FRANCE AND GERMANY.

Otago Witness, Issue 3595, 6 February 1923, Page 20

FRANCE AND GERMANY.

A SENSATIONAL RETORT. PARIS, January 28. A sensational message from Berlin is published in the newspaper Intransigeant to that effect that the German General Staff has been reconstituted and it recentlyjourneyed to Main Valley, headed by General von Kluck, who has 300,000 men and corresponding material. The report, however, lacks confirmation. FRANCE’S COUNTER MEASURES. PARIS, January 29. In view of the German sabotage and the threat of a general strike in the public cervices, the French contemplate coercive measures against the German officials, who will be replaced by Frenchmen. FRANCE’S PLANS. LONDON, January 29. The Paris correspondent of the Daily Mail states that an important conference between the French military and civil heads will be held at Dusseldorf on Tues day to co-ordinate plans for cutting off the Ruhr, and taking disciplinary action against the German officials who have been guilty of deliberate interference. WOOING RUSSIA. LONDON, January 29. The Berlin correspondent of The Times declares that no hope remains in Berlin Government, circles that Russia can usefully help Germany. Anticipating the occupation of. the Ruhr, the German militarv experts consulted a prominent Russian staff officer, and a tentative plan of action was outlined, including an advance through Poland, the occupation of the border States, and the provocation of risings in Eastern and Southern Europe: but the German expert* who were sent to Russia to inquire returned with most pessimistic reports. They declared that the Red army is ill equipped, is not to he depended upon, and is not fit to undertake an offensive beyond the borders of Russia. Independent observations also show that the Soviet authorities are now unwilling to risk a serious disturbance of its own power bv military complications beyond the frontier. MEDIVTION BV LEAGUE OF NATIONS PROPOSED. AMSTERDAM. January 29. The executive of the International Federation of Trade Unions adopted a resolution that the Ruhr occupation, though it was ejected under the pretext of ensuring the reconstruction of the devastated areas, really delavs and makes reconstruction more difficult. The resolution declares that the occupation is tnerelv a phase of the struggle between the French and German magnates to gain permanent possession of the coal and iron deposit*. The executive decided to exert, pressure on the respective Governments to accept mediation by the League of Nations. It will arrange demonstrations in various 50 unt lies in favour of this course. ITALY BECOMING ALARMED. ROME, January 29. Signor Mussolini's organ Popolo d’ltalia. says that the Rhenish events are no longer a circumscribed or isolated episode. A general political struggle of the first magnitude is likelv. owing to the drastic repressions bv French bayonets, machine guns, and tanks inside the new frontier. Paris henceforth must be obeyed, and not Berlin. This implies a change in the Continental balance of power, deeply affecting Italy, which consequently cannot plav a passive role. Italy has been cautiously neutral, but she cannot nursue a sentimental policy should her interests be carelessly considered or trampled on. BIG PURCHASES T ROM BRITAIN. LONDON. January 30. Germany has purchased over 200,000 lons of Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and Notts coal for shipment duriiw the next three months at a cost of £330.000, including freight. EXPULSIONS OF HIGH OFFICIALS. LONDON. January 29. The Dailv Chronicle’s Cologne correspondent states that the French railway force of 3500 is ridic-ulouslv small with which to endeavour to conduct the most involved railway area in the world with 700 stations requiring 70.000 skilled men. Many trains, including military ones, have been derailed throfighout the area. The Rcichsbank at Dortmund was raided and all the funds were seized,' including 750.000,000 marks for the payment of the wages of the workmen at the Hisck steel works. The expulsion,j of high officials are continuing at such a pace that there wilt not be a mayor loft in the Rhineland, soon. FRANCK THREATENS REPRISALS. LONDON, January 29 The outstanding feature in' the Ruhr is the continued divergence of the French and German claims, the former asserting that the situation is satisfactory from their point of view, and the' latter that the gradual hold-up of the public utility services is being accomplished. January 30. A message from Dusseldorf states that the G erman Government is doing everything to persuade the railwavimm to crease work. It has paid the railwaymen their wages for January and February, so the men have no incentive to work for a month, but the people in the Ruhr, especially the shopkeepers, realise that they will be fhe first (o suffer through the tying up of traffic, and thev arp now (demonstrating against the,strikers to such (effect that the men are returning to work.

