THE CENTRAL POWERS

Otago Witness, Issue 3415, 29 August 1919, Page 19

THE CENTRAL POWERS

(By Cable.)

SMUGGLING RICHES OUT OF COUNTRY. LONDON, August 19. The authorities at Berlin, learning that a party was aboard the exoress conveying 20,000,000 marks to Switzerland, sent three aeroplanes in pursuit. The train ■was stopped, and the smugglers were arrested. COPENHAGEN, August 20. A highly-placed person has been arrested in Berlin in connection with the attempt to smuggle 20,000,000 marks in gold to Switzerland. It is believed that the money belonged to the ex-Crown Princess. BERLIN, August 20. The National Government is stopping the wholesale export traffic in old art treasures, which are leaving Germany in truckloads owing to the low rate of exchange. " LONDON, August 22. Squadrons of police aviators are being formed in Berlin, the main object being to prevent the smuggling of capital from Germany. SERIOUS FALL ON BERLIN BOURSE. BERLIN, August 25. A headlong fall on the German Ex- " change is alarming financiers. It is attributed to various causes —partly to the enormous quantity of paper money abroad, including £100,000,000 in Switzerland and small sums in Scandinavia and. Holland, due to unauthorised purchases, combined with the exportation of private German capital in order to avoid'•taxation. Deposits in the German savings banks at the end of 1918 amounted to marks, as compared with 20,000,000 before the war. SECRET ENLISTMENTS. • BERLIN, August 21. The Socialists declare; that volunteers are still being secretly enlisted < in the army. • The newspaper Fr§>e Heit publishes confidential documents showing that the Lightslag Corps is appealing to disbanded members to form a secret reserve. The Jiaper points out that if this example is ollowed, with or without the Government's connivance, a very formidable army will be available at a moment's notice. PRESIDENT INSTALLED. BERLIN, August 22. There was much ceremony when President Ebert took the oath in the National Assembly at Weimar. Great crowds participated. Herr Ebert, in a speech, emphasised the need of Labour in the Emnire's service in order to rebuild the Fatherland, whose new and vital principle would be freedom and right. The Assembly has formed a new Foreign Committee, of which Herr Scheidemann is president and the Centralist, Herr Spahu, is vice-president. , SPARTACIST ACTIVITY. ~ LONDON, August 20. The Morning Post's Berlin correspondent states that the Government, has announced that it has received reports from various districts that the Spartacists are preparing fresh risings, which are expected to take the form of strikes, pillaging campaigns to destroy the harvest, thefts of farm produce on a. large scale, and interruptions to traffic. The Communists are confident that the shortage of coal will' assist their plans. They also consider that the.lower classes will support them, owing to the heavy taxation which will shortly be payable. Occurrences in Upper Silesia are regarded as the precursor of a definite attempt to overthrow the Government, which declares it has taken precautionary meas- , ures. A widespread disinclination to work exists, together with abundant evt dence of-an immense Spartacist outbreak of serious dimensions. ANOTHER REVOLUTION POSSIBLE. PARIS, August 22. , Herr Noske, Minister of Defence, interviewed at Weimar, repudiated as absurd i the idea of a war of revenge. Germany's ' policy, he said, was absolutely clear. She was making an immense effort to carry out the treaty conditions, but she was faced by difficulties from which it was almost impossible to extricate herself. Hotbeds of Bolshevism, says Noske, exist generally, and a second revolution in the coming winter is possible. According to the terms the German army must comprise'only 100,000 men by April. This meant that 150,000 soldiers •would shortly be thrown into the streets, adding enormously to the unemployment difficulty. It would be impossible to hand over German officers for trial. No one yet had clearly pointed out a single act which could be imputed to an officer. Noske , added • " It is a moral impossibility to intervene in the surrender of officers to an enemy arm." RIOTS IN UPPER SILESIA. ' LONDON, August. 18. . The strike movement in Upper Silesia is spreading. Ninety pe7 cent, of the workmen are idle, and riots have broken out. The demands include the abolition of the state of siege and the reopening of the frontiers to prevent famine. PARIS, August 20. Representatives in Silesia have telegraphed that the strikers are destroying the coal mines in Upper Silesia. COPENHAGEN, August 20. The Poles in Upper Silesia are calling to the colours all males between the ages of 20 and 40. The Poles have assumed power in several towns. Forty German soldiers were murdered in Oberdischow. Bloodshed continues in many places, and although the

