Evening star., 1919-11-27
PRESENT GERMAN
REGIME TOTTER|NG
Opinion Indicates Fall Will
Come When Food and
Coal Give Out.
BY GORDON STILES.
by Cable to The Star and Chicago
Daily NeMs. COpyright. 1919.

""s sVpsEikuts
COPENHAGEN. Denmark. November
24.-Coming 10 Denmark after three
months in Berlin is like slipping into
a refreshing bath after long and
dusty motor trip. Also il gives one a
| chance to look in perspective at what
| is going on in the land of blasted
| hopes.
II has been my lot to spend eight
months out of the last year in Gcr-/
many. When l left Berlin two day/
| ago there seemed less hope of earE
stabiliZation than last winter jYst
after the national assembly Eas
formed. Especially within the Iast
three months have things taken(on a
| dark tlnge. Up to the time peach was
signed the Germans expected Nthat
| sumo commerce at least to a limited
extent. Even when the mark dropped
| to twenty for one dollar they were
getting on with their plans. But the
developments of the last eight weeks
| nave pointed steadily to fresh eco
aomic and political disa<rer. Nothing
| .hort of drastic mea<urcS by other
Lations can prevent Germany from
.unning on the rocSs before spring.
Present Govetnment shnky.
1 have gathersd the opinions of
scores of business men, professional
men, students or politics and eco
nomics and those whose judgment
| was worth anything at all, All agreed
| on one point, that the present gov
| ernment cannot hold on much longer.
| 1t has been a record of failure all
| down the line 1t has been unable to
give the people food, work or even
\ a definite idea of what is expected OF
| them. Thar. of course, is partly due
| toNhe actions of the entente. But the
disgr1Rfled workingman sees only
| that the country. in the hands of the.
present government. is getting into
I 1G;A 40,
convinced that the present regime is
| doomed. both radicals and reaction
aries are making extravagant prep
| arations to seize the reins when the
/ time is right. 1t looks as il that Will
! be in about February or March. as
| then the coal and what food is on
! hand will be exhausted. and it is i'm
possible for Germany to buy food
while the mark is worth SO little.
| Some of the shrewd ones whose
place is somewhere near the tip OF
the right wing advocate assisting the
radicals to get control first and then
after they have made mess of things
| to step in themselves. There are Sc
cret meetings going on constantly at
| which carefully worked out plans are
being discussed and modified. The no.
| tells are full of Spartacan as well as
government agents, who spy upon.
every one and everything. Each fac
| ton has assigned at least one agent
| to keep tab on the foreign journalists
| to ascertain their political views. The
! Prussian elements are extremely OBJ
noxious and every day their hostility
| to entente subjects is more apparent.
There is no doubt that IL they are
\ left to their own devices they will try
to embark again on a military pro-
gram. :
Pence Terms a Barrier.
| Fortunately the terms of peace will
| render that impossible if they are
carried out as planned by the commits
| sion of control which Is now. gath
ering in Berlin and other centers.
Therefore they will probably be con-
| tent with seizing governmental power
and running things as near their own
| ideas as circumstances will permit
| Practically all of the internal reas ons.
| for Germany's position today can be
| laid to the Prussians and their In
herent militarism. Their strength
lies in the fact that the most able
men in Germany afe to be found
among them. No member of the ex-
strong. unless 1t is Gustav Noske. and
| his position is precarious because his
army may jump any way at any time
! One thing likely to precipitate
| crisis before spring Is the demand by
| the allies for the surrender of various
persons That will certainly cause
sharp division among the members of
| the Noske guard. When it comes to a
| showdown most of the men will stick
| by their old commanders, but the
number of those who are willing to
give them up is large enough to war
| rant a clash. ..