STATEMENT BY M. POINCARE. PARIS, January 29. M. Poincare, in conversation with an English journalist, said : “We shall remain in the Ruhr as long as it is necessary— not a day longer.” It is officially announced that a general railway strike has been declared on the left bank of the Rhine. FROM BAD TO WORSE. LONDON. January 30. A writer in the Daily Chronicle states that Duisberg is under M. Degoutte’s sterner measures. No one is allowed out of doors in the Ruhr between 10 at night and 6 in the niuining. The reason for the order is to stop acts of sabotage. All demonstrations also have been forbidden unless a special permit is obtained. The' newspapers, theatres, and kinemas are being severely censored. The punishment for breaches of M. Degoutte’s orders is five years’ imprisonment and a fine of 10.000,000 marks. The order makes it -lain that the situation is going from bad to worse. The economists have given the matter up as a bad job. Policitians and economists have been buoyed up with the hope that an agreement between the French and German magnates would he quickly reached. blit the hopes have disappeared. Meanwhile the ironworks are closing for lack of coke. The expulsions have raised popular feeling in Aix La Chapelle to fever heat, particularly the expulsion of Dr Kueld, burgomaster of Mainz, who was taken from hospital and carried into exile in a motor lorry. The tram service in tlie Ruhr is in confusion. Mr Martin Donoghue telegraphing from Paris, says that the French Government is now prepared to onen negotiations with Germany if Germany takes the first step towards bringing about economic peace, and proclaims her intention to fulfil her financial arrangements under the Treaty of Versailles. STRIKE OF RAIL WAY.MEN. PARTS, January 30. M. Poincare denies that France intends to annex the Ruhr in order to enable her to supply coal to the French iron industries in Lorraine. He said that France would remain in German territory until Germany paid her reparations debts. ‘ A general strike of railway men has c mmenced in the old occupied territory on the left bank of the Rhine. General Degouette has substituted French railwaymen at certain selected stations which are considered essential to the re-establishment of communication with France. It is hoped that the subordinate German personnel -will collaborate with the French, thus avoiding the introduction of further Frenchmen. Thirteen recalcitrant German officials were expelled from Dusseldorf. including the successor to Herr Schultius, the re-cently-arrested head of the Finance Office. AIR SERVICE SUBSTITUTED. LONDON. January 30. The Hague correspondent of The Times report* that as the entire railway traffic to Holland from i he occupied part of Germany has been discontinued, an air service between Amsterdam. Rotterdam, and Cologne has been organised. FRENCH WAR GRAVES. PARIS, January 29. The Germans have now refused to permit a continuance of the exhumation of the bodies of French soldiers who died when prisoners of wpr in Germany. PARIS, January 30 Le Matin says: “There is much hostility among the Germans towards the FYench Mission which is engaged in sending home the remains of the French prisoners of war. The members of the mission and relatives of the deceased have been insulted and stoned on several occasions. The local authorities refused to intervene.” DEMAND FOR SCOTTISH COAL. LONDON. January 3G. The extraordinary demand for coal from Glasgow for shipment to Germany is believed to have been created by Herren Stinnes and Thyssen. The price has rwen from 23s to 265, f.o.b. Scotch ports, and it is believed that the price will go to 30s 3d. Ten thousand tons were shipped from the Clyde on Saturday, and several more cargoes of equal dimensions are loading. Orders for 30,000 tons were booked on Moudav. It is stated that Herren Stinnes and Thvssen have millions sterling at their disposal in London. THE GOVERNMENT SUPPORTED. BERLIN, January 30. Two hundred delegates of the Miners’, Metal Workers’ Engineers’ and Stokers’ Unions adopted, a resolution at a conference ill Bochum, stat’ng that they will stand by the Government in its fight against the French move to cut off the Ruhr and establish new coinage, etc. ; but it warned the Government against violent methods, and urged that efforts should be made to reach a peaceful understanding. BRITISH LABOUR’S ATTITUDE. LONDON. January 30. A largely attended meeting of the Parliamentary Labour Party in London instructed Mr Ramsay MacDonald to communicate to the Prime Minister in regard to the Ruhr, and request him to call Parliament earlier than February 13, in order that the situation may be discussed. DECLINE OF THE FRANC. NEW YORK, January 30. The news regarding the Ruhr has sent the French franc down to the lowest point for three years. ERA NOE’S DIFFICULTIES. BERLIN, January 30. An Essen telegram says that the French commander summoned employers, labour