Germans have been reinforced they are unable to resist the Poles. A GERMAN REPORT. BERLIN, August 20. In the National Assembly Herr Bauer declared that the report regarding Upper Silesia was considerably exaggerated. The general in command was completely master of the- situation, and the Poles had been driven back or captured wherever they had penetrated except eastward of the Beuthen-Tarnowitz line. He added : "Our task is to secure an impartial decision in accordance with the treaty. I am glad to be able to say that the Polish Government is not connected with their affairs and that the Polish troops are not participating." Herr Bauer added that the defeat of the insurgents would mean the defeat of the Spartacists. August 22. A German official message states that order has been completely restored in Upper Silesia. WARNING TO THE POLES. PARIS, August 22. The Peace Council has informed all concerned .that Germany is entitled to maintain order in Upper Silesia until the ratification of the Peace Treaty. Polish troops cannot be allowed to enter the country unless requested by Germany to do so. CONFLICTS WITH TROOPS. ' LONDON, August 25. The area of insurrection is rapidly widening, and the insurgents are using captured arms, ammunition, stores, and crowbars. The Germans ' despatched armoured trains and cars on the 16th to quell the rising and protect the defence force. Two thousand Poles, armed only with a hundred rifles, fought an armoured train for hours. The Germans brought up artillery and aeroplanes on the 17th. A brigade of marines arrived on the 18th at Kallowitz, where there was heavy artillerying. The troops ultimately overcame the centres of resistance. Great bitterness prevails. CAUSE OF THE TROUBLE: LONDON, August 22. A Berlin wireless message denies that Germany instigated the riots in Upper Silesia. She blames agents from Poland for disseminating anti-German propaganda in support, of Polish annexationists and designs. The German counter-measures are now improving the : situation, and Entente intervention will be unjustifiable. August 25. The correspondent of the Morning Post in Poland repudiates the Germ/an allegation of the Bolshevist character of the Silesian strike. The miners publicly declared their willingness to work provided the German owners opened the mines, which had been closed allegedly because thev were unprofitable. The miners also urged that Allied or Polish troops should bo available to protect them from the excesses of the German troops. Herr Horsing, the German Dictator, declared that the revolt is Bolshevistic, and attempted to stamp it out ruthlessly by the perpetration of cruelties and tyrannies reminiscent of Belgium, apparently deliberately fomenting the rebellion in order to render a plebiscite impossible. He issued a proclamation forbidding the right to strike, and decreeing that anyone in possession of arms would be executed without trial." Nine youths were shot summarily on the 21st as a repressive measure, and the entire population of two mining villages were driven to Germany. Horsing threatened the deportation of the male populations of several villages, and was 1 proceeding to carry out his threats on a wholesale scale when the Poles, led by a priest, revolted. The troops fired and several were killed. SEQUEL TO SHORTAGE OF COAL. PARIS, August 22. Mr Hoover has advised the Peace Council that unless the widest autocratic powers are taken in dealing with the coal situation in Silesia nothing can save Europe from a severe economic crisis. He depicted the alarihing conditions throughout Ausfcro-Hungary directly traceable to the coal scarcity. The effects of the shortage of food and hospital requisites.at Budapest are resulting in an appalling increase in tuberculosis arid the prevalence of infantile diseases. Paper clothing is being commonly used. There has been a general debacle in urban life owing to the coal and food difficulties. He states that Eastern Europe is sufficiently supplied with coal ,and is even able to send supplies to relieve the crisis in the west. It has been decided to send a mission to Poland and Upper Silesia to investigate with a view to intensifying production. August 25. The Supreme Council has appointed a commission to superintend the production and distribution of coal in Upper Silesia. The commission includes Polish and Germen members in addition to Allied delegates. RESTITUTION ORDERED. MILAN. August 18. The Archduke Joseph's Government has ordered the restitution of houses and property confiscated by the Bolshevists in Budapest. A search has revealed many bodies of officials and others in cellars at Budapest. The demobilisation of the Red army has been completed. A VALUABLE REPORT. PARIS, August 23. Mr Hoover urged the conference to compel the Archduke Joseph to resign, declaring that his coup d'etat had given a great stimulus to Bolshevism. The conference accepted the advice, and drafted a telegram to the inter-Allied Mission instructing it accordingly, but it decided to defer its despatch for 24 hours.

