The Rock Island Argus and daily union. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1920-1923, 1922-03-09
oreign Comment
Special Dispatches to The Argus from
Paris bureau of The Consolidated Press,
10 re de I'Elysee.
Pacifs117 in Germany.

Berlin, March S-A large percentage of the
German population was pacifist even before the
war. but it was over-ruled by the junkers and
the military party who were then in power
Now the pacifists' day has come, says NJ. TIL
Ruyssen, in the Ere Nouvelle.
Encouraging news comes to US from Ger
many. Fourteen associations of democratic and
paciflst tendency have just joined together in
one vast organization under the signihcative
title of German Peace Cartel"
"In this union, all kinds of elements are to
be found but they are all united by unQuestion-
able republican and pacifist aspirations. The
'Bund Neues Faterland' of which the Droits de
1KOmme league welcomed the delegates the
other day in Paris, has joined in the cartel with
the German Peace Society," the German 'Asso-
citation for the League Of Nations and many
groups of womens students, and ex-soldiers, etc.
1T is not easy to give statistical details of
the numerical importance of the new union,
but here are few certain figures:
1.-THE German Peace Society includes today
81 groups and more than twelve thousand
members. The Association for the League of
Nations counts 5000 members, among whom
great number of lawyers The German
League of Monists is also very numerous and
has registered 5000 adherents since the war.
The German branch of the League of Youth in
cludes $500 members, and its paper has no less
than IA 900 subscribers.
"a direct relation may be seen between the
forming of the German cartel and the recent
Paris visit of the 'Bund Neues Vaterland' and
it is the cartel which in May will receive in
the 'Droits de rHomme.' In this way sincere
democratic elements of the two countries will
be bound together by ties of solidarity, to the
greatest profits of their common cause.
"One of the first acts of the German peace
cartel was to publish manifesto in favor of
the permanent court of justice which has just
opened at the Hague. The cartel rightly draws
attention to the fact that the permanent court
of justice is open to all peoples irrespective of
whether they belong to the League of Nations
not. The United States, Russia, Germany,
any of them have recourse to the justice
of this great international institution, and we
hope that before long, a few words showing the
impartiality of the court will influence the
League of Nations to open its doors to the
states, which through the treaties or by their
own repugnance still remain outside of the law
full community of civilized nations.
mo doubt there will be many people," con-
tinues the writer, who will say that in spite
of democratic and pacific statements of part
of Germany, general opinion there has not
changed from what it was before the war. If
we consider this statement it is quite right;
but in quite different way to what would be
expected. The truth is, that Germany before
the war was already thoroughly pacific in spite
of contrary appearances. This may seem to be
a bold statement, but it is to be found in an
official French document, none other than the
Yellow book, published by the government in
October, 1914. In this memorable document a
confidential report may be found addressed to
the French foreign minister by the French en-
bassy in Berlin. The anonymous author of this
remarkable document endeavored already in
1913 to draw up a balnce of the German pacific
forces in comparison to the bellgerent ele-
ments. Among the latter he did not fail to
mention the great majority of intellectuals, the
great industrial directors, the pan-German pa
pers, the soldier associations, the naval league,
and of course the military circles. And these,
through their great influence, were formidable
agents for European disturbances. But, op-
posed to these factors of disorder, the author
enumerates Loyalty the contingent of the peace
army; the socialist party with its 100000
members all the labor syndicates, whether red
yellow or Christian, the great majority of
small land-holders, and tradesmen, in fact
numerically. by far the strongest fraction of
German opinion"