leaders, and postal and police officials and announced that a stringent stale of siege would be proclaimed. The trade union leaders expressed their determination to hold meetings, ft remains to be seen whether the French dare provoke the workers. The French commander also summoned German journalists and accused them of circulating lies. The German spokesman replied that thev were watching the iter man, not the French, interests. FRANCE DETERMINED. LONDON, January 30. According to a Cologne telegram, General Degouette has issued a statement to foreign journalists that when he arrived in the Ruhr it was not intended to carry out any military or political purpose. The French wanted to disturb the people’s normal life as little as possible, but the German Government had tried every mean* to provoke a general rebellion, which only the wisdom of the German workers had prevented. The French army was not like the Prussians. “We are not. murderers anxious to put everyone to the sword or to treat the people as Bismarck did,” said General Degouette. Moderation, however, is not weakness. They are mistaken who think our patience is without a limit. We have tried to carry out our mission peaceably. The German political leaders are entirely responsible for the present misfortunes in the Ruhr. The Allied Governments will continue in the wav they have taken. Thev mean to impose their will and to break their adversaries. We do not want, to enslave the German workers. We onlv want to coerce the German magnates who received indemnities from the Government, but wdio have not. paid their taxes. We intend to stay here a* long as is necessary, and we shall impose further sanctions until we achieve our task, from which nothing will divert ns. Germany s future lies in our hands.” FRENCH WITHDRAWAL DEMANDED. BERLIN, January 31. Official circles admit that they would accept British, American, or Italian intervention if it implied a Franco-Belgian withdrawal from the Ruhr, but this must precede any attempt to settle the reparations by arbitration. The Earl of Balfour had a long private interview with reference to the Ruhr. ARRESTS INCREASING DAILY. PARIS, January 31. A Dusseldorf message states that the expulsion of German officials is increasing daily. The Mayor of Dusseldorf, the president of the Railways Board, and the president of police in Essen have been arrested and taken to an unknown place, and their families given four days to leave the occupied zone. GERMAN COAL PURCHASES. LONDON, January 31. Germany has bought and paid for 750,000 tons of coal at Newcastle for delivery within five months. France and Scandinavia are also buying abnormally. Many German inquiries have been received in Cardiff and Monmouthshire. PARIS, February 1. Germany has been officially notified that henceforth the despatch of coal and coke from the occupied zone into Germany will not be permitted. FRENCH DEMAND APOLOGY. PARIS, January 31. The Petit Parisien states:—“General slackness dominated the Ruhr on Tuesday. The railwaymen in Recklinghausen, who struck and issued an ultimatum to General Degouette ordering him to withdraw his troops from the railway territory, manifested a desire to return to work. They sought an audience with General Degouette, who refused, saying that thev must first apologise for the insolent terms of their ultimatum.” VOTE FOR FOOD SUPPLIES. LONDON, January 31. The Daily Mail’s Berlin correspondent reports that the Rechsrat voted an equivalent of nearly £11,000,000 to safeguard the country’s food supply ar| d to help the population of the Ruhr. OFFER TO RESUME WORK. PARIS, February 1. The Ruhr was effectively isolated from the unoccupied portion of Germany at midnight. All coal supplies were stopped. The authorities in the Ruhr are intensifying Jhe coal deliveries on account of