New Ulm review., 1922-01-11

and primitive country life, IN water
ing-places like charming Ems and
Schwalbach, in busy Mainz, and liter
ally within a stones throw Of the
most beautiful and frequented Street
il ,Wiesbaden. The army requisi-
tions them, the municipality ''installs"
them, the Reich pays for them.
| for them. These acts and the parad-
ing Of the colored troops in the time
honored shrines of German State pa
triotism, may seem to take the bloom
off the French scheme Of cultural
penetration War is continuous
and calculated sin against the mind
and soul Of the soldier, your own as
well as the enmy's. But here is a
specially coarse inference Of its base
and soulless mechanism into the
peace. The statesmen of the En-
tente in January 10, 1920, pledged
themselves before the people Of the
Rhineland to liberal admiaistra-
ton, and to observe the governing
statute Sin spirit and in letter.
Did they contemplate the erection Of
these houses? Among the sigma
lures to this document I observe the
names of Woodrow Wilson, D. Lloyd
George, E. M. House, George N.
Barnes, J. c. SHUTS, and Emile Van
fdervelde. I should like to refer to
these distinguished men the letter
Of the agreement of 1920, and to beg
a comparison of the spirit which M
Tirard and his colleagues have ap-
piled to it. =. .,,#
| +; There are other tests of the ''iber-
allty'' Of the Statute of 1919, and of
it's exemplary Interpretation by
France. I say that the French are in
the Rhineland for a political move
more than for an economic end; and
that the numbers Of their army, their
triple scheme of military political, and
cultural penetration, their war on the
German spirit, and their harsh treat
ment of the German bureaucracy
prove that what T say is true. But
be it's intention what it may, this
bloated French Occupation is a
scourge, to the backs Of the most limo.
cent part of the Rhineland popula.
ton. Germany, like US, suffers from
a famine of houses. But French mi
litarism has badly aggravated this
.dearth. Her great officials are housed
with a gross extravaganza Of rooms
and appointments That, indeed, is
the fault of all sections of the Army Of
i Occupation. But the main evil is
that of quartering swarm of foreign
and semi-savage troops on towns
unaccustomed to, reserve any
thing like the same accommodation fol
their own soldiers. One extreme ia
stance of this is that Euskirchen, a
town of 14;500 inhabitants, has beer
forced to find bullets for, from $500 to
5000 colored troops: This is breach
Of the spirit and, I imagine, even Of
the letter of the CoYenant. But every
town in the Occupation IS victim oi
enforced overcrowding, and the
school children suffer most Of all
While Germany is turning her barracks
into Labor Exchanges, democratic
France forcibly converts German
schools into barracks In Duessel.
dorf I was told that school-life hac
practically ceased; in Wiesbaden sew.
en- out of ten elementary schools hao
been taken for barracks or Offices; anc
the children must get cheir schooling
in the morning and afternoon shifts
passed in crowded rooms that car
never be properly cleaned or ventila-
ted I saw swarms of these little
outcasts in the streets as darkness fell;
thousands more, said teacher, could
never take the midday meal at home.
lz,i3Take two further qualitative clues
to the spirit of the French Occupa-
ton. They are Its attitude to the
German. civil power, and it's treat
nent of the Press. The Covenant
of the Commission expressly declared
| {Article s. that the civil administra-
ton was. to remain in the hands of
the German authorities. So, in a
sense IT. does R1It on one Dertnxt or