The Washington herald., 1922-08-15

ma. been the rule in the German
Republic. ~
Recently. DR.. waiser Rathsnau.
the minister for foreign Affairs. was
murdered. Few were surprised, and
many asked Whose turn next
Ebert, wirth. severing. wells, Brett
scheid. Won Gerlach. Hardenf' No
one believed that much would be
done. that the murderers would be
caught. or. II caught. that they
would be punished =
Eminent In Public Life.
DR.. Rathenau was perhaps the
most eminent figure in German pub
lie life. He was q member of the
Democratic party. but he stood
aloof from party conflicts. He
never said a harsh word about
anyone, although he was hypersen-
sitive to the many harsh things
said about himself. The Wiesbaden
Agreement and other evidence of
his efforts to heal the sorest OF
wounds from which the world is
bleeding, namely the rift between
France and Germany. place him
first amongst those Germans who
have been working for European
reconstruction.
To murder such a man was going
too far, even In a country used to
The limits set by
widespread sympathy for reaction
as such. by inertia, and by political
apathy were overstepped at last.
Not only was public feeling aroused
as never before. not only were the
labor demonstrations the biggest
ever held. but the police hunted
the murderers in real earnest, and
the government announced special
making 1t an offense
punishable with fine or imprison-
ment to agitate or plot against the
republic and with death to belong
to any organization that used MUIR
der as a method.
Only One Murderer Caught. L
So far only one Of the three muir.
derers has been caught. The iden-
tity of the other two Is known. but
they are still at large. The num-
Der of accomplices or alleged ac-
now under lock and key
Is well over a hundred. The re-
searches of the police have given
some precision of detail to our
knowledge of the active reactionary
movement in Germany. knowl-
edge that was rather vague
very alarming until
recently. 1t Is now possible to
make some estimate of the forces
engaged in the latent civil war be-
tween the republic on the one
hand and the monarchist move
ment on the other. The monarchist
the counter-revolutioh.
and the militarist reaction are
Identical. for the over
throw of the republican government
and the restoration of the mon
archy are only to be the first step
towards a Germany sufficiently
to wage a war Of re-
7enge against the entente. or at least
against France.
The whole of German organized
abor Is Republican. Its only
weapon Is the general strike. which
IS probably sufficient to destroy any
attempt to overthrow the govern
nent. But it is a defensive weapon,
and Is practically helpless against
for an overthrow and
against the monarchist agitation.
All the landed gentry and the big
ger farmers are monarchists. OF
the middle class probably the ma
jority are monarchist. although
most of them are politically in
iolent and inert The officers of the
the regular army of
100000 men, are nearly all monarch
ist, most of them fanatically so.
The. n. c. O.'s are predominantly
monarchist. The rank and file are
either monarchist or indifferent
They would probably follow the Of
hcers in a civil war.
Security Police Wen Armed.
The security police. 10000
strong, are a semi-military force.
They are not mobilizable. and are
lot under the ministry of war but
lnder the ministry of the interior.
they have no general staff. no
transport. and no artillery. But they
have rifles and machine-guns, and
are drilled like soldiers. Their ON
GERS are mainly monarchists. and so
ire many of the rank and file. Others
othes Republican, and some even
Socialist.
Nearly all the university professors,
school teachers. and university stu
tents are monarchists. The pro-
'essional classes are monarchists.
Nearly all higher officials. lawyers,
judges and magistrates are reaction
cry, and that is why reactionary
offenders usually escape unpublished.
The lower officials are predominant
ly Republican. Heavy industry Is
though not necessarily
The strongholds of the monarchist
movement are Poperania. East
Prussia. and Bavaria. In Pomerania
and East Prussia II is united and
resolute enough to crush all opposi-
tion within its own frontiers. 1t Is