GERMANS ON STRIKE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 18768, 23 January 1923, Page 7

GERMANS ON STRIKE

NO WORK FOR FRANCE. WILL OCCUPATION FAIL? NEW PLAN FOR SETTLEMENT. ?rea* Association—By Telegraph—Copyright LONDON, January 21. Mr Renwick, the Daily Chronicle’s correspondent, writing from Duisberg, reports that he spent a day in the mining area. All agree that no work will be done under the French bayonets. The arrest of six industrial leaders is calculated to stiffen the backs of the workers, particularly 65,000 of Herr Thyss on's employees, who will stand solidly against the French. The six industrialists who were taken to Cologne were cheered at the stations as they passsed. Mr Renwick expresses the opinion that the French are being beaten all along the line. The news sent from Pans has been greatly exaggerated. The French argue that they can hold out longer than the strikers, but they forget that they are dealing with desperate men who will resist until food fails, and then anything may happen. Germany’s coal cellar is being set alight, and a fire engine is urgently needed if Central Europe is not to, be the prey of the flames. (Received Jan. 22, at 7.5 p.m.) It is stated that if the Ruhr position becomes impossible France may submit an entirely new reparations scheme, based on the division of 37) milliards of German gold marks between Prance, Britain, and Belgium—26 milliards to go to France and the remainder to be divided between Britain, Belgium, and Italy. The assumption is that Britain requires only sufficient to pafc her United States war debts, and that the United States is prepared to make sacrifices for the sake of a settlement. It is semi-officially declared that the scheme is regarded optimistically.—A. and N.Z. Cable. UNFORTUNATE MISUNDERSTANDING. LONDON, January 21. (Received Jan. 22, at 7.5 p.m.) The Daily Telegraph’s diplomatic correspondent says : French experts re-examined P.ritain’s plan in connection with reparations which was rejected at the Paris Conference. Their opinion was decidedly less hostile than at first, more especially regarding the indemnity total. They contend that the least unsatisfactory features of the plan were misconceived owing to the involved draftsmanship. Had they been fully explained, they might well have been discussed, and in the total might have proved acceptable to France, if her percentage had been raised from 62 to about 70.—A. and N.Z. (Sable. ARRESTED COAL OWNERS. WORKER® DEMAND RELEASE. LONDON, January 22. (Received Jan. 22, at 8.10 p.m.) The Essen coal owners will bo tried at Mayence today, when they will be charged with refusing to provide information or to promise their co-operation. The trial of 22 directors and officials is pending. The Miners’ Council has sent an ultimatum to General Degoutte to release the arrested men, in default of which a strike will be officially announced. The French intend removing coal from the pits to-dav, which action is expected to cau°e the closure of the mines.—A. and N.Z. Cable. T§E ARRESTS RESENTED. PARTS, January 21. (Received Jan. 22, at 7.10 n.m.) The arrest of the German mine owners In the Ruhr has provoked numerous antiFrench demonstrations, particularly at Munich. —A. and N.Z. Cable. ANGRY GERMAN PUBLIC. UGLY TEMPER APPARENT. LONDON, January 22. (Received Jan. 22, at 7.10 p.m.) The Times’s Essen correspondent states: “A considerable movement of E’rench troops is reported, particularly in the north. It is believed that railway control posts at all the exits in the occupied territory are being established. The appearance of such a poet at Dortmund caused a strike among the station officials. Meanwhile, the temper of the German people is becoming more aggressive. Hostile groups have taken to leering the French sentries. The latter, in one instance, fired on workers who refused to obey his order to halt, but uo casualties were reported. A French censorship has been established at Fissen.” The Times’s Belgian correspondent sn-vs: “Tho arrests have angered the public. TTerr Thvssen has become overnight a. national martyr. Minor measures proposed for the government of the community are coming quickly into force. If French and Belgian guests have not yet been evicted from the hotels, fresh arrivals are turned awav. French notes are not changeable at the banks, and the French hanks have been warned to be ready to suspend business at a moment's notice.”—Times. [An earlier message from Paris stated that a Trench sentry near Dortmund shot and killed a German civilian. The sentry had to use his rifle owing to the hostility of the crowd. A Berlin message reported that the Hotelkeepers’ Association had decided to refuse accommodation to any Frenchman or Belgian ; also to discontinue the sale of French viands.] A GROWING BOYCOTT. BERLIN, January 21. (Received Jan. 22, at 7.10 p.m.) The boycott of E'rench goods is spreading. The Reichsbank hae instructed all the banks to transfer to neutral countries their deposits of E'rench and Belgian francs. r J'he railway workers believe that they can disorganise the whole railway system in the occupied area, but the French authorities are convinced that all efforts to paralyse transport are doomed to failure. The E'rench policy is to obtain reparations coal without interfering with the German miners.—A. and N.Z. Cable. COAL STRIKE SPREADING. TYING UP TRANSPORT. BERLIN, January 21. (Received Jan. 22, ai 7.5 p.m.) The masters of the iron and steel industry have decided to break of! commercial relations with France, Belgium, and Luxemburg during the occupation of the Ruhr. Eour big commercial firms in Dortmund have closed, because they cannot get money to pay their employees, as the French occupy the banks. The miners left the pits in the Recklinghausen area, and 4000 left the Bonifacius mine, as a protest against the managers’ imprisonment. Tho strike is spreading to many private pits in the Essen region. The transport strike is getting worse. Traffic has eased to Dortmund, hut is running in other sections of the occupied area. —A. and N.Z. Cable. A LABOUR RESOLUTION. BERLIN, January 20. Vorwaerts states that a conference of the principal Socialist and Labour bodies unanimously decided that it was the duty of Labour to give all appropriate support to the resistance being offered to tho I’ranco-Belgian invasion, though the fight against reaction will bo simultaneously and, energetically resumed.—Reuter.

STRANGE TRANSACTIONS. GERMAN SHIPBUILDING SUBSIDY. LONDON, January 20. The Daily Mail’s Paris correspondent cays: “A fresh instance of the robbery of many thousands of marks from the French Treasury by the German Government and the shipping magnates is provided by the German shipbuilding subsidy. After the Germans had given up all but 600,000 tons of shipping to the Allies, the German Treasury provided a subsidy of 12,000,000,000 marks, which was then worth £48.000,000, to build 2,600,000 tons. Sixteen million pounds had been paid, when a heavy fall in the mark occurred. The shipping barons determined, though they were getting one-third of the new fleet from the State, not to bear the loss. Accordingly they sued the Treasury before a secret arbitration tribunal to make up the difference due to the fall in the currency, which they, with the coal and steel barons, had a large share in bringing about. The tribunal ordered the Treasury to pay the additional 18,000.000,600 marks which were then worth £3,000,000. Still the ship owners and builders were not content. As the mark was sliding further they inserted a sliding scale in the agreement, with the result that the Treasury paid 32,000,000,000 marks in the first four instalments instead of 12.000.000,000. Last month the Separations Commission heard of this strange operation, and asked the Government to find means to relieve the Treasury of these charges. Despite the warning, the Trcasnrv naid the shipping trust another 15.000.000.0C0 marks, or £500,000.”—A. and N.Z. Cable.