Arizona republican., 1922-06-11
BY Frederic j. Haskin

WASHINGTON, D. c., June -
The statesmen who are seeking to
settle economic and political affairs
in Europe are confronted by an ex-
traordinary development which is up
setting many calculations 1t is a
revolutionary movement on the part
of the rising generation in middle
Europe, particularly in Germany and
Austria. Its members, scores of
thousands in number, refer to it as
the Freie Deutsche Jugend or the
Free Youth of Germany.
The movement consists of the
youth of the land, ranging in age
from mere striplings of 10 or IL
years to students and young men
UP to % years of age. These youths,
both boys and girls, have revolted
from the social, political and eco
nomic ties which have bound them
for generations and have declared
their emancipation
The manifest demonstrations of
the movement appear in the literal
freedom of these youngsters. They
have become a sort of high class of
tramps or gypsies. In twos. threes
or groups larger in number. they
wander about Germany and Austria,
tasting their first absolute liberty.
To understand this, it must be re-
membered that everyone in middle
Europe is poor. whether he tramps
the road or stays at home. If he
stays at home and works, he is paid
in money which may be worth half
as much tomorrow as it is today.
There is little inducement for him to
work.
BY wandering about the country, a
hP1lfhW ryir nick
up odd jobs of work in return for
meals or a nights lodging. On warm
nights it Is no hardship to sleep I'M
der hedges or in haystacks, in barns
or in the fragrant fields beneath the
stars.
The serious Importance Of the Free
Youth movement is seen by the
statesmen attempting to solve Euro
pean problems in the fact that the
new generation of workers is slip
ping out of the harness of the old
economic system. The statesmen do
not declare this is wrong; they
merely are forced to recognize that
If the movement continues, they must
alter completely their calculations of
how debts are to be paid and how
the worlds work is to be done
What Worries the Statesmen
The big question as to Germany is
this: Under the Versailles treaty,
Germany owes the allies hundreds of
millions OF dollars in reparations,
payable in money OR in goods. 1t is
the plan that these payments shall
extend over a number of years. But
if the rising generation of workers
strikes in this manner and declines
to do the industrial labor to produce
the wealth or money with which to
pay the reparatfons, the statesmen,
who have been counting on a con-
tinuation of the old system. are con-
fronted by dilemma for which there
is no obvious solution.
The attitude of the Free Youth is
that they were all children, some of
them unborn, when the war started
in 1914. and particularly when the
old aggressive Hohenzollern policy
responsible for the war was being
put into execution They declare
they are in no way responsible for
the loss to the allies. They did not
start the war, most of them did not
take part in it, and they feel that
they owe nothing to anyone. Fur
ther they assert that they are out of
sympathy with the old military sys-
tenn and that they do not fear any
threats of force from the allies which
might be made in an effort to collect.
The allied statesmen find themselves
in the position of man striking at