GERMAN PLOTTERS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18612, 21 July 1922, Page 5

GERMAN PLOTTERS

SEARCH FOR HIDDEN ARMS. SECRET HOARDS DIS* COVERED. POLITICAL FACTIONS UNITE. Frees Association —By Telegraph—Copyright. BERLIN, July 18. An unexpected result of Dr Ratnenau’s murder is the tacit coalition of otherwise, conflicting political factions, who are competing wth each other in ferreting out secret hoards of arms and war material. The police hitherto have not displayed excessive zeal. Hidden weapons are how wanted as evidence of complicity in Monarchist conspiracies. The police now, aided by the Socialist organisations throughout the country, are working with ruthless zeal. Hoards of rifles, machineguns, and munitions are being found almost daily. The most recent find is 500 machineguns at Stuttgart. Simultaneously the Majority Socialists pursued a clue with Sherlock Holmes-like skill, and unearthed in the old barracks at Potsdam parts of machine-guns and rifles, 200 loaded bombs, ammunition, sidearms, and a miscellaneous equipment bearing the swastika emblem, which is a symbol of the Monarchists and anti-Semites. Documents which were found on the men who committed suicide prove that Kem was the author of the plot by which they escaped, eventually hiding in the picturesque ruin of Saalecke Castle, near Koeben, Thuringia. Stein the owner of the castle, who is an author and ultraNationalist, is believed to be concerned with the murders. When the police began battering the doors, the murderers appeared on a platform at the summit of the tower and shouted : v “Long live Captain Erhardt. We die for our ideals.” Then two shots were heard.—A. and N.Z. Cable. THE POLITICAL SITUATION. HOPEFUL INDICATIONS. BERLIN, July 19. The best recent sign in the political situation is Herr Ebert’s request for the Government to fix a date for the Presidential election, which it was always understood would be held when the conditions were sufficiently stable. The Government however, decided not to hold an election before the end of the year.—Reuter.