King Country Chronicle Saturday, January 10, 1925. GERMANY'S BAD FAITH.

King Country Chronicle, Volume XX, Issue 2065, 10 January 1925, Page 4

King Country Chronicle Saturday, January 10, 1925. GERMANY'S BAD FAITH.

The news, as revealed in the Allies' Note, that Germany has failed to disarm, shows onc?e again how lfttle she is to be trusted. The cold, passionless list of proofs of Germany's bad faith carry indisputable conviction. Ger-. many, while keeping up a constant wail against the occupation, and protesting to' hcViven hen innocence of War guilit, has been deliberately breaking the disarmament clauses of tho Versailles Treaty in every way she ooujd. The great General Staff has been re-organised, war material stored up, volunteers trained, and armament factories maintained. Hinlts of these things have leaked out), but now the Allies have incontrovertible proof. Tho root of the matter lies in the fact that tfho average German is persistently militaristic. He takes to militarism as we take tu football. Military drill, military exercises, and military physical culture are his games, his sportls. Hi 9 universities and high schools are hotbeds of bellicose thought. Forced to abandon compulsory military service he has fallen back on compulsory physical training to which all •■ German yoilths are liable for the same period ' :md at tihe same age as under the old [ military laws. It was these things j that led a British writer to say roj cenitly that! the German people were ( as warlike to-day as over in history. | The question which the ordinary man j will ask is: "Bo Germany has not dis- ' armed, what are the Allies going to do about hi?" It is a difficult problem. Tho Allies say: "We will not evacuate Cologne.," but they have been occupying Cologne ever since the war and Germany has not disarmed. Will she disarm just because they continue to occupy itf? It is extremely doubtful. If Germany is to be effectively disarmed the Allies will probably have to occupy the country and disarm her by force. But as the Dawes report j showed, if they are to cofllect the rej partitions from Germany they must | evacuate -what flhey occupy, not extend * the occupation. Also the Dawes rej port pre-supposed a certain amount of good faith on Germany's part; can j thaij be hoped for now? Thus it would seem thait the chance of Germany ever paying anything like even the revised ! reparations is very small. This may not be altogether unfortiunate, for payment woidd entail an industrial activity on her part, which would seriously menace our own trade. A.i present two courses appear open to the Allies. One is ti» abandon the reparations, withdraw from the Ruhr, tear ur> the Versailles Trealy,, and leave Germany to her own devices, which, though, humiliating, would probably bo the chenpI est. in the end. The other is to raise a large army, occupy Berlin, disarm the country by, force, and impose heavy taxes tto recoup ourselves and collect as much of the reparations as possible. Such an occupation could only be temporary bivt it would teach Germany a lesson from which she would not readily recover. But both ihese extremes wouild require more nerve and unity than the Allies are likely to have at their oonv mand, and a compromise will probably once more be made. Those who are against force will argue that xhe defeat of 'the Junkers atf the elections is an indication that militarism is on the wane, although in reaflfity this is a conclusion of defabtful value. Thus it may be expected] that) the Allies will carry on as before, maintaining their grip om Cologne and hoping that a. threat of severity will bring Germany to heel. !