THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, AUGUST 30, 1926. SUSPICIONS OF GERMANY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19419, 30 August 1926, Page 8

THE New Zealand Herald AND DAILY SOUTHERN CROSS. MONDAY, AUGUST 30, 1926. SUSPICIONS OF GERMANY.

At first sight, it may seem unfortunate that the Note from the Ambassadors' Conference, whioh has roused resentment in Gei'many, should have been sent on the eve of the League's reconsideration of Germany's application for membership. Her path to League status has proved alreadj' so thorny thatall who wish to see her take it may naturally regret that any further obstacle should be raised, even by implication. But the Note deals with a matter of such vital importance and relevance to Germany's application that it cannot be brushed aside by protests that it is "strange" and "trivial," and to describe it as "inopportune" is merely begging the question. The right to scrutinise Germany's credentials as an applicant for a place in the League belongs, of. course, to the League itself. Yet there cannot be denied to any authoritative .body the right to raise doubts as to whether those credentials are in order. The League is bound to consider any objections presented by such a body. It is laid down in the Covenant of the League that an applicant "shall give effective guarantees of its sincere intention to observe its international obligations and shall accept such regulations as may be prescribed by the League in regard to its military, naval and air forces and armaments." Germany's case, it must be recognised, is no ordinary one. By the Versailles Treaty she undertook very definite obligations to disarm. They were explicit as to the total effective strength of her forces in personnel, armament, munitions, material, fortifications and recruiting. All was set out in precise tabulation. It was further stated that, "up till the time at which Germany is admitted as a member of the League" the limitations so set out should not be exceeded. To any reasonable complaint that these undertakings and conditions are not fulfilled heed must be given. The suspicion that Germany does not come to the League's door with clean hands will tell against her application ; but it does not follow that the voicing of such a suspicion is a disservice. If Germany be found unworthy of membership, after examination of the caveat, a real service will have been performed by those lodging it. If that examination result in its rejection, Germany's case will gain in strength. On every ground .the thorough sifting of the suspicion is desirable. A prima-facie case can be so easily made for it that in Germany's own interests, assuming her guiltless of bad faith, it is well that the Ambassadors' Conference has raised it so definitely. There has been proof of her failure to implement her undertakings under the peace treaty. 'The evacuation of Cologne, which was to begin in January of last year, was postponed because of this failure. The Allies then gave clear and convincing reasons for the postponement. Dr. Marx, the Imperial Chancellor, was personally presented with a Note from the Allied Governments explaining that decision. British, French, Belgian, Italian and Japanese representatives called on him with the unpalatable document, which stated that Germany had not kept faith. It gave detailed proof that the Military Commission of Control had collected irrefutable data of Germany's defection: the general staff of the army, instead of being dissolved, had been reconstituted in another form; short-term volunteers had been recruited and trained; factories that were to have been converted to peaceful purposes had not been so converted; surplus stocks of war material had not been destroyed ; the reorganisation of the State Police on a peace footing had not been begun;, and legislative measures incidental to pacific intentions had not been passed. It was not until the end of last year that the situation had sufficiently improved to justify a beginning of the Cologne evacuation. But the bridgeheads at Coblentz and Mainz, as Germany had not complied with all her undertakings under the treaty, were still to be held, according to its terms.

There i 3 apparently justification for the Note from the Ambassadors' Conference. Proof exists that many Nationalist organisations continue, some of them fostering military designs by the exaction of bloodthirsty oaths, and all of them openly conducting their violent propaganda. To a'sk for a decree abolishing these is reasonable. Thero is also evidence that the recruiting of short-term volunteers in the regular Reichswehr continues, and shat a masked army reserve is being built up. The extent of this defiance of the stipulations of the peace treaty is difficult to gauge, because of the obstacles placed in the way of the commission's inquiry. When the Locarno Treaties were formally signed last December the German signatories renewed the disarmament pledges, and their assinrances were accepted. The political situation in Germany has, however, been so unstable since then that their guarantees have decreased in value, and the junction of the Nationalists and the Communists recently in a demand for the withdrawal of Germany's application for League membership adds to the reasons for viewing the situation with disquiet.' .There is a call to inquire closely into the facts, and the ire aroused by the Ambassadors' Note adds to the necessity.