The Washington herald., 1920-03-14
BY FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE.

by FREDERIC WILLIAM VILE,
Author Of .Men Around the Kaiser
Confidential advices have been
| reaching the United States from
Germany for some time that a coun-
ter revolution was imminent. II
was timed for February. The great
financial and Industrial interests of
Berlin, Hamburg, Frankfort and the
Rhineland not only expected the
overthrow OF the Ebert Socialist
government, but openly advocated
IL.
There is reason to believe that the
militarists enjoyed the active coop
GRAFTON of the capitalist community
in effecting the coup detat. The
avowed purpose of Big Business"
in Germany was to set up, as soon
as possible, a constitutional monar-
chy, on British lines. on the, ruins
OF the Hohenzollern despotism.
Germans Monarchical at Heart.
Leaders like Gwinner, the bank
er; Rathenau, the Industrial chief
tain: Heineken. the shipping mag
nate; Dernburg, the financier-econ-
omist: Thyssen. the iron king: Stin-
nes, the coal baron, and other Ger
mans of their type have been con-
vinced from the start that the re-
gime established in Germany in No
vember, 1918, was bound to be an
ephemeral one. They represented
the view that Germany was mon
archical at heart. though, in its vast
majority, It has become antf-Hohen-
zollern.
These former ''men around the
Kaiser" had no faith in the ability
of doctrinaire Marxians to per-
petuate or re-establish the economic
glory that was Germany's six years
ago. They were content to give 1t
a trial, confident that the chaos and
hopelessness that have meantime
supervened would bring down the
Socialist regime sooner or later.
Believe In MIIitarism.
These financial and commercial
chieftains, too, are believers in mill
tarism on a limited scale. They
favor such military establish
ments as are maintained in Great
Britain, France, Italy and other
democratic countries, holding that
under genuine representative gov
ernment an army and navy could be
maintained that would serve Ger
many's purposes without menacing
the security of other countries.
There is. little doubt that 1t is
this kind of a government that the
moneyed men of Germany are now
bent upon setting up. 1t is alto
gether unlikely that they will lend
their powerful support to any
mailed-fis regime, IL such be the
intention of Gen. Won Luettwitz and
his militarist cronies. Luettwitz
has in many respects been the un-
crowned king of Germany under
the Ebert-Neske oligarchy. Luett-
witz said to a friend of the writer
in Berlin last year that he got
along splendidly with Noske, as
Noske signs everything 1 lay before
him."
Have Eyes on Russia.
The feature of the suddenly-ar-
rived situation in Germany, which
should be earnestly borne in mind, is
that a new regime-composed OF the
moderate militarist and commercial
classes-will undoubtedly turn it's
gaze at the earliest possible moment
to RUSSIA.
1t was the Prussian militarists.
who have usurped power in Berlin,
that negotiated with the Lenine-
III 4SAs AOi PeHe
Russia out OF the war. It was at
Brest Litovsk that the present-hour
rulers Of Germany did business with
the present-hour rulers of Russia.
The world will be well advised to
watch carefully whether the Brest
Litvosk rapprochement of two years
ago is not revived and renewed.
Both parties have a common
grievance against Great Britain,
France. Italy and the United States.
Both claim that allied "rapacity"
and "mercilessness" have brought
their respective countries to their.
present desperate plight. 1t may
well. be that they will seek COM
mon salvation in making common
cause against what they consider
the common foe.
Man-Power Big Factor.
Certain IL is that the German
financial and Industrial leaders have
long been plotting to exploit and
organize, Russia for German ends.
They have had their eyes on the
limitless man-power of Russia.
They have feAsted in anticipation
on the inexhaustibIe natural re-
sources OF that. vast untapped con-
tinent. They have argued. with
reason and fact on their side, that
Germany and Germans are better
equipped to bring about the eco-
nomic regeneration of Russia for
Russia's own good than any other
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