reparations. The Petit Parisien says: “ A large number of German railwaymen approached the Allied authorities and asked that they might be allowed to resume work unconditionally. There offers were received with reserve, owing to recent acts of sabotage. The commission will not call the men until circumstances are favourable.” ALLIED OFFICERS THREATENED. BERLIN, February 1. A huge demonstration was made in Konigsberg in front of the hotel where the French officers and members of the interAllied Commission were staying. The crowd demanded the departure of the officers. The police frustrated attempts to force an entrance to the hotel, and finally cleared the square. A VOTE. OF CONFIDENCE. PARTS, February g. The Chamber carried a vote of confidence in M. Poincare bv 435 votes to 81. G K R M A N Y ’ S A TTITTII) E. PARIS, February 2. There are definite indications that Germany’s attitude is changing, although no definite act in the direction of conciliation may be expected for several weeks,

France now possesses most valuable securities, and it is not for her to take the initiative. Germany must make satisfactory proposals. The Echo de Pari* says:—“Germany hitherto has been too occupied to commence negotiations. France also hesitates to take the first step. It pourparlers are opened it is staled that Germany only proposes to repeat the offer which she submitted to the Paris Conference, which France considers totally inadequate. PASSIVE RESIST A N CE. BERLIN, February 2. In the course of an interview, Herr Cuno said : "Germany will continue her policy of passive resistance in the Ruhr, but will not be misled into active opposition, as 6he lacks arms. The sharper the French action become* the farther the French will be led from securing reparations.” A PESSIMISTIC REPORT. BERLIN, February 2. Tlie President of the Reichstag, whom the Government sent to the Ruhr to study the workers’ attitude, reports pessimistically. He says that the workers are beginning to tire of strikes, which hitherto have produced only trouble, and complaint* are beginning- to circulate. A notice posted at lessen read : Railway workers, you are starring the officials. Be on your guard.” THREATS AGAINST MINE MANAGERS. PARIS, February 2. The French authorities at Dusseldorf have issued a stern warning to the managers of four mines against delivering coal, and have threatened their expulsion in the event of non-compliance. Two managers complied and the others refused. SARRE MINERS TO STRIKE. PARIS, February 2. The Sarre miners have decided on a general strike, to begin on Monday. They demand a continuance of increased wages on the ground that the cost of living is so high. A detonator similar to those used in the mines was found in a truckload of Sarre coal at Dijon. COAL SHORTAGE IN ITALY. ROME. February 2. Owing to the non-arrival of coal from Germany 100 trains dailv are cut off. NEW FRONTIER ESTABLISH ED. CUSTOMS OFFICIALS EXPELLED. LONDON. February 2. Tlie Daily Chronicle’s Dusseldorf correspondent states that the real struggle in the Ruhr has now begun. The setting up of a frontier between the Ruhr and unoccupied Germany was hurriedly completed last night. Only a few coal trains have thus far been held up. The Customs officers have been expelled. The Morning Post’s Dusseldorf correspondent state* that the railway service will be resumed immediately, as the French have promised to withdraw the troops from the stations, thus ending the appalling chaos. FOUR OFFICIALS ARRESTED. PARIS, February 2. The telephone director and two postal officials in Dusseldorf and the telephone director in Duisberg were arrested for refusing to obey French orders. FRENCH SUBJECTS INSULTED. PARIS, February 2. Le Matin’s Berlin correspondent says: "The position of the French subjects is becoming almost unbearable. No one can speak French or display a French newspaper without risking insult and even blows. The Government is helpless before the public excitement.” ISSUE OF TREASURY BONDS AND LOAN. BERLIN. February 2. The Reichstag has authorised the issue of 3500 milliards of marks’ worth of Treasury bonds and a loan of 500 milliards of marks for the purpose of meeting special expenses arising from the French occupation of the Ruhr. PROF IT SH A RING FEAR ED. PARIS. February 2. Germany fears that the French will adopt piofit-sharing in the Ruhr, thus inducing the workers