in a recent speech in the House of Lords said the Allied Powers and the United States must together take action to modify the form and figure of German reparations, and who stated plainly that there is no hope of progress in Europe until that is done.

I also sympathise a good deal with German labor, which appeals to the workingnien in other countries to press their Governments for a, more friendly treatment to Germany in order to strengthen the Republican and antimilitarist forces in that nation. The worst thing that could happen to Europo would be the victory of reaction in Germany after anarchy and civil war. That would inevitably lead to another great European war, with Germany and Russia in alliance—twenty years hence.

If wo revise the reparations to reasonable limits, admit Germany to the League of Nations, inspire an economic arrangement between Germany and France by which the French devastated regions may be repaired by German labor and material, I believe the German democracy would uphold Bcpublican ideals and give a death blow to militarism.

Outbursts of popular passion against the murder of Rathenau seem to prove that the German people are not spellbound by junker propaganda. But liberal opinion must not be discouraged by being forced to support burdens beyond the nation's power to endure. What- limit that burden is I do not know, but'the bankers' conference in Paris possessed of the facts. For Europe's sake the Gorman democracy must he helped to extirpate the bad old men of Junkerdom.