The New York herald., 1921-03-15


nearer the public sentiment than the
republican government.
Labor has the only reliable organ
ization to defend the republic. so
that counter revolution to be sue
cessful would have to promise more
in the interest of labor than the ex-
listing regime, either in the form of
popular reforms or share in power
or popular war. \
Since the Kapp rebellion this sit
uation. has been clear to all the roy
alist leaders. They have tried to
meet 1t in one Of two ways. The mil
itarist faction, as distinguished from
the parliamentary faction, preached
national Bolshevism. Bolshevism was
widely discussed last summer. when
Russian victory in Poland was ex-
pected. and the talk was revived in
Bavaria this winter.
But the mihtarists are. mostly i'm
petuous personalities with a craving
for quick results, and their doctrine
has not made headway either among
the conservatives of greater expert
ence or labor. Even Gen. Luden-
dorff has worn out his welcome In
Bavaria TO the point where a power
ful Bavarian peasants league recent
" passed resolution applying for
an order TO oust "Prussian counter
revolutionary rowdies." The rest of
the so-called men Of 1914 are less
energetic and consider it more tact
fal to maintain constitutional
facade.
By their own statements they do
not expect a monarchy to be estab-
lished except If 1t became noised
about that the Conservative leaders
in the Reichstag would support re-
bellion again If the Government
signed a reparations agreement GO
ing beyond the German Judgment of
what it Is possible to pay.
Chances for a Revolution.
Quite often the imminence of
restoration In Germany Is confused
with the possibility of coup d'etat.
The fact is that a counter revolution
could be temporarily successful at
any moment The Reichswehr is roy
alist to the core; the Bavarian civic
guards, composed of hundreds of
thousands of drilled members, aret
for the most part royalists. Variousi
societies Of war veterans and home
guards are ready to join the stand
ard of any movement promising to
overthrow the republic. The Govern
ment is as weakly defended as in the
days of Kapp. for 1t still has no au-
thority by which it could induce the
Reichswehr to fight men with whom
they are in the closest sympathy.
SDr. Kapp occupied Berlin with
5000 soldiers. The only rebellion
against which the republic is safe
guarded would be one attempted by
the Communists. The Germans ac-
knowledge that they had not estab-
lished the republic through inner
conviction.
Professor Scheidemann's diary por-
trays how the Cabinet before the
Kaiser's abdication measured his go
ing solely as step required by
President Wilson and the Allies, and
not one demanded by the Germans for
freedom at home. Nor have the vicis-
situdes Of Germany since 1918 or
the treatment accorded to the repub-
lie at the hands of the Allies made
the new form Of government seem
practicable.
Even the Democratic party, which
courageously set out to be a new lib
eral leaven in the old Prussian loaf,
has lost It's vitality. The Democratic
policy introduced under foreign in
spiration seems to have needed for
eign support to maintain itself.
The Germans now say that they
are in the position of having to adopt