to make an agreement with F"ranee and Belguim. AMERICAN OBSERVER WITHDRAWN. WASHINGTON, February 2. The State Department announces the withdrawal of Major-General Alien, ttto American observer, from the inter-Allied Rhineland Commission. RAILWA'MEX TROUBLESOME. PARIS. February 2. A number of German railwaymen, pretending to be willing to resume work, were taken in trains, but they abandoned them in open country, the drivers disappearing. The French are now sending expert railwaymen to accompany the trains which the Germans are handling. TRAINS FIRED ON. BERLIN, February 2. Herr Greener (Minister of Communications) lias again ordered the railway managers to disobey French orders, and the managers are complying by rushing trains out of the Ruhr. French soldiers fired on a number of trains for failing to stop when ordered to do *o. In several instances where tlie

Germans were unable to get trains out they have diverted them to sidings and abandoned them. ATTACK ON FRENCH CONSULATE. BERLIN, February 2. A mob at Koenigsburg smashed the windows of the F'rench Consulate. The town authorities have requested Berlin to call on the French to leave the town, as they could not guarantee their safety. DEALING WITH OBSTRUCTION. LONDON, February 3. The Morning Post’s i/usseldorf correspondent gives the following as a quaint example of the French treatment of recalcitrants. An industrial magnate, one of the minor German coal barons, occupying a fine mansion near his mines, churlishly reiused the French soldiers guarding the mines permission to use the baths provided for the miners. "Very well, Monsieur, ' replied a French officer, “if that is inconvenient we will meet your wishes. From to-morrow my men will use your bathrooms in your private house.” The coal baro now regrets his decision. ART TREASURES TO BE CONFISCATED. BERLIN, February 3. Der Nachrichtcn, which is published in Dresden, states that- the French authorities have ordered the museum officials to draw up a- list of the best work* of art in the public and private collections, the intention being to confiscate them against the payment of reparations. The Dresden Picture Gallery i* the world-renowned museum Johanneurn, and contains the finest porcelain in the world. SYMPATHY FOR GERMAN WORKERS. W ASHINGTON, February 2. Mr Samuel Go nip ere, in a statement declaring his hearty sympathy with the German workers for American intervention in the Ruhr, and calling on the United States to give serious and sympathetic consideration to the appeal, says: "I believe our Government should tender its good offices as mediator.” STOPPAGE OF TRAINS. LONDON, February 3. Reports have been received that- the Germans yesterday stopped the ParisBucliarest and the Paris-Prague expresses on the ground of a shortage of coal. The French retaliated by suspending passenger traffic on the Karlsruhe and Basle lines except the express to Holland. A GERMAN PROTEST. PARIS, February 3. The first German note sent to the Reparation Commission since the occupation of the Ruhr protests against the refusal to grant a moratorium, and urges the commission to make a new estimate of Germany’s capacity. CONFLICTING STATEMENTS. LONDON, February 4. There have been no development* in the Ruhr. Conflicting reports from French and German sources continue to reach London. Some declare that France realises the failure of her Ruhr policy, and desires to negotiate with Germany, but cannot make the first overtures. Others assert that Germany is abandoning her obstructive tactics, including the strike, realising that obstruction will penalise the Ruhr inhabitant* more than the French. A TRAM CONDUCTOR SHOT. BRUSSELS, February 3. Two Belgian soldiers boarded an Oberhaussen tramcar, and a refusal by the conductor to accept their passes led to an altercation, in which the passengers joined. They attempted to eject the soldiers, who used their arms in self-defence, killing the* conductor and wounding a passenger. FALL IN THE FRANC. PARIS, February 2. The Matin says that- M. Poincare, with tlie Minister of the Interior, is considering important measures for checking the fall in the franc, including a proposal to establish a bourse service of rapid information, which the Prime Minister hopes may rectify the present tendency and also hindered honest speculations. If necessary, restrictions on operations will he considered.