New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1918-12-29
reinforcement Weukened
byBIoody Clash hMa1i,,es
AZURE q" P"t Down Uprising by Force Is Declared
''a"sht With Possible Disaster; New Cabinet
'''ss Expected 10 Result From the Riots

morning in series of conferences he
tween the marines and the government.
inc 1ormer promising to evacuate the
castle and to release Wells and tho
government undertaking to nav the ma
NOes and withdraw the troops from
the city.
Castle and Stables Shelled
However. neither party kept its UNI
ovr'aNlhg, the troops remaining in the
city, and Wells was not released at 8
o'clock in the morning. After the cx
plration of ten minute ultimatum the
castle and stables were sAellcd by
troops Just arrived from Finland. who
were called in by the government from
Spandau during the night.
Inc castle was defended by only
thirty minutes. who soon surrendered.
but the stables were held until about
10 O'Clock. The government forces
seemed to be almost complete masters
OF the situation, and then came a
change. The government troops began
to waver. Police President Eichhorn S
guard joined the marines, and even
some of Weiss own Republican guards
seemed ready to go over In the stables,
at midday, there was moment of great
tension, when another ultimatum had
Just expired. and the field was cleared
for fresh action.
In one Of the headquarters Eichhon
was closeted with twenty four officers
of rank, who had been arrested in the
street by Eichhorn's guard One body,
victim of last nights scuff1e, lay COW
cred up in corner of the antechamber.
Down in the courtyard there was great
hustle, as the labor battalions of the
large munition works arrived, march
N Nd Ax.IA ot.
his rifle munitions and hand grenades.
Just then a motor car of the marine
division drew IN, whose leader an
nounced, amid the cheering of the
crowds in the court, that a kind of ar
mistice had been concluded with the
front troops, and that the Republican
guards would be withdrawn. the ma
rines to retain possession of the sta
bles pending final arrangements They
then motored with the marine leaders
to the imperial chancellery to make
sure of the armistice; thence to the
Admiralty and to the headquarters of
the marine division. where they once
more thrashed out the whole situation
Government Faces Crisis
From the point Of view of the ma
rines the days work cannot be re
garded as a government success, and
from any point OF view it now seems
doubtful whether they can survive the
crisis that has arisen. Had the govern
ment remained content to rely solely
on the moral support of public opinion
Us authority could not have been seri-
ously challenged, and it need not have
been alarmed at any attempted coup
Of the armed minority, but it cannot
possibly survive as democratic revo-
lutionary government with methods of
miltarism
The government received a sautary
lesson-that the armed forces will slip
from its grasp the moment it tries to
make arbitrary use of them. The dan
ger, on the other hand, is that the ex-
tremists may acquire an exaggerated
notion of their own strength, which
Will lead them to resort to armed force
which may result in complete fiasco
to themselves.
There is no need for the use Of arms
in the internal political controversies
in Germany to-day, and the party that
resorts to it does SO at its own peril, as
can be seen by this lesson on this
bloody Christmas Eve.