Evening star., 1924-05-04
continued from First Page.)

properties becoming an affirmative
estment may lead to an increas
eu construction Of houses that vii
mean less unemployment and hence ,
Tightening of the burdens of tn,
' state in this respect.
There is a group of broad f,o.
which strikingIy reveals tba aensst
OF our housing problem For ay,
ourihs the war house buildin.
IN Germany was dead. Several hun
ured thousand young men came hom,
from the war eager to get marie,
ana start housekeeping. Engage,
couples had one reply for the aues
tioh: when Is the wedding to be% /
was: "hen We can find a house On,
year year and a half, three wear.
OF Wa1ting-it was and still Is So nj
over Germany. Immigrants flowed II
upon US from east and west: immi
grants from the ceded territories: fu.
<iveS expelled from the Ruhr anf
ths hhineland: thousands of peopl,
from Russia, Galicia, Poland and the
uisIhemoered Austro- Hungarian EN-.
pre- Germans from the east and tbs
paltic; ooatloads of Germans turned
OUT OF countries in which they haG
louno homes and occupation before
tne War-about 100000 of them ir
an
NO Secret Army of Aggression.
one hears that Germany is a ma
1on of tax dodgers: that monetary
penalties are. or were, of no avail
because of the worthlessness of the
mark; that both civil and criminal
law in the republic is discredited
that the great industrialists, not the
reich, are Germany; that the republi-
can government cannot subdue these
1nuuStrtalists; that it is irnpotent be
fore extra constitutional military So
cletleS, financed by the treasures of
big industry: that a masked army of
aggression is in process of integra-
tion. What can we say on these
heads?
Take the last point first. There is
IN 'Iermdny only one military force
OF the slightest consequence as such
fhe reichswehr. our army 1t stands
On1inch2ngly for the republic. II
STANDS for law and order within our
borders and for peace beyond them
the republics policy, from which on
, no account will it depart This myth
or a nascent German army of aggres-
sion should be dismissed from mems
minds once for all. 1t is a source OF
nothing but universal evil, warpins
thought, disfiguring policy, buttress-
ing militarism, postponing recon
struction, dashing the hopes of set
tied peace
Property. in the days immediately
1oiloWlng the war, when there was a
general menace of bolsheyism. an
archy and crimes of violence. and
when our military resources were
compulsorily inadequate to control
such situation-property includine
the great industries, sought to defend
ITSELF by privately employed guards
These were magnified into the poten.
tiai units of a formida BILE army, They
never were such, and still less are
they such now. With the growth ot
governmental power and a return NJ
the normal orderliness of the Germar n
people, these guards, or so-called mil.
ftary bands, became unnecessary and
were suppressed. Similarly, we have
suppressed as an element of possible
or more extreme and demonstratiye
hationalists. They are not allowed to
make military preparations of any
kind
Ways OF German IndustrfaIists.
NOW. as to tax lodging. collanse
or law and the alleged puissance and
implied disloyalty of the leaders OF
the last point first. German indus
frlailsts are no more an element apart
in German life than are American in
dustrialists in American life or the
fndustrialists of any other country
in the life of that country. Our in
dustrialists are German, believe in
Germany, love Germany and serve
Germany according to their light.
What motive or interest could they
have in dishonoring her. in despoil-
tng her, in spreading misery and des-
peration among her people? They
have their ideas about government /
and policy. as have the rest of US.
But they are not seditionists and they
are not trying to establish an indus
trial tyranny.
"As regards tax lodging, l suppose
The practice is not wholly unknown
IN most countries, and even in normal
jmes. Law enforcement, too, always
presents difficulties quite generally
Our times for a good many years
have not been normal times. We have
passed through conditions unforesee-
able and unima aginable-have trodden
perhaps the strangest and most be-
IN
OF human history. Economic and So
cial disorganization we have plumbed
TO it's depths. We have witnessed
financial vagaries that made our best
trained minds reel. In the midst of
our embarrassments, falling thick
and fast, rushing upon us from un-
expected directions, established expe-
rience and doctrinaire thinking alike
seemed a mockery.
Germany's "F1ight Of Capital"
"There was the so-called flight Of
capital Exporters and industrialists
selling their goods abroad hesitated
70 convert foreign money into paper
marks for the fear of the losses
threatening by depreciation. Besides,
they frequently had to purchase their
raw materials from abroad and re-
guired foreign currency for such
transactions. Thus deposits were ac-
oumuiated abroad, sometimes, no
doubt. in excess of actual require
ments.
But also the great mass of wage
esrners and consumers were forced
through the effects of depreciation to
depart from sound economic prif1ci-
nIes. Germans were the thriftiest
people in Europe. They loved to