Evening star., 1923-12-02
GERMANY BELIEVED
RM|NGFEVER|SHLY
Great Purchases of Copper
and Cotton Declared for
Military Purposes.
BY ANDRE TARDIEU,

By Cable to The Star.
? PARIS, December 1.--Just at the
moment when the allied governments
have again agreed to adopt policy
of least resistance in the face of Ger
many's treaty violations. information
comes from all sides indicating that
Germany, despite her financial dis
tress, has for more than a year been
pursuing an intensive armament
.policy.
The debate which the writer started
In the chamber of deputies. while Ii
failed to jolt the other members from
their torpor. did bring out the facts.
the gravity of which was uncontested.
Control Over is Months.
It was in September. 1922-fifteen
months ago-that allied military con-
ftrol of Germany ceased. This control
applied to troops and material, and
prevented Germany from violating In
these particulars the stipulations OF
the Versailles treaty.
Since September, 1922. there has
been no surveillance over troop or
stocks. nor facilities for manufactur-
ing war materials. Can we hope that
Germany has not taken advantage OF
this opportunity? The facts and fig
ures, alas, answer no"
In 1928, although burdened with the
enormous cost of the Ruhr resistance.
Germany exported formidable amounts
of capital Dollars transferred to
to 50,000,000 in 1923.
Bought War Supplies.
Between January and October, Ger
many bought twice as much copper
as France. and much more cotton
than England. Considering the vital
part played by these two materials in
the fabrication of war supplies, and
considering the financial stress which
compelled Germany to economise on
foreign purchases, there can be no
doubt about the purpose of these
colossal imports.
Neutrals living in Germany all note
b state of military exaltation through
out the country.
But that is not all While at the
last conference the British were op-
Germany's ornaments. Reuters News
Agency, in a long dispatch which
seemed to annoy Lord Curzon. insist
ed on the gravity Of the situation.
Reuters declared that Germany is
manifestly violating the military
clauses of the treaty. The number Of
men trained far exceeds the theaty's
limits, All the police are. militarized
|sand form part OF the army, as well
as all the student military corps.
hecrutln8 ktebume0s
Doubt no longer Is possible as to
organization for war created by Krupp
in Scandinavia and Russia All fac
tories manufacturing portable arms
and ammunition have been speeded
up. The same is true of Aeronautical
construction.
For fifteen months Germany has had
entire freedom completely to reor-
Eanize her army and her military in
dustries. And please remember that
between Americas entrance into the
war, in April. 1917. and the armistice,
In November, 1918. was only nineteen
months. Yet America, unprepared for
war at the time of her entrance, had
an army of 100000. of which more
than 100000 men were in Europe at
the armistice.
Believe In Wars.
Certainly Germany. with all her
factories intact and with a perfect
spirit of discipline, has been able to
do as much in fifteen months as
America did in nineteen. and there Is
no doubt that many Germans believe,
as the Deutsche Zeitung said the other
day, that a war might now be a
profitable operation"
The writer does not want to exag-
gerate the danger. nor does he
prophesy German attack In the near
future. But 1t must be ssid that,
thanks to the allieS carelessness,
Germany is ready for military action
today.
Premier Poincare. taken up with
the Ruhr occupation, has paid no
attention to the execution of the mill
itary clauses of the treaty. England
as usual. has closed her eyes to Ger
man infractlonS.
J Sooner or later, the writer fears
all this will cost dear to the peace
of the world, and those who sowed
the wind will reap the whirlwind.
Copyright, 1923.