The Greeneville daily sun. (Greeneville, Tenn.) 1918-1920, 1919-04-04
New Germany Has
Almost Hopeless
Trouble Legacy
By FRANK J. TAYLOR

Omitted Press Staff Correspondent
BERLIN, April 4.-Germany's in
FAINT republic was Dor nwith no silver
spoon, unless liberation from militar-
ism and kaiserism can be interpreted
in that way. The new republic begins
with the most hopeless legacy of trou-
bles that any nation ever faced.
So interviewer and tangled are the
problems which the new rpublic's
cabinet is undertaking and struggling
against, while new ones rise con-
stantly, that the words of German
who said, "There's not a man in Ger
many who sees at one time more than
half the maze of dangers that might
explode and overthrow the State"
are true.
There are those who say tn situa-
tion is beyond solution. They hold
that the slate of the past should be
wiped clean, and that the German
State should start all over again,
much as Russia tried to do. The Gov
ernment realizes this would mean dis
aster and complete loss of confidence
in any for mof government, and
struggles to avoid it.
1t is hard enough to change the
form of government when things are
running smoothly, and when all par
ties agree to it. 1t is hard enough to
begin republic where no govern
ment existed at all before. The Ger
mans find their task far more diff
cult by the reason that their country
was completely reorganzed, and the
new regime has to answer immedi.
ately for all the dsluge of failures
and mistakes of the old.
Germany today can be visualized
perhaps as pepper full of popcorn,
most of which has popped, but some
Of which has not and is still going off. I
Each explosion shakes the whole
mass. This unstable state is held to-
yether only by the walls of arms that
still surround it, for many are they !
who would like to escape from the
burden.
Germany's new Government is
the problems with optimism
md hope-confdence hardly posi-
lie, as yet. Right here it might be
aid the new German Government is
me without brilliant leaders and is
Without great men in it. This the
Germans themselves say, and do so
Without regret in their voices. The
Ieramns have had enough of great
men, and see mglad to trust their fu-
ure to mediocre, honest citizens.
This carpenters reichstag," as it
las been called, has already weather
d storms of opposition, during the
rying months when the Ebert -Scheid-
mann party guided Germany from
and put to flight the adop-
ion of provisional republic consti-
ution at Weimar, on February 10.
The great mass of German people
ave expressed their confidence in at
east the honesty and impeachable
rood intentions of the "citizen con-
.ress."
How successful these "citizen stat
,smen," if they can be called that,
will be, can be told only by time. If
hey succeed in bringing Grmany out
If the muddle of tangled political,
social, economic and foreign prob
ems, it will be an everlasting tribute
1t the republican form of govern
nent. If they fail and have to call
or help from outside Germany, as
10 small proportion of Germans who
ire pessimistic predict, it will be be-
,ause the militarists and the Junkers
eft too much of a bad legacy to car
y in these trying times.
Just what tremendous difficulties
he new republican faces cannot be
fully nor described in
heir proper relations by foreigner,
when German leaders
themselves cannot straighten out in
heir own minds these problems,
which change almost daily.
But there are high lights that stand !
ut, or group themselves under heads, '
nd the best correspondent can do
; describe these problems as they
ppear, not so much to a foreigner,
ut to Germany's republican cabinet.
'hich is trying to master them all at
nee. The following series of arti-
les on Germans situation political
7, socially, economically, and in
ther phass that can be covered, may
e altered by the time these stories
ct to print, but they will describe
he chaotic, complicated, unrestful
tuation out of which the new Ger
ian republic was born.
"Say, can you let me have five or