Great Falls daily tribune. [volume] (Great Falls, Mont.) 1895-1921, 1919-12-08
N0SKE FIRM
To NOT SIGN
PEACE PACT
Let the Allies Occupy
Country, Limit Reached
Says Defense Minister.
lntimated That Others
Of Cabinet Are Also
Of the Same Mind.

London, Dec. S.-(By The As
sociated Press. Gustav Noske,
German minister Of defense, is
determined not to sign the peace
protocol handed Germany by the
entente, and it is resolved to
recommend that the government
adopt his attitude, come what
may, according to an interview
with Noske printed today.
II cannot speak for the whole govern
ment because it has not vet come to a
decision. said Noske. but ! shall rec
ommend a refusal to sign the peace
treaty protocol.
The limit has long since been reach
ed. Let the allies accupy the country
if they like. The peace now presented
70 US is not peace but a prolongation OF
the war.
Says Nation Would Rise.
Were such a treaty accepted the Ger
man nation would rise up and aycnge it
self upon the men who signed it. and it
would be right. Great Britain and
France are deliberately planning the de-
struction Of Germany. All the conf
dence | ever had in the pledges of the
allies is gone forever.
by deceit and trickery the British
and French governments are working up
opinion in their countries to cripple Ger
many still further beyond the crushing
effect Of the first treaty We have
yielded too often, and now must resist.
Let the allies do what they please"
Asked whether he would resign if the
remainder of the government decided
to accept the allied terms Noske replied
that he could not say what he would do
week hence but that his present posi-
tion had been deliberately adopted and
was unable to change it.
lis Own Position Only.
The correspondent says that although
Noske carefully emphasized that he was
only defining his own position, his words
agreed with the intentions ascribed to
the other members of the cabinet
The two straws which Noske repre-
sents as having broken the back of the
German endurance, says the correspOn-
dent, are the demand for dock and harbor
material and the protocol empowering
peace treaty.
The correspondent says that during
his talk with Noske he suggested that it
the Germans had not sunk the warsbips
in the Scapa Flow, the demand of the
allies for tugs and docks would not have
been made. To this, he says, Noske
replied:
oh YES. they would The British
would have invented some pretext.
Great Britain is out to cripple Germany
and demands our last dredges and cranes
SO as 20 prevent the revival Of our mer-
rantile marine
Penudiates Responsibility
Noske repudiated the German govern
meni s responsibility for the sinking of
the warships in Scapa Flow.
Regarding the protocol Noskc said its
signature would be giving Germany's s
assent in advance to unlimited future ag-
gressions by the allies.
What more do you want?' asked
Noske. You used to tell us if we
chased away the Hohenzollerns, peace
would be adopted. And now you are
breaking every pledge You gave. You
peace that it could not have been worse
if the Hohenzolerns had remained.
Expects French Army.
The French doubtless will march into
Germany Let them come The allies
know that Germany is without means Of
resistance. Allied officers are all over
the country. Spies are skulking about
everywhere. All the scare talk about
German armament is a deliberate press
campaign to prepare public opinion for
aggressions.
"If the United States stays out. the
commissions established under the peace
treaty will be taken over by the other
allies. If that means more Frenchmen,
it would be most injurious to German
interests and prospects,"