New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1920-04-25
By William C. Dreher

BERLIN, March 81 (By mail).-A
sharp ring at my telephone bell. !
spring from my bed, my doxology
slumber rudely interrupted. My watch
points to 7. "Who on earth can be 80
impoGte as to ring me up so early ?"
was the question that ran through my
mind as l seized the telephone.
"You are asked to come to the
Reichskkanzlei at once-you and all the
foreign correspondents" 1t was the
voice of the girl in the hotel telephone
exchange. tried to get her to tell me
what it meant, but she left the case
shrouded in mystery.
With guesses running through my
mind, I hurried downstairs. Nothing
unusual there, but as / passed the
young man at the newsstand he touched
off the bombshell:
Did you hear the big news? The
governments overthrow and a new
government set up. 1t came in this
morning with the troops from Doe
beritz. DR.. Kapp is Rechskanzler."
Out on the street militarism is again
rampant. A detachment of troops oc-
cupies the head of Willie lmstrasse, a
few rods to the east. Other troops are
drawn up in Inter den Linden and still
others are arriving through the Bran
army of occupation AS we walk up the
street to the government offices we find
troops everywhere, the side streets
closed to general traffic, a guard at the
door of all public buildings. They are
especially numerous about the Foreign
Office, the Chancellor's Palace and on
the Wilhelm Platz hard by. They have
established their headquarters in the
I.old Prince Leopold Palace, across the
street from the Foreign Office and
Kanzlei.
When we entered the palace there
was hustle and hustle. Officers were
coming and going; everything seemed
more or less in confusion. The Kapp
dictatorship was just getting on its
feet, not yet an hour old when We
appeared to hear what it had to say
; for itself.
Berlin Showed No Excitement
A bunch of US went from there for a
yak through the streets to see how
Berlin was taking the usurpers' regime.
! We saw streams of people trudeing
along to their days work, but they
showed no excitement, no apparent pro-
test, nobody was looking particularly
dissatisfied with the new master in the
Wilhclmstrasse.
On Sunday about noon came the tin
that DR.. Kapp would see the foreign
correspondents in an hour. He re-
.ceived us cordially, giving each shake
OF the hand. Then he made his little
speech and answered our questions.
4sanwh!.e modcstly declining the title
our Exec lency' which one of the
correspondents INDUCED IN.
The truth was that Kapp's venture
was SO grotesque that nobody could be-
lieve in 1t, even after being forewarned.
Luettwitz, commander of the troops in
northern Germany, had gone to Ebert
several days before Kapp launched his
venture and made such presumptuous
political demands that he was removed
from his position, and even then the
government did not believe that an at-
tornnt would be made to overthrow It.
Conditions were obviously not yet ripe
OF tat and 50 the government re-
fused to be alarmed.
kapp Realizes His Mistake
>, And it very soon became evident to
Kapp himself that he had entered Der.
nm upon a FOOLS errand. He was still
aple TO assume an air Of jaunty self
commence when he received US corre-
spondcnts on Sunday but on that day
already his political friends, as we
learned later. were trying to show him
the impossibilty of carrying off" his
usurrpaton and by Monday he was
ready to beat retreat. He was only
Kept on the stage by his military man
agers-so great had his stage fright
become within two days.
He had good and sufficient reasons
"r that fri9ht. The general strike
declared against him had brought bust
ness TO standstill. What was worse.
,he bureaucracy refused, with very
Icy exceptions, to recognize him. On
Saturday, indeed, he went through the
form Of arresting Schiller, but by Sun
day he sent for Schiller to negotiate
with him: Also he sent for several Of
me Socialist ministers of the Prussian
Cabinet: Nothing, however, came Of
theae efforts to clear the ground.
And Kapp could get no money. Tho
i Treasury Department refused to rec
ognize his drafts, and the Imperial
Bank did likewise. Then he ordered
Captain Ehrhardt. commander of his
'r"ops TO take several armorcd cars
and enough soldiers and 70 to tho
bank and get the needed money; but
tais officer sent back word thst he wns