New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1923-09-28
RETURN OF RUHR To
NORMALLY BIG JOB.
German lndQstriallsts Have Hard
j Task Ahead
~ "a. Associates Press

~ sAs Associates Press.
puesssldoFf. SEPT st-GsFmans
has spent enough money In helsteFins
up passive resistance In the RuhT val
Icy aimee the French treops entered
last January 10 have made her Fegu-
lar renaFatiens payments 10 the allies
for two years, declared Gen, Degentte
today 10 the correspondent OF the As,
ISOLATED Press. Moreover, he said this
reckless expenditure should be ealeu-
lated entirely apart from the inesien-
sble loss caused by the economic
ktsEnstion OF this once thriving In
dustriai center, the direct result OF the
refusal OF Germany 10 cooperate with
the occupation forces,
More than 100000 workers" said
the commander OF the French forces.
"have now had nice long eight
months vacation with pay, and natnr-
ally they are rather keen 20 have the
occupation continue; but II Is not dim,
cult 10 see that this economic fallaey
cannot continue indefinitely"
Judging from the general attitude
Of the German population toward the
occupying troops. Gen. Degoutte said
he was fully convinced that " II had
not been for the interference from
Berlin the problem Of making the oc-
eupation pay, as well as OF keeping
the economic fabric OF the Ruhr in
tact. would have solved itself long be.
fore now.
Some day." he said. Berlin will
see. as many sensible people In the
IN r al AU he
government made grave economic
mistake In agreeing to pay thousands
OF workers for doing nothing. Leav-
ing aside the ultimate failure of this
method to Illustrate the effects of the
occupation. as II is bound to fail. the
idea of pouring out money TO work.
ers for doing nothing Is very bad
psychology. It will have many dis
astrous qualifications. Already other
workers. such as the miners. have
caught the idea the passive resistance
TO their own employers. There work
ers, encouraged by the fact that their
fellow workers. who have been affect
ed by the occupation. have been able
to leave their jobs and still receive full
pay, have now adopted the method OF |
going to their work and spending the |
day discussing the problems of life or
playing cards. The natural conse-
quence has been that most of them |
were locked out. The same thing
should have been applied to all the
workers who refused to work under
the occupation authorities. If 1t had
been, passive resistance would have
been no interruption in the normal
economic life of the occupied area"
When asked what his impression
was of the general attitude of the
German population toward the pres
ence of French troops, Gen. Degoutte
replied:
Its too good. It's bad for military
discipline
When further asked II the seizures
Of increasing amounts of marks,
which have been prominently publish
ed during the past few days in the
German press, represented depar-
ture from methods hitherto, practiced
by the occupation army. he answer
ed:
Not at all. We have been seizing
money for the expenses of the army
ever since we entered the Ruhr Thef
seizures now seem much crater than
At hrst because the mark now repre- /
SCENTS only fraction of what 1t did I
when we came, thanks to Berlin's I
policy OF paying vast sums for non (
production"
Let me explain about these seiz-
ures of money" the general continued.
AS you know. the Treaty of Yer
sailles provides that Germany shall
pay the expenses of whatever occu-
patton forces may be considered nee
essary. When we first came I wrote
requisition on the Reichsbank for the I
armys expenses for the first week.
The Reichsbank refused to honor It.
- Germany decided the occupation
was illegal, I thereupon said: All
light. we'll Just take what is neces- b
sary for our expenses But don't for 4
ret that for every paper mark we 4
'eized we gave a receipt to the person =
rom whom It was seized, and am re- q
iably Informed that all holders of re- 3
'etpts have been reimbursed by the 4
7eichsbank. 3
The same thing Is true OF every 4
hing else we have requisitioned for q
no army, including automobiles You &
nay be surprised to know that several +
'ermans have come to US requesting 4
hat we requisition their automobiles. &
That they might cash their receipts 4
nth the Reichsbank at a profit" 8