Evening star., 1920-03-19
Workers. SHOT
DOWN IN STREETS
BY KAPP TROOPS
Retirement From Berlin
Bloody 0rgy-AII Germany
in Rebellious Mood.

1
barrel of gunpowder .yhich may be
ignlted at any time,' says a Berlin dis
patch to the Exchange Telegraph Com
pany filed at Berlin yesterday.
| The dispatch describes the withdrawal
from Berlin Of the Iron Division and
naval brigades, which marched down
Cnter den Linden at 4:30 o'clock yes
terday afternoon In the midst of pour
Ing rain. Crowds, the majority Of which
were extremist radical workers. looked
on as company after company filed down
| the street in the direction of the Bran
denburg gate on their way to Doeberitz
The soldiers marched to the accom-
paniment OF drums and with Prussian
banners flying" the message says
Ihey were armed. carrying their rifles
ready to fire and with their fingers on
the triggers. Their behavior could not
nave been more provocative. Workers
standing on the sidewalks seemed boil
| ing with excitement and none could un-
| mitted to withdraw without giving up
their arms. Few belived they would
Keep their promise to disarm at Doebe-
| ritz.
| Soldiers Smile MockinsIy.
| Many soldiers smiled mockingly
at the crowd as though saying: Wait
q wn1le; we shall return This in
| - SeS'S0 thO tiHl6BOulSm OIL the Spec
tators. many of whom shouted, whis-
tled and catcalled, while others hurled
| such ep1thets as 'scoundrels,' beasts
and swine at the soldiers, who re-
sponded with contemptuous looks as
they handled their grenades menace
ingIy.
From the Hotel Adlon elegantly
dressed women waved their handker-
chiefs at the soldiers, this raising
TO a white heat the anger of the
workers. They suddenly made a rush
| toward the hotel and some actually
| invaded the vestibule before being re-
| pulsed by strong detachment of Sc
curity troops guarding the allied mis-
sions at the hostelry.
Fires Volley Into Crowd.
Hardly had the last soldier passed
| the Brandenburg gate when the rear
guard turned and fred volley into
| the crowd standing in the street.
way had no recourse but to fling
| themselves on the pavement. Along
Inter den Linden, Sommerstrasse and
BudapeSterstrasse men started to run
away. Many of these were either
killed or wounded during the firing,
which lasted for half a minute. Four
dead and ten wounded were carried
| into the Hotel Adlon.
Members of the security guards,
stationed at the Brandenburg gate,
being few in number.
"a little later. near the parliament
building. a crowd of workers rushed
| a detachment of Baltic troops who
! were passing. and the latter began
| firing, the sounds of rife fire min
Cling with the shrill cries and groans
| of the wounded. For a time all was
| chaos and pandemonium. and it ap-
pears that in the confusion the SOL
diers here shot a number of their own
men.
Number Of Dead Not known.
1.-The exact number of those killed
| and wounded could not be ascertained
| this evening. Twenty persons were
| killed in subsequent clash at Char
| lottenburg, and a still more serious
| encounter was reported from Kott-
| butzen, but no details are at hand.
workers believe the soldiers may
| return presently, bringing on a Crisis
more serious than that of the past
| few days. They are particular furious
over the appointment of Gen. Won
| Seecht as commander of forces here,
| he being placed in the same category
| as Gen. Won Luettwitz."
| Downfall Of kapp.
| LONDON, March 18.-Events which
| eliminated in the downfall of the
government of Chancellor Kapp and
| Gen. Won Luettwitz are recounted by
| the Berlin correspondent Of the Ex-
| change Telegraph.
1.-THE members of the imperial coun-
Gil and the undersecretary of state of
| the old government Tuesday night de-
manded a conference with Won Luett-
witZ, at which he was asked to re-
sign,"s the correspondent says. The
general made lengthy speech, indi-
eating that he had been mistaken on
many points-for instance, in his be-
lief that the workers would cease re-
sistance as soon as they felt the pinch
| of hunger.
FINALLY. he admitted, however, that
DR.. Kapp had been unable to find sup
port from any political party, even
from the conservatives, on whom he
had relied, and the only ministers he
had gotten were those of agriculture
and posts. When the latter went to
the ministry the employees notified him
they would not take his orders.
"The undersecretaries told Won
Luettwitz that any other minister ap-
pointed would meet with the same
treatment. The general, however,
persisted in holding out
Ready to Fight Reds.
"At 10 o'clock Tuesday night, after
the arrival of an ultimatum from the
independents and communists saying
that unless the troops Immediately
left Berlin a council republic would
be proclaimed, Won Luettwitz and the
officers of the reichswehr announced
they were willing to fight the COM
munists under the Bauer government.
Negotiations were resumed yester-
day wednesday, by a commission on
which the national party was repre-
sented by former PruSsian Finance
Minister Huertz, the peoples party by
DR.. Gustav Stresemann and the DEM
ocrats by Karl Trimbon. The COM
| mission was in touch with the ma
| iority socialists. and Vice Premier
Schiller was in touch with Stuttgart
and was well posted on the progress
of the negotiations.
Transfers His Powers.
"At 1 pm. Kapp resigned, trans
ferring his powers to Won Luettwitz,
| who. becoming now more confident,
keep his troops in Berlin at least a
fortnight. His attitude probably was
| modified by the fact that section of
the soldiers declared against him. and
| two Of his generals informed him the
behavior of the Baltic troops had
caused quarrels in the army.
During the afternoons negotiations
Won Luettwitz said conferences had
taken place between Ernest Daumig
and other communist leaders on one
on the other. Pabst even threatened to
join the independents and communists.
Daumig was ready to proclaim a
soviet republic under military pro-
lection.
"At 5:55 O'Clock, Won Luettyitz ex-
pressed willingness to resign. His
successor, Won Seecht (Ebert's chief
Of staff, will now at the earliest mo-
ment try to make the iron (Baltic)
and marine divisions return to Doe
BERTH, where they will be demobilized.
The national assembly probably will
return to Berlin in a few days. The
old government maintains that re-
ceedinr before the Coup occurred A