Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-10-18
CERMANY'S UNREPENTANCE
MENACES HER VlCToRS
Only Be combated by Prompt and
Rigid Enforcement Of the

Her Arrogance and Secret Armies Can
Only Be combated by Prompt and
Rigid Enforcement Of the
Treaty Terms
TT is profoundly disquieting to con
slider even the possibility of having to
! regret the signing of the armistice which
all civilization so rapturously cheered,
last November. Technically the sinister
forces in Germany were crushed and
humanity was spared the necessity of
further agonizing sacrifice. The assump
tion was reasonable, but, like most theo-
ries, its value depended on it's transla
ton into practice
Facts revealed by reputable authol-
ties in touch with European realities fail
to support the original glowing eXpecta-
tious. Cardinal Mercier, the superb spir-
itual knight; Herbert Hoover. the master
organizer; Colonel John c. Groome,
every inch soldier, unquestionably ap-
proach Interpretation of world events
from radically different angles.
Yet they are all agreed that Germany
has not abandoned the gospel of military
aggression and that she is at this mo-
ment making insidious and vigorous
efforts to dcflc once again the altar Of
liberty.
General Leman, heroic defender of
I.iegc, fixes the time of the new on
slaught at fifteen years hence.
h. T. Kospoth, the EVENING PUBLIC
LEDGER's correspondent in Switzerland,
is inclined to think that unless the
gravity of the situation is realized the
Belgian generals date is placed too far
ahead.
Mr.. Kospoth marshals all alarming
/ quantity of evidence to show that the
( alleged disarmament Of defeated Ger
many is in many vital respects d mock
cry. BY the organization Of a secret
army lnasquerading as the Civic guard"
| by the formation of clubs by veteran
! soldiers, by the preservation in secure
/ hiding places Of machine guns and muni-
/ tions. the so-called repentance" of the
| vanqushed becomes a cynical figure of
| speech.
Professor Lammasch, last prime min
ister Of the Austro-Hungarian empire
and sincere liberalist; Prof. Wilhelm
Forester, a statesman of pacitist prin-
ciples and late ambassador Of the Bava-
rian republic to Switzerland, and Herr
Hilferding, persistent foe of mIitarism
and recently Independent Socialist dele
gate to the Lucerue conference. are united
in the belief that Germany today has
actually 100000 men under arms War
Minister Noske insists that the national
forces have been reduced to 100000. EX-
isting conditions challenge his statement
just as the outrageous warfare about
Riga challenges the sincerity of the new
| Teutonic republic.
Was the armstice then terrible mis-
take and should Foch have driven his
legions forward until they marched down
Inter den Linden?
In the light of contemporary events,
the answer is subject to qualifications. If
civilization as a whole persists in its
Indifference to German intrigucs, if it is
soft toward nation that capitalized the
bolshevist bogic for all it was worth in
order TO escape the severe consequences
of Just retributiou, if it is blind TO the
spirit of snarling junSerism still prevail
ing in the former empire, then the armi-
stice terms were inadequate. The
Entente, despite the cost involved, should
have pushed on to Berlin.
Prompt action, persistcntly main
tanned, should however, divert the catas-
trophe. The victors in the world war can
forestall any resurgence of militaristic
Germany by executing with force and
dispatch the comprehensive terms of the
treaty of Versailles.
The long interval between the armi-
stice and the ratification of the pact by
enough nations to make it effective was
extremely favorable to Germany. She
| lost her fleet, it is true, but her military
| potentiality was largely untouched.
Clause after clause in the treaty provides
! for the surrender of munitions, for the
dismantling of war material factories,
for the destruction of powerful forts
after the coming into force of the docu-
ment.
If controlling forces in Germany are
unchastened, as witnesses of unimpeach-
able honesty aver, it is no wonder that
they made hay while the sun of indeci-
sion shone.
The regular army, for instance, within
three months after the coming into force
of the treaty must be reduced to 100000"
Is it conceivable that the ruthlessness at
Riga and the arrogance of Won der Goltz
would have been so openly manifested
were the quarter of years grace ended
now, instead of only just beginning?
1t is the fashion nowadays to berate
the United States for its dilatory tactics
regarding the treaty. And yet Britain,
Italy and France, which have finally rati-
cd Il nrn h,, M nnnanS eYnnnnt from