Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1920-03-20
SATURDAY EVENING, MARCH 20
EVENTS OF A WEEK.

ago has caused : grave concern
throughout the world. The reyolu-
ton, such as it was, was short lveo'
as within four days after taking pos
session of the city OF Berlin and de-
claring a military dictatorship. Dr..
kapp. the official head of the new
movement, had resigned, and two
days later the soldiers from the Baltic
provinces, under the protection OF
whose rifles the new faction has as
sumed power, had marched out OF
the city, their rear guard firing into
the crowds as they left. In this ut
terly brutal and senseless perform
sance several lives were lost, and
many persons wee injured.
The Ebert government is resuming
Fits administrative functions, and it
is announced that the sessions of the
assembly will be resumed in Berlin
early in the coming week. Taking
I I the situation as it is reported in the
fragmentary dispatches. it does not
1ook promising for the Ebert govern
= ment. Though it appears that the
government had for some time been
Nin possession of information that a
t.reaetionarye plot was being Matched,
Mno adequate steps had been taken to
meet any emergency. There had
been such negligence in his respect
tina. a mere handful of soldiers was
ssufhcient to put the administration to
G flight, and the government officials
promptly ran away.
"A
: The next step on the part of the
= government was to appeal to the la
Dor element to declare a general
Il strike. as a means of d~emoralizins
sM@the revolution. Obviously that gov
e ernment Is In hare straits whose best
hope lies in an appeal to the produc-
ing and distributing agencies of the
country to their activities as a
means OF sustaining itself in power.
4 There would have been some logic
Z in an appeal to the public to deny
! commodities and service to the
i usurpeR. had such a thing been pos
n afble. but to close up the entire
3 country and deprive all its inhabi-
i tants OF tho necessaries Of life bears
+ too strong q resemblance to the ira
/ dhional expedient of burning down
! the house to get rid of the rats. u
. q ~ $50 4rE -
After the deposition of the ear
I Alexander Kercnsky assumed control
of affairs in Russia He had good
intentions, but was in a difhcult sit
uation. It might not have been pos
g sible for a strong man to handle it,
3 and kerensky was not a strong man.
3 Fearing the radical element he under
y took to placate ii. He negotiated and
! bargained and yielded until he was
Z forced to seek safety in flight, and
I Bolshevism was in supreme cont-ol.
Ebert and his associates seem to be
handling a similarly difficult situa-
8 ton in a similar manner They
= = have given encouragement to the
radicals by appealing to them for
Il help and by making a humiliating
: display of their W weakness. They
seem at least partially to have gained
q their point in this instance. Then.
there were negotiations with the
counter-reyoiutionists, and it was evil
\ IDENTITY in pursuance of "a bargain or
: compact of some sort that Kapp and
: his fellows withdrew. II the govern
\ ment relies on bargaining for its
tenure OF office it will be given short
3 shrift.
{ Thief radicals have been vastly en-
conraged by the events Of the past
4 few days. They may conclude that
! ! the time has come for them to strike
y the blow for supreme control of
I German affairs that they had in con-
I temptation. II SO, Germany will have
y a bloody experience: The conditions
in Germany are entirely different
from those in Russia. Population
dense, and the great, middle class
nj property holders, the old
81 BOURGEOIS element, is numerous and
& ~ distributed through the entire. en-
u pire. These people win not yield lup
y their property and the control OF
4 their affairs unresistingly to SHIFT
q less ne'er-d0a-SweIls or Wanting lana
. tics They have 20 long been accus-
TONED 70 bstns governed that they
aln1ost ~ hayeslos the capxrNv
q Tor III gpsefnment. but there must
Y stih - enongh mon in them rs strike
AsspAarhk Il Lie mint il applied Il tho
/. Hghls sp6t y iS~inposkib1e to con-
4 eetys of Germany With Boishesisn
Arse1ms eaxcspt sitter the horrors 81
80 RFHsnca conarnsins have been