New-York tribune., 1920-03-16
kapp Bows
To Menace
OF Walk-Out
Election for Members of
Reichstag and Assem-
bly, Is To Pc Called
Within Two M on t his
Next President To
Be Peoples Choice
Experts to Compose New
Cabinet; Labor to Form
a Secondary Chamber

OS(OkSaOA N1a1AuOCA
BERLIN, March Is (By The AS
sociated Press) The counter revo-
luton in Germany appears tonight
to have reached the end of the road.
There is a strong probability that
shortly one government will be in
control and that President Ebert
will come back to Berlin with his
ministers.
A basis of agreement between
the government set up by Or.
Wolfgang Kapp as chancellor and
the government of President Ebert
is enunciated in declaration issued
by the present Berlin government
to-day.
Announcement is-made that ne
gotiations with settlement in view
have been opened between the two
governments at the instance of
President Ebert and his associates.
but there is no direct confirmation
Of this from Ebert, who is under
u
Ebert to Remain President
Briefly, Chancellor Kapp is agree
able to the continuance in office of
the present Imperial President
Friedrich Ebert. He renounces the
formation of a new ministry and
places the direction of affairs in
the hands Of the under secretaries
of state.
The agreement as set forth by
Chancellor Kapp provides for cabi-
net, which shall include "profes-
siona1 minister's" or experts, cleo
tions within two months for men,
bers of the Reichstag and the Prus-
sian National Assembly, and subse-
quently an election for Imperial
President by the people-until
which time Ebert shall hold the reins
of power. 1t is agreed that second
chamber Of labor will be former bv
the extension of the economiv min
istry and the employees councils.
One significant clause in the pro-
1unciamento says: "The new and
old governments shall issue joint
declaration that under present con-
dt'on a general strike is a crime
against the German people"
Strike Weapon Effective
Herein lies the explanation Of
the proposed settlement, for the
general strike, as often before, has
proved an effective weapon. Ger
many already has felt its sinister
effect, for the strike in Berlin and
many of the other principal cities
of the country Immediately cut off
supplies, means Of transportation,
light and heat.
1t was President Ebert and his
Ministers who called upon the So
the workmen and all the
people to declare a general strike,
and there was an instant and effec-
tive response to this call. Labor
fiercely resisted the usurpation of
the reactionary government. Vast
of men left their work.
and serious disorders occurred in
various parts of the country.
Chancellor Kapp and his support
ers announced that they would deal
harshly with strikes or passive re-
slstance to the existing order in Ber-
lin. One of the leaders of the coun-
ter revolution, voicing the sentiment
OF the others, said, I'VE won't
knuckle down to the Socialists and
workmen who think they can run
the country"
notwithstanding the governments
threat of drastic measures. it has
been evident that both DIR. Kapp
nor Major General Won Luettwitz
were unwilling to put their warnings
to the test. Bloodshed would have
been inevitable, plunging the coun-
try possibly into state of anarchy
and giving the Communists the op-
portunity they have long awaited to
foist the Soviet doctrines upon Ger
many.
Berlin Feared Starvation
The situation for a time was
fraught with alarming possibilities,
particularly if the strike should ex-
tend to the railroads. The imme-
date consequence of this would have
been the speedy starvation of Ber.
lin. The most liberal estimates
placed Berlin's food supply at less
than eight days.
This state of affairs was recor-
nlzed IN all its seriousness also BY