The Washington herald., 1922-01-22

That there has been continued
and serious friction between Ba-
varia and Prussia. between Bavaria
and the rest of the German Repub-
lie, has been well known even In
America where. except for inforna-
tion on the Anglo-Irish troubles.
knowledge of the Internal difficult
ties of other countries is rather the
exception than the rule. We have
heard rumors of a movement TO
unite Austria with Bavaria in q
new nation distinct from the Ger
man Republic. We have heard re-
ports of alleged French intrigue
TO bring about a separation of Ba-
varia from the remainder Of Ger
many. We have heard OF monarch
list plots in Bavaria and the fact
that Bavaria's political views are
vastly more conservative than Prus-
sia's Is well known to all. To some
IL has seemed that a union of Ba-
varia with Austria and the separa-
tion OF this new nation from Ger
many might be a beneficent move,
having in mind the fact that Ba-
varIa and Austria are both Catholic
countries. whereas Prussia is de-
ClQculN IL has Dccn
gued that the creation of such a
nation would lessen the menace Of
future aggression by Germany.
would be a very great benefit to
Austria, would be a reinsurance to
France and would unite two states
with natural racial and religious
ties into a strong. homogeneous ma
tion. Such a union would probably
be welcomed by Austria. even by
those strongly opposed to uniting
with Germany as a whole because
of their lack of sympathy with
Prussia. Yet 1t seems that the
question of such a union is now
more theoretical than real, for the
present at least.
Differences Defined.
Count Lerche nfeld, the present Ba-
varian premier, recently made a
speech which indicated the differ
ences between Bavaria and Ger
many. The Bavarian premier char
acterized as "Berlin's. Christmas S
present to Bavaria" the central
governments ruling and determina-
tion that. as regards national de-
fense, without and within, Bava-
ria's authority is subordinate to
that of the Reich. This speech
served to emphasize the fact that
differences in Germany between
| the north and south over home
rule or the authority of the states
| have not yet been settled.
The question OF Bavaria and the
| German Reich" is discussed in the
| FortnightlS Review for November
| by Mr.. Maxwell II. H. Mccartney.
Mr.. Mccartney tells of the feeling
against Bavaria which existed in
Prussia. and in the German govern
ment, after the murder of Herr
| Erzberger. The murder of Erz-
berger was said. with great like
lihood of truth, to have been plot
ted in Bavaria by monarchist
murder gang" The central gov
ernment. through Chancellor Wirth.
! in accord with the article of the
Weimar constitution dealing with
emergency conditions, suspended
the fundamental rights as far as
Bavaria was concerned. These rights
Included freedom of the person, Of
the press, secrecy of the post, tele-
graph and telephone, the right Of
peaceful assembly, etc. Further
than this. DR.. Wirth demanded an
end of the Bavarian state of siege"
which had existed in Bavaria for
two years and which was the chief
weapon of the rcactionary premier.
| Won Kahr. ad his dreaded Police
! President Pohner. This brought the
wrangle between Bavaria and the
central government to a more bit
| ter point. At length the Bavarian
| premier was compelled to resign.
the state of siege" came to an
end and q temporary compromise on
states rights was reached with
| the new premier. Count Lerchenfeld.
This was considered a triumph for
/ DIR. wirth, but 1t is apparent that
| it is not a final settlement of the
| Bavarian question.
To the foreign observer" says
! the Fortnightly Reviews article by
Mr.. Mccartney, the main interest
| in this bitter conflict lay not so
much in the legal and administra-
| tive nicetles involved as in the
/ forces operating with more or less
| of concealment in the background.
Europe as a whole wanted to know
whether Bavaria was really consid-
! ering seriously the idea OF sepa-
rating from the rest of the Reich.
whether there was any immediate
! llkCllnOOO oil GnOnaTCnlst coup
d'etat. and whether the plans for
maintaining Germanys military or
ganization were really as formida =
BILE as they were often represented
as being.
Detachment Idea Fantastic.
The notion that Bavaria might
be detached from the Reich has
long been coquetted with in certain
French circles. .... ALI manner OF
fantastic combinations have been
mentioned as possible or probable
means toward the realization of the
French policy of encircling Ger
many. In so far. however, as these
dreamings are based upon a split
between Bavaria and the Reich they
are. 1 am convinced, as unsubstan-
tial as dreams naturally are"
Mr.. Mccartney then tells of the
new premier's declaration of loyalty
to the Reich in outlining his policy
and of his conversations with Ba-
varians, all of whom ridiculed a
separation. Only in one contin-
gency-that of the establishment OF
a genuine Bolshevist government In
Berlin-would Bavaria actually Sc