The Omaha morning bee. [volume] (Omaha [Neb.]) 1922-1927, 1923-01-29
Germans Doing
All Possible to
Hamper French
Systematic Opposition to Oc.
cupalion Carried on; Armed
Resistance Possible if
Program Fails.
Copyright, 1923.

London, Jan. 2S.-EVerythlng has
been done thus far that German in
genuity can think of to hamper the
French in their occupation of the
Ruhr. Railways have been torn up.
Telephone switchboards will not put
through call to the Kaiserhof hotel
in Essen because it is the home of tho
French engineers commission. The
Germans have cut telephone lines.
connecting French military circuits
with the German lines. They delay
and hamper French telegraphic COM
munieations and force French mill
tary lines to bear all the burden of
the engineer commission correspon
dence as we'll as official army dis.
patches.
The Germans have cut off the light
at the Kaiserhof in many rooms and
in the lobby. A German lineman ap-
pears once a day and cuts the tee
phone wires from the hall switchboard
to the rooms. No sooner are they
repaired than they are cut again. No
French can be spoken over the Ruhr
telephone circuits. Only German is
permitted, except in the case of Amer
lean and English newspaper corre-
spondents.
Speak Only German.
Throughout the Rhineland railway
conductors have been instructed to
speak only German, and unless a
French officer knows the language
he can whistle for his wants. These
little pin pricks are not severe han
dicaps. but they show the temper of
the people.
If the apssive resistance to tho
French fails. then Germany might
possibly be drawn into some sort Of
armed resistance. Already many
youths from the Rhineland have fled
inca Germany, where they will be
available for military service.
No real expert believes the German
government could make much use of
its army in its present disarmed state.
but officers who have been investi-
eating the progress of German chemi-
cal warfare researches believe Ger
many will be able to do something
with its commercial airplanes and gas
bombs. The Germans have taken up
the development of super.mustard gas
where the Americans dropped it and
are trying to make it easier and safer
to handle.
Repairing Gas Masks.
Al
from developing new gas masks by
the terms of the Versailles treaty
they have renovated the leather masks
they had on hand at the end of the
war, replaced the useless ones with
new ones of an approved design and
are preparing to equip an army of
100000 men with these.
The development of the separatist
movement in the Rhineland under
French supervision has been slow and
unsatisfactory, and while certain Ger.
mans feel that the time is not ripe.
now that the Americans have depart
ed, to declare Rhine republic
French officials see little hope from
this quarter. Except for a few old cti.
zens of Duchy and Nassau, who still
harbor an ancient grudge against
the German government, they have
found few supporters for the plan of
a buffer state. Any move in this d.
rection will bring strikes, riots and
disturbances throughout the area and
cannot result in any permanent sep.
aration of the Rhineland from the rest
of Germany. Only the army of or
cupation will continue to divide this
portion of the German state from
Germany.
Mistake of France.
Ihere is no use in crying over split
milk, but one of the great mistakes of
the French at the time of the armis.
tice was in not establishing a dummy
socialist government in Berlin and
controlling it throughout the repara-
tons period. The German socialist
republic no longer exists. The pres.
ent government is entirely national.
istlc and is earnestly supported by
every element in the country for the
moment. Events in the last six
months, eliminating in the occlpa.
ton of the Ruhr, have placed the mill.
taristic again in power. They are the
real force behind the present cabinet.
despite the fact that though moderate
they will be whole as long as an out.
side invasion menaces the industrial
life of the land.
Inc Germans compare the occupa-
tlon or the Ruhr with that of Bel
gum, but they declare the former is
less eXcusable. They assert that the
occupation OF Belgium during the war
was a military necessity. The Ruhr
move they label as one of destruction
and revenge. ut to the neutral OBJ
server there can be no comparison.
Conditions are vastly different. The
rape OF the Ruhr is not analogous TO
the rape of Belgium and will not be
unless France pursues a policy of
Wanton destruction there, which is
hardly likely to be dreamed of except
by moderate German monarchists.
The French are playing their last
card in the fight for reparations. They
are stalking everything on the move.
They have one chance IN two or three
for success. If they win they have
won the, war. If not they have lost
1t beyond hope of victory.