HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN

Evening Post, Volume XCVI, Issue 139, 9 December 1918, Page 6

HOW THE MIGHTY HAVE FALLEN

A German military reaction in favour of the old regime does not appear to be likely unless it derives stimulus from Bolshevism. Royalist plots there may have been, and probably will be, but they are unlikely to receive wide support among the German people unless / the latter, confronted with Bolshevik excesses, are driven to choose Kaiserism as a lesser evil. A moment's reflection will indicate a few of the tremendous failures that discredit the old regime. Will Germany's people welcome back with open arms the power that spent millions in lives and in money, merely to place Allied armies upon the Rhine; and can Germany's people ever again feel confidence in an Administration that spent over 300 millions upon a navy, merely to send it in dumb submission to British ports? This last "stupendous surrender " is the subject of a cabled remark by Mr. P. H. Simonds, who compares the spectacle to Rome's humbling of Carthage. The world, says Mr; Simonds, now recognises in some part Britain's contribution to the German defeat—a contribution which France will celebrate, with naval honours, on 28th December. Such a mighty crash as is betokened by this surrender pageant in the North Sea marks an overthrow from which few Administrations have ever recovered; hence it is difficult to see how a revival of the old regime could be tolerable to the people who pay the piper, unless they are driven thereto by the prospect of pure anarchy. It is noteworthy that Kerensky believes/ that Ebert will succeed where he himself failed. Germany may witness turbulence, " but I do not believe she will be subjected to a supreme tragedy like Russia. 1 believe the German revolution is sincere." Whether it is sincere or not, it is preferable to either Kaiserism or Bolshevism; and it may hold its own, if. only by force of contrast.