Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-05-18
GERMAN PEOPLE
NAY FORCE PACT
ON cove RNNENT
SCheidemann Tells Cores
pondents That There Is Pos
sibiIity of Formation Of Gov
eminent by Independents,
By Cyril Brown.
Copyright, 1919. by the Press PUBLISH
ing Co.
tThe New York World)
Especial Cable Dispatch.)

Berlin. May 17,-Chancellor Phillip
Scheidemann in statement TO cor
respondents strongly minated the
final decision of the government not
to assent to the treaty III its present
form.
Comparison of the fourteen points
treaty is almost comic" he said. NO
country could meet the economic bur-
dens Proposed The financial terms
are fantastic and the spirit of the
treaty is worse than its letter, 1t is
q one sided peace of violence, and 1t
means the humiliation of Germany
and the collapse of Germany's fl
nances. 1t could lead only TO misery
and to hunger, for we would not nave
enough money to pay for food. Nearly
all the terms are insufferable. You
can easily suppose how we feel about
signing the document as It stands
AN Independent socialist govern
ment would have only small minor
ity of the people behind it. AS the
terms would he unbearable for the
people at large, the government
would not he in position to meet them.
The only agreement that could be
effective at this time would be one
with the present coalition govern
ment.'
Undoubtedly they will unchain the
passions of the German people. some
of whom will be fired into frightfhl
nationalistic Indignation against the
merciless victors. Others will be filled
with grim hatred of the incompetent
regime that brought on this war
Arguing in favor of signing the
treaty without delay Herr Kautsky
says that it will be the quickest way
to determine that the treaty will be
short-lived. He says he fully eX-
poets ''the collapse, in the not distant
future. in France. England and Po-
land of the spirit that produced TINS
treaty, and there will be full revival
of the principle Of self-determlnatlon,
This peace must be revoked. he says,
not by new world war, which would
be a worse evil than the peace, but
by the overturn of the present SyS-
TENS of government,
1--WE told you So" is the attitude of
the junkers the pan-Germans seizlng
every opportunity to make capital
from the hard peace terms for the
cause of monarchy by saddling the
whole blame for the catastrophe on
the once Dro-Wilson democratic So
cialists.
! THE peace terms tread the German
nation in the dust. humble, dishonor,
dismember and destroy it. The con-
version from militarism profited us
nothing"
This is the complaint of Count
| Westarp, junker leader. THE logic
| of world history is pitiless. Hopes and
| illusions have broken down. Public
opinion has received the proposals
with q rate of unanimity of horror and
indignation that grips the whole Ger
man nation. From these words and
demonstrations we must now forge a
| decision to act and firmness i'll our
sufferings."
Count Westarp warns against the
''monstrous idea that surrender to
| Bolshevism could save us He pro-
! poses an earnest nationwide propa-
ganda to illuminate the whole German
people regarding the true contents OF
the peace terms and their import. not
only for the nations as whole and
| for coming generations, but for every
/ individual Our nation must be freed
! from illusions. Now is the time to
show the nation that only strength
employed to the last remnant can
save il from final ruin. mistaken
courage alone can, in the near or dis
] tant future. open the way for the Ger
! man nation to rise again
| Germany sinks back into the con-
dition\ of Prussia in 1906. It's eco
nomic and cultural development may
! be thrown stin further back, perhaps
to conditions prevailing in the father
land after the Thirty Years war. In
the next few months we must pass
through the blacklist darkness, the
heaviest crisis" is the view of the
Prussian historian. Prof. Otto
! Hoetsch. There is no doubt what
| would remain if Germany would not
/ hold together as nation, East Prus-
| STA would be forced to join Poland
The entente's projected military and
economic measures IN the west would
j inevitably result in the separation OF
| the left bank of the Rhine and prob
ably also big slice of western Ger
many east of the Rhine. The peace
proposal literally means the end OF
the German nation. What Wilson will
do if we refuse to sign is clear, We
have reason to believe that American
troops would be Withdrawn from Eu-
rope and America would limit itself
IN dinlon1atic mediation and watch