Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-12-17

and Workers Councils are dividing the
patronage and other spoils among
themselves and their friends In true
Tammany Hall fashion. Some OF
these new.fangled bosses delight in
playing Raroun AL Raschid in most
unexpected ways.
A number of soldiers who have re-
turned from the war found their hearts
changed and wanted divorces. but either
could not find any court to pronounce
DEGREES against their wives or would
not even take the trouble of proceeding
against them. SO they called on the
ali mighty chief of the soldiers coun-
ell, who. without ceremony, cut the
knots that neither priest nor judge could
unite.
But what these chiefs like best, be-
cause 1t increases their popularity with
the people, is to descend upon the house
of some unsuspecting rich hoarder and
despol his storerooms of his jams, cof-
fee, butter, cheese and other good things,
which are then publicly sold at prices
fixed by the Government, much below
those Of legitimate trade. In many
cases. too, the spoils Of such raids are
simply appropriated by the raiders them
selves.
Create Great Confusion -
These council bosses are very Jealous
Of each other, and delight In undoing
each others orders, creating an fncredi.
BILE confusion, which works havoc with
industry and public affairs. l..
These Soldiers and Workers Councils.
however, have some points to their
credit. which accounts for the Govern
ment having tolerated them so far. They
! exert a certain authority over elements
AI.oA L.. has
times, would probably prove absolutely
ungovernable. Besides, they are the
only effective agency for propagating
the revolution in regiments returning
from the front, which are still possessed
of the old military spirit, and, what Is
more even, they are sworn enemies OF
any reactionary activity among the offi-
GERS and junkers.
There have been a great many cases
recently In which officers have tried to
build their men into the old state OF
pre-revolutionary submission, which mad
nothing in common with discipline, and
they might have succeeded If the Sol
diers' Councils had not been interested.
Many officers who have recently re-
turned have been unable to realize the
change that has taken place, and re-
fuse to take the consequences. They
evidently still cherish the fond hope that
things will change again. and they would
gladly help them change. to which end
they wish to preserve the old relations
between officers and men.
Such cases are too numerous to re-
count here, but the officers figuring in
them invariably bear the names of now
hated junker families. Yesterday one
attempted to initiate the example of
Martin, Hatuschka and Rheinbaden,
which led to the bloody riots December
g. An officer of a detachment quartered
in the university was called late last
night by telephone to proceed with his
men to the nearby royal castle to sup
press a revolt among the sailors guard
ing it. There might have been another
even more sanguinary encounter had not
Peoples Commissioner, Barth appeared
at the university in the nick Of time to
prevent 1t.
Telephoned Orders False
Investigation proved that the officer
in the university had supposedly re-
ceived his orders by telephone from the
headquarters of the chief commander OF
the Berlin garrisons. The commander
declared that no such orders had been
issued from his headquarters Thanks
to an untiring search by the Soldiers
Council. the culprit seems already to
|
young officer. a supposed friend OF
Mutuschka. lg
The researches of the Soldiers Coun-
Gil, too, led to the discovery Of plot
by young aristocratic students who
planned to send 4 delegation consisting
of the two brothers Won Heckendorf to
Cologne to request the American troops
to come to Berlin. as the authorities
here were declared to be unable to keep
order.
The anti-Semetic movement, too. has
been traced to junker officers by the
Soldiers Council, which only yesterday
excluded one popular member named
Strobel from it's executive committee Tor
aiding that movement by publishing a
provocatory signed article In the
Deutsche Tages Zeitung. Likewise the
circulation of millions Of handbilis in
citing Jew-baiting has been traced to
the Vaccinations of irresponsible junkers
and officers wishing to create confusion
and trouble for the peoples commits
sioners' government. The Government
has warned the originators of these
handbilis that they will be severely pun
ished. L
Some of the papers today advise the
Berlin council to inspire the local Sol
diers' Council at Potsdam with little
more revolutionary spirit. The officers
Of the guard regiments there are pre-
tending still to live in pre-revolutionary
times. The other day they ordered a
certain regiment to do royal honors to
Prince Joachim, the ex-Kaiser's youngest
son. Prince Eitel Friedrich's home 'is
rapidly becoming the center Of all uni
formed gentry whose names end with
'in," "itz' and "ow." +.
Ne Invitation to JoHe
1t will be remembered that the Berlin
Soldiers and Workers Councils execu-
tive committee about n week ago. In a
state of absent -mindedness, replied In a
friendly tone to a Russian wireless mes
sage suggesting that Joffe participate in
tomorrow's congress as Russia's repre-
sentative. Joffe took this for an invita-
tion, though 1t was afterward made clear