Evening star., 1920-03-29
BY FRANK H. sIMoNDs.


public sentiment, aroused against the
militaristic and imperial control. Be
nlnd 1t many of the old elements con-
t1nued 70 exercise great influence. and
the leaders Of the German junkers
awaited the right moment to throw
on the mask. The repression of the
revolt was conducted with a brutal
ity beyond words. The murders Of
Liebknecht and Rosa Luxemburg
Were shameful incidents. Both were
thus .perpetuated the traditions Of
German atrocities in France and Bel
GUM.
Socialists Tools Of Mflitarism.
Moreover. the very socialists who
came to power had been the passive
tools of the German militarists
throughout the war. They had by
their votes supported the government
In the reichstag, thus betraying their
own principles. They had fought the
small but gallant minority which had
declared against German crimes in
the war; In word. during the whole
progress Of the struggle they had
surrendered to the junkers their
votes. established their position; they
were as much accomplices Of the mill
tary offenses as any other element in
the German electorate.
Finally. to preserve even that sem
blance of power which came to them
after after the revolution. they were com.
to deal with the Spartacists in true
Prussian spirit. The military estab-
lishment which was created to de-
fend the new regime was thus in real
ity.-no more than the old bearing a
new name. but containing the famil-
lar elements of the monarchial army.
Noske. who figured largely in the
public prints, was. in reality. COM
PEELED to give such hostage to the re-
dictionaries that his own freedom Of
action was destroyed.
Sham "Liberal" Regime.
What one actually had in Germany,
therefore, was a sham liberal gov
ernment called to power actually by
the reactionaries for the double pur--
pose of deceiving the conQuerors and
the masses of the German people. who
were in arms against the unsuccessful
government which had led them to
defeat and ruin. It was the hope that
the allies would be deceived by This
moderate their terms; 1t was the ex-
pectation that popular wrath would
soon pass and then the old gang
would take hold.
The first Of the hopes was not real
lied. The allies were not deceived into
and the treaty Of Versailles included
terms which disappointed the German
expectations. Incidentally these terms
served to discredit the sham liberal
government and thus supplied the re-
actionaries. the 1unkers. with an op-
portunity to strike for their old posi-
tion. Against such blow the Ebert
government was helpless itself. be-
cause it's military establishment was.
in fact, in the hands of the old mill
tary element
How far the Ebert government as a
whole was a party to the recent stroke
of the reactionaries is a matter of
conjecture. One may recall that Ker-
ensky was reputed to have agreed to
the Korniloff rebellion, and to have
and thrown himself into the arms of
Lenin and Trotsky, thus insuring the
ruin OF Korniloff, but insuring the i'm
mediate collapse of his own rule. In
seems to have followed similar
course and proclaimed the general
strike. This weapon, once unsheathed,
produced the situation which, in Rus
sia. precipitated the deluge. for 1t
which had never accepted the Ebert
government, never ceased to denounce
it as a sham and never hesitated to al.
lege that behind 1t was the old gang
awaiting favorable moment to "come
back.
Grave ana Just Complaints.
OF the masses. who are now repre-
sented by the communisuc and the
soviet leaders. it is necessary to remem-
Der that they have very grave and Just
complaints. Their leaders were massa-
cred by the old militaristic element,
with the passive consent, If not the ac-
tive approval. OF the Ebert government.
Their brothers were shot down by Prus-
sian soldiers. the real reforms they
sought to bring about were prevented
and following the bloody repression,
there has come. in due course, as they
forecast. the counter revolution. de-
and not impossibly some Hohenzollern,
to serve as the necessary figurehead.
Exactly like Kerensky. Ebert has, in
his final despair, unclaimed a real revo-
luton. But is not a real revolution the
necessary prelude to any real progress
in Germany? Instincttvely we are all
shuddering at the thought Of bolshevism
now appearing on the east bank Of the
Rhine, but is 1t quite clear that the
safety OF the world will be more as
Alternative. namely. the restoration Of
the junker element to power, is finally
accepted by the German people,
Underlying all else Is the fact that
the Ebert government was q sham, q
camoufiage, to cover the monarchists
counter revolution, which the Ebert
government permitted, If 1t did not
in. had been successful, we
should have seen Ludendorff, Tirpitz
and all the notorious figures Of a pre-
vious regime shortly seated in their
old position. We should have been
bach in the atmosphere of 1914 and
at the beginning of a new period Of
for a war OF revenge.
Conceivably allied influence may
now avail to restore the Ebert gov
ernment to power. but it cannot re-
store it to popular confidence. The
masses. who have repudiated it as the
tool Of their junker tyrants may con-
sent to swallow Ebert on their bread,
If there is no other way Of getting
bread. but either their submission will
be temporary and a new uprising come
in due course of time. or the junkers
will be able, by using the color Of al
He'd approval. to regain absolute
mastery of Germany and resume their
cid methods and pursue their ancient
detectives.
Copyright. 1920. Mcclure Newspaper Syndicate
Poland Seizes Lost Securities.
PARIS March 2S-Ronda and atocks