GERMANY'S RUSES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVII, Issue 17449, 20 April 1920, Page 5

GERMANY'S RUSES.

GOVERNMENT SUSPECT. COLLUSION WITH MILITARISTS ALLIES DEBATE ACTION. By •! , e] e g rap h_p roB3 Association-Copyright. (Received 11.15 p.m.) A- and N.Z.-Kout„. LONDON, April 18It is suspected in some quarters that «he prominence given in German reports to various possible and often impossible combination of militarists and political extremists in different specified plots is a mere ruse intending to mask more general far-reaching movements in other directions. The Government at Berlin » either helpless, or, more probably, is not unfavourable to the militarist plans, hoping thus to be furnished with a pretext for evading th treaty obligations- * Meanwhile many Royalist officers in Pomerania are actively organising armed forces in the vicinity of" the coast. British and French observers in Germany emphasise the persistent concealment ot uiiau.vi ended guns and serviceable but forbiaaen aeroplanes, which have been recently discovered. They point out the ominous rnanuiacture of'ammunition since the close of the war. Hence the presence ot 1.0n.1 Beatty and French and Italian admirals at iSau K«no is regarded as significant. The opinion is expressed in many circles that any ultimatum can. only be effective it supported by the sending of a fleet to Hamburg and other ports, 60 as to , render Aggressive designs in any direction or recalcitrancy hopeless. Some writers compare the conditions of the present coinexence of San Remo with the closing sittings of the Congress of Vienna in 1814, and the renewal of strife which terminated at Waterloo. The Ambassadors of Belgium and Italy have informed M. Millerand that their Governments associated themselves with the steps taken by Britain with a view to taking collective action against Germany in order to enforce complete execution of the Treaty of Versailles. Mr. Lloyd George, " speaking at the docks at Marseilles, said that he had always approached the question of the relationship with Fiance, which was still champion of the liberty of the world, with a feeling of the smeerest affection. The war was won by close Anglo French j union, which alone could secure the fruits of victory and maintain future civilisation. The British and French must march together, and the best means of smoothing their difficulties was the greatest, frankness. A German semi-official report states i that the German Government. has ordered the evacuation of the Ruhr dis- I trict by April 24. The Vossische Zeitung states that bank deposits and all the landed property of the leaders of the recent rising have 'been confiscated. JUNKERS AND COMMUNISTS. AN ALLEGED ALLIANCE. (Received 11.30 p.m.) Times. LONDON. April 18. The Berlin correspondent of the Times states that details of the latest plot against the Government show that officers of the Reichswehr and communistic extremists were caught red-handed. They actually met at the War Office with a view to organising a national Bolshevik movement. The arrested officers claim that they were only negotiating to secure I the peaceable surrender of arms in.posI session of the communists. Civilians in- [ voiced contradict this. They declare that ! a number of officers, including General Eberhardt, have been negotiating with the revolutionaries under the noses of the J official chiefs since April 1. Officers esti ; mated that it would be possible to arm i 300.000 workers in Berlin alone. I Advices from Frankfort state that the 'French have discovered documentary e\i- ! device that the Germans have ' been I steadily building tip in the neutral zone j extensive camouflaged local forces comI posed of war veterans, including many non-commissioned officers, signallers, gas, wireless, and other specialists. A complete staff has been provided, disguised as civilians and inspectors. The searches disclosed an extraordinary abundance of the newest arms and mechanism, and every variety of concealed stores and powder. The German force excluded all Socialists and others suspected of non-militarist sympathies, whose names are recorded in a long black list.