GERMAN DISARMAMENT.

Shannon News, 6 July 1923, Page 1

GERMAN DISARMAMENT.

RIFLES IN PRIVATE HANDS. SECRET STORES OR ARMS. Of all German questions that of disarmament is the most disagreeable to go into. In all other questions one can take facts and then draw one’s conclusions. But when one inquires info disarmament one of the main facts is not available—the quantity of arms remaining in the country and' not surrendered. This nobody can tell; even the German can only guess at the exact figure. Therefore.one is obliged to employ a reversed'process, working from general considerations back to the essential principles. Investigation is complicated by the circumstance that military experts under stand the term “ disarmament ” to mean something entirely different from the notion accepted by the public. The latter thinks in terms of so and so many men, guns, rifles, grenades. etc., the military men concentrate their attention mainly on the subsidiary question: Is Germany able to fight, and is she preparing for war on modern lines? Add to this that contrary to widespread impression, the Treaty of .Versailles is not automatically extensible and that since its signature questions have arisen which ar e not covered by any of its clauses.

If one is afraid of controversy, and if one belongs to that useful class which desires to please everybody, one should nof discuss German disarmament at all, says an English writer. But no investigation of German affairs would be complete without this question being mentioned. We have arrived at ohr conclusions on this subject honestly by examining the considered opinions of Allied military experts and of representative: Germans. But a further complication- has been caused by the fact that so much bad blood is created by the tactless and often malevolent conduct of minor German officials which the, weak Central Government is slow in’ repressing to the full satisfaction of the Allies. Naturally, the authors of the Versailles Treaty could not insert a clause obliging every man, woman; and child in Germany to carry out disarmament as-a labour of love. But they forgot to put in a clause binding the German Government to refund monetary rewards paid by the Inter-Allied Commission of for the discovery of secret stores'of arms. RIGHTS AND POLICY.

In fairness to the Germans it must be said that, in certain cases of their own free will, they have done it on a small scale. But, on the Other hand, there have been cases where Germans accused of disclosing secret stores of arms have been placed on trial as traitors to the Yaterland. In doing so the German Government is legally within its rights. But is this gp<)d policy on its part ? When minor officials or parts of the population have opposed members of the Commission in the execution of their duties the 7 Central Government has taken action very re* luctantly and under heavy pressure. This laxity causes great friction and brings about such Notes as that which was sent on the subject of the excesses at Pasau and at Ingolstadt. There officers of the Commission were met by crowds of people, evidently warned beforehand. German liaison officers and the civil authorities were not in evidence, and grave excesses were committed, which might have ended in the loss of life. The car of the Allied officers, after the Passau incident, looked as if it had been subjected to the fire of a machine-gun. All these incidents are dangerous, first' ’of all, for the Germans themselves. The Military Commissions have destroyed in the last four years enormous masses of arms and of materia!, and all the good effect of these results is compromised because of a few rifles or hand grenades. It would have been in the direct interest of the Germans themselves t'o met© out immediate and severe punishment to those who, by their‘ inconsiderate and illegal actions, only help to prolong the work of the Inter-Allied Commission in Berlin. Now about hidden arms. The Germans themselves cannot deny that a great* number of rifles and grenades carried away by the demobilised troops remain hidden all over the country. One can point out districts in Bavaria, in Silesia and in East Prussia where the population remains possessed of arms. Allied observers believe that there ar© also many ma-chine-guns scattered among the estates of the large landowners. Unless a method is found by which the whole country could be combed out these arms will remain undiscovered. But a great military expert, who is far from friendly to the Germans, told an inquirer that these arms, whatever their quantity, could only be dangerous to the Germans themselves. THE BEAL. SITUATION.

With an elegance truly Gallic, he defined the position as follows:—"The Germans have just sufficient arms to make civil war among themselves and to provoke heavy repression on the part of France as soon as they produce them. France’s military power is so considerable that she could, with her aerial force alone, destroy in two days the whole German railway system in its important points between the Rhine and the Elbe. The Germans, with their 1 rifles and hand genadea would-, b© as helpless as Bed Indians with their bows and arrows." Therefore, although one must say that the Vemllles Treaty :haa not been carried

out in the question of armament iti spirit. Stocks have been reduced to’ a minimum, and machinery specially constructed to produce war material has been destroyed. Quite a different question is that of Germany’s ability to re-arm. With her powerful industrial plants she could undoubtedly build up in a few months a war industry in the same manner as we did during the war. That Would be comparatively an easy matter. But to avoid this one would have to rare the whole of the German industrial plant, and - the Treaty of Versailles does not glv© any rights itt that direction. Also, there is no clause to prevent German brains from exercising their acumen on the invention of new destructive means of warfare. Th© Commissions are helpless to disarm Germany in this direction. If France apprehends that she will not be able to crush in the bud any future attempt on the part of' Germany to arm for war against her she must devise means outside the scope of the Treaty of Versailles.