Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-12-26
Outbreak in Reichstag Demonstrates
Vitality of German Republican Forces

The German political system Is and
will remain in a state or unStaole
equilibrium because broadly speaking
there are three elements: The Social
lists, the largest single group, Whicn
are not only republican but radical; the
Nationalists, who on the other hano
are both monarchists and conserVa'
tives; and the third group, made up
of the Clericals. Democrats and
Peoples Party, who are both repuo'
lican and conservative.
Thus majorities such as are re.
ouired to support a cabinet must al
ways be impermanent, and any cao-
met will have to seek support for q
foreign policy which Is conctliatory
from the Socialists and against the
Nationalists, while to obtain q ma
iority for conservative domestic pol
icies It will have to turn to the Ma.
tionalists. And in the nature OF
things no out-and.out Socialist or Ma
tionalist cabinet is feasible, because
the German people on the whole are
both republican and conservative, as
neither of the two great parties Is.
But no one can mistake the evolu-
ton which is taking place nor fail
to see that Germany Is escaping from
the state of mind created by post
threw the German people back into
the arms of the old monarchial and
military elements. In their crusade
to make the world safe for democracy
the allies at the Paris conference very
nearly made Germany unsafe Tor
democracy.
Normal Struggle Expected.
Today, however. the gradual with.
drawal OF allied control Is releasing
republican forces within the life OF
the nation itself and these are at
once joining battle with the influences
and elements which would seek to re-
store pre.war Germany. Thus there
is coming in German political life
that natural and normal struggle be-
tween forces which are present in all
democracies, but could not operate de.
cisively under the old regime and
have not been able to operate de-
cisively hitherto, even under the new
regime, because all Germans felt the
instructive need Of unity In the pres
ence Of foreign conquerors whose pur-
poses seemed destructive.
Locarno, therefore, while 1t served
the cause of world peace enof-
mously by bringing about a viable
relation between the French and Ger
to have been at least as useful in
liberating the democratic elements
within Germany. Moreover. the rise
of this democratic force can alone do
what no foreign or League of Ma
tons supervision could accomplish in
the field Of limitation Of national
ornaments. For despite all control
and supervision coming from without.
evasion would not only be natural
but inevitable. while faced with demo.
cratic opposition within. it would be
facing a national, not a foreign force.
In the long run the German people
will recover their freedom Of action.
The transitory consequences of mill
tary defeat cannot last indefinitely.
If, for example. war should break out
between France and Italy tomorrow
French troops would have to leave
the Rhine as they had to quit Rome
in 1870 and Germany would as COM
pletely recover her freedom Of action
IS Italy did by reason Of the Franco
prussian War.
That is what makes the present re.
action against military expansion
coming from within Germany one of
The most important postwar circum-
stances in German and even Euro
mean history.
( Copyright. 1925, by the Mcclure Newspaper
Syndicato.)