The daily Gate City and constitution-Democrat. (Keokuk, Iowa) 1916-1922, 1920-05-28
PRUSSIANISM
STILL PROBLEM
Old Style, Iron Faced, lnsoIent, Mon.
oc'ed Militarist Is Hard to
Down, Even These Az
go Days. 2a1
lBy Carl D. Groat United Press
Staff Correspondent.


by Carl D. Groat, United Pres:
Staff Correspondent
BERLIN, April 30.-Germany il
,, passing through the throes of a be
lated housekeeping as regards Prus
sian militarism.
That is to say, she is trying to rid
herself of this scourge, but is finding
Tor one reason and another, that the
old style, iron faced, inSolent, mon
ocled Prussian militarist is hard I'd
down. t-as ,,.. ~. s.a.sE
He has done much to damn Ger.
many before the world. AT present
no is doing much to damn Germany
further. and, If he succeeds, to dis.
rupt her business and her future.
The people-as a whole-don't
want him back. They proved that
when they rose up as one man during
the kapp coup and said.- "Out with
the reactionaries and the militarists"
But the Prussian militarist didn't
heed that warning. On the other
hand, he saw how simple it was to
make coup with a handful of daring
soldiers. Since then the genus, Prus-
sian officer. with some exceptions,
has been busying his head over how
to overthrow the government and
hang to his military job.
The principal thing with the aver
age Prussian officer-again with the
exception of some who are republican
minded-is to hold his job, and, If
possible. re-establish the good old
days" when everybody kow-towed,
81 inI- ol L@.r
for the almighty militarist.
The situation as regards militarism
in Germany runs thus:
After defeat of the German army,
many officers naturally were dis
missed and there has been steady
elimination under armistice and
treaty terms Many an officer today
is doing work OF an almost mental
character. The story runs that one
general is night baggage porter at
one Of the big Berlin stations
spurned even by the other porters.
Some are said to be driving trucks.
This may or may not be true, bur in
any event it can be said truthfully
that more than one German officer
is doing work now he would have
scorned a few years ago. The mill
tarists still in the army want to stay
there. They dream Of the day when
Germany will core back" and smite
france.
These men, stuck away in corners,
yet very influential, are responsible
for hiding out guns and munitions on
the allies. The civil government
at least allied officers declare-is
and has been trying@to be on the
level about fulfillment of the treaty's
disarmament clauses.
Tho old-Prussian clique patted
Noske on the back and then plotted
behind him. Many supported Kapp.
Many who did so are still in impor-
tant posts. Many are defiant. Take
the Ehrhardt brigade. The members
say openly, I'VE don't care anything
about this government. We defy
them to try to disarm u.s."
And, in all corners Of the country,
the Luettwitzs, the Bischoffs, the
Bauers. the Ehrhardts are nursing
their hatred against the new scheme
of things in Germany. They are
yearning for the "old days" when it
was "Gott NIT uns fuer koenig und
Reich"
Mid-April saw an outburst Of re-
ports of new ''putsch'' brewing over
the entire country, but centerlng out
of Pomerania. The news was stilled
down quickly, but it can be said from
reliable sources that the government
still expects trouble from the mill
tarists and junkers. Pomerania,
fruitful land, is run by fat. prosper
Gus junkers. They have seen the
handwriting on the wall, and the
writing says, "The German people
want more of say in their own af-
fairs; they, want food at reasonable
prices: they don't want to be serv-
ants under the heel Of bloated land
as in other days
And, because they have seen this
vision, the Pomern "Gutsbesitzer,'
as the landowners are named in their
own tongue, have planted demobil-
lied Baltic troops-the hardest,
fiercest fighters of the whole Ger
man outfit-all over their farms.
These men can be whipped into
small army any minute. They'd
rather fight than-well, work on
farm.
All of which shows, perhaps super
Picially but to some extent, what the
problem is.
The new defense minister, Gessler,
has found he was dealing with lot
Of very incorrigible people. He has
issued orders for dismissals of GER
ain officers only to find a week or
.wo later that the orders were mere
" dumped into the waste basket.
Dissolution of the Ehrhardt brig
,de was pledged But how to do it. 4
The government. hasn't solved the
problem so far and has, in fact,
decided timidity. They
saw it would mean gathering a larger
army of loyal troops than they can
secure. And, further. it would mean
! fight to the death--a slaughter, for