Mr Hoover also censured Rumania's attitude. He declared that her professions of readiness to comply with the council's demands were insincere. She persisted in removing food, and instigated the Archduke Joseph's accession to office. Mr Hoover suggested that the council should place a guard on the frontier to prevent the removal of food from Hungary. The council is to such a drastic measure, hut it may acquiesce. ARCHDUKE JOSEPH'S COUP. PARIS, August 25 ; After hearing Mr Hoover, the Allied Supreme Council sent a telegram to the Allied Mission at Budapest declaring that the Allies could not conclude a lasting peaoe with the Hungarian people as long as the existing Government, established bv a coup d'etat and carried out by a small group of police under the protection of a foreign army, remained in power. The telegram adds: " The Archduke Joseph says he is ready to submit his position to a popular vote. This does not satisfy the council, as the elections will be conducted under the auspices of his administration. Therefore the Allies are obliged to insist, * in the interests of Europe, that a Government representative of all classes be established. REGENT AND CABINET RESIGN. BUDAPEST, August 25. The Archduke and also the Friedrich Cabinet resigned. PARIS, August 23. The Allied Supreme Council has refused to acknowledge the Archduke Joseph, declaring that his Government was established by a small group of Hapsburgers and not by the people's will. BERLIN, August 22. Satisfaction is expressed in Republican circles at the announcement that the Archduke Joseph has voluntarily resigned owing to the Entente's refusal to recognise his Government. A Coalition Ministry has been framed, including several Socialists. PARIS, August 26. The Allies have decided to continue the blockade of Hungary until she formally accepts peace. DANUBE SHIPPING. BUDAPEST, Aiigust 17. Admiral Troubridge's Danube Commission has reopened navigation from Ratisbon to the Black Sea, and now controls the Danube shipping. The commission forced the Rumanians to keep their hands off. Traffic is again normal, and this is bound to promote better relations between the various countries bordering the river. ORDER. TO RUMANIA. PARIS, August 25. _ The Supreme Council has sent Rumania a Note demanding that an exact account be kept of all goods seized or requisitioned in Hungary. A corresponding deduction will be made from the Rumanian indemnities. August 26. In connection with Mr Hoover's Loucheurs Note to Rumania, protesting against Rumania taking Hungarian assets belonging to all the Allies, Rumania has been informed that the Allies propose to suspend the fulfilment of relating to the supply of arms and ammunition. Relations with Rumania are getting worse and are reaching a crisis. A rupture is possible. GENERAL ITEMS. The pre-war telegraphic services between Britain and Germany have been restored. The ex-Kaiser's purchase of Doom is confirmed. He expects to spend the remainder of his life there. Coal deliveries to Prance from the Ruhr region (near Essen) have begun. They exceeded 1,000,000 tons in the first month. The Rumanian Council of Ministe'rs has recognised Prince Nicholas, the King's second son, as heir to the throne. He left London immediately for Bucharest. The first detachment of von Mackensen's army .(from the Balkans) has arrived at Vienna en route for Germany. Fifty thousand more are following, including von Mackensen himself. In'order to assist British firms to establish a footing in German markets, British liaison officers have been appointed in various towns to give information and assistance on trade questions to British commercial representatives. BARBARTC HUNNISH METHODS. HARROWING TALES OF CRUELTY. LONDON, August 25. The Morning Post's Cracow correspondent reports that several bands of insurgents are still holding out in Upper Silesia, but wholesale executions, coupled with the use of artillery, have broken the backbone of the revolution. Most of the insurgents preferred death to surrender. The Germans, thus foiled, arrested old men, women, and boys, collected them in droves, and made them march for hours holding; their hands above their heads. Batches of prisoners were continually beaten with butts of rifles, wire cabling, and belting. The' floors of the cells were so covered with blood from prisoners' Avounds that boots stuck while walking. A priest, after confessing a 15-year-old boy, was compelled to hold his hands while the boy was shot. The Germans found a peasant with a slight bullet wound in the arm,« which was regarded as evidence that he had been fighting. They tied a hand grenade to his throat and removed the pin. Numerous instances of barbarous cruelty are related. Old men were beaten brutally, and others were tied to horses. The Germans shot 150 prisoners at Kattowitz. The favourite German plan was to string the victim up by the hands before execution, and the Germans stood on the river bank pot-shooting the fleeing refugees while wading breast high. The refugees appealed for Allied assistance, and explained that the miners struck work because the Germans made the con-

ditions intolerable. One widow fell at the correspondent's kne*es and told how the Germans had shot her husband despite the fact that he had crossed the frontier and was on Polish territory. A young man pleaded with the Allies to give the Poles arms to defend themselves. The correspondent listened to stories from a group of 400 refugees, mostly men, with hardly a dry eye. He was convinced that no assemblage of people could be stirred to such unrestrained emotion if they had not lived through a terrible ordeal. The correspondent's conclusions are that since a state of siege was declared in Upper Silesia in January, the Germans have adopted a deliberate policy of provocation and oppression towards the Polish workers, with the object of inciting an outbreak, thus discrediting the Poles as a people and giving an excuse for further repressive measures, and tempting Poland to undertake unauthorised intervention. The correspondent is also convinced that all the most influential Poles either have been arrested or forced to flee in order to assist the German policv. The Allies' failure to give immediate effect to the treaty clause relating to Upper Silesia helped the German plans. Polish circles in London are of opinion that the Germans have imprisoned or deported practically the whole of the educated .Poles, in order to rob the working classes of guidance and influence during the plebiscite, believing that the Latter could easily be persuaded to vote as Germany dictated. When the workers remained loyal to Poland the Germans dealt with them similarly. Many Poles who were unable to flee hid in disused workings of mines, where they were fed by their families until caught. The Daily Telegraph's Paris correspondent states that the conference fears that the Allied mission's moral influence will prove insufficient, and therefore the immediate occupation of Silesia by Allied troops must be expected. This is unofficial, but it is clear that at the German invitation the Allies will take this course. AN INQUIRY URGED. LONDON, August 26. The Morning Post's correspondent urges that an inquiry be held similar to the Belgian regarding German excesses. He is of opinion that until. the mines are removed from German control the output will be negligible, but th'e workers will return immediately the Allies occupy Upper Silesia. REFUGEES INTO POLAND. LONDON, August 27. According to a message from Cracow it is estimated that 20,0C0 refugees from Upper Silesia have crossed the frontier into Poland to avoid harsh treatment.