Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-10-03
By FRANK H. SIMONDS.

~ ERLlN.-The come back of
- Germany is the most astonish
ing, the most incredible sin
IL gle fact I have seen in all
the years during which |
have been coming to Europe since the
close Of the World War. Eighteen
months ago. when was last in Berlin,
| a. depressed. discouraged. desperate
| Germany looked upon the future with
| little hope and passive. perhaps
sullen. despair.
| At that time the imitation period
was only just over. the occupation Of
the Ruhr was still continuing. and the
Dawes plan. while actually adopted.
was still regarded by large and in
nuentia1 element In the German popu-
| lation as no more than a new deCep-
ton. In the larger view. Germans
believed that the allies were resolved
| on no account 10 permit Germany IN
recover. that France would never leave
the Rhine, that no German effort at
! fulhllment could possibly count. that
death sentence had been passed upon
| the nation and the country.
In the narrowed view men and WON
en- who had only recently known the
tremendous sufferings Of the inha-
ton period. who had had no rest or
escape from the strain of things since
the coming Of the war itself. showed
In their faces, in their manner. the
same general air Of hopeleSsness. You
had the sense in Berlin in the Winter
! Of 1925 not so much Of a beaten PEG
pie as Of people who believed that
| there was no future. no hope. There
was sense of moral isolation, of ma
terial misery. there were on all sides
the evidences Of A complete and crush
ing weight OF mental and physician
despair.
City Had Wretched Air.
Berlin Itself was dirty. drah. empty
city. The shadows Of the great regime
and Of the dominating figures Of the
past still rested over the city. All that
| was great and prosperous identified
itself with what had disa ppeared. The
| republic itself was Synonymous with
| all that had happened between Yer
sailles and the Ruhr. In measure
! Berlin then was like Vienna now. q
city with a great and still recently
great past but city without any
faith In the future.
Today Berlin ts city as bright.
as clean, az lively, as full If energy
and activity AS any American town
one can think of. The once empty
streets are filled with automobiles,
with trafYic. with gay. brightly dressed,
obviously we'll FED people proceeding
about their business without fear and
with every evidence Of animation. The
past which was the war and the post
war period has not alone vanished.
but has left behind 1t little or moth
ing which suggests that 1t had ex-
listed.
| II you would begin at the begin
ming to describe the enormous change
in Germany you must first reckon
with the psychological transforms
ton. The German again believes in
himself, in his future, in his position
in the world. He has lost the in
feriority complex which came after
defeat and the peace treaty. He has
lost the fear and suspicion which
dominated his thought from the Ruhr
occupation onward. He believes that
Germany IL coming back that he
can hope to live as German. He
has a sense Of constantly improving
material conditions about him and 4
corresponding sense Of the improve
ment Of the German position In the
world.
Sense Of Security Now.
In the German recovery this psy-
| chclogical this normal. element is
perhaps the most important. There
/ is a sense Of security, Of stability.
Of future in which mark will still
be a mark. in which one may work,
earn a living. make a modest saving.
in which there Is beyond all else sta
bility. order. organization. You can
not be 10 minutes in Berlin without
feeling that there has disappeared all
the vast vague fears which dom
| mated all else Is months ago. and
that instead there Is confidence.
/ In an extraordinary measure the
old pre-war life has been resumed.
| There is no great wealth. the war
profiteers have disappeared. the evil
dences Of luxury are slight. as con
trasted with similar manifestations
in Paris or London, to say nothing
OF New York. But there is clear
sign Of greater satisfaction with
the present and greater confidence
in the future than one can find In
either the French or British capitals,
a satisfaction felt by the masses.
And with the moral change there
has come a political change. When !
| was here before men assured me the
republic would last. II only 1t were
permitted to have little prosperity.
a little success. 1t had been identified
only with disaster and misery at home.
with supreme humiliation abroad.
For millions Of Germans the old re
| &Ime remained not OILY n SNIIlp'I ~
greatness and prosperity. but even
more of tolerable living conditions.
But today the republic is no longer
merely the German government which
| made the treaty Of Versailles, or
rather submitted to 1t and then in due
| course submitted TO the Ruhr occu-
patton. The few but wise public men
who advocated fulfllment, peace, un-
Outstanding with the old enemy are
no longer fools or knaves in the
eyes Of their fellow countrymen, for
in the broadest sense peace has come:
the policy Of fulfillment has justified
itself. the republic has become asso.
ciated not alone or chiefly with col
lapse, but with regeneration.
Republics Status Then.
When was here before men said
quite solemnly that the return Of the
old regime was unlikely, that the re-
public-despite it's weaknesses-would.
probably last for long time. but they
did discuss the possibility Of eventual
return Of monarchy. Of limited
monarchy. Of a constitutional mon
archy; they did maintain that in sym
pathy more than half Of Germany
was monarchist. You had the sense
that in a large measure the republic
! was something which had been i'm.
posed upon Germany from the out
side, like the Bourbon restoratio upon
France after Waterloo: that il might
last some years. but that its future
beyond that was dubious.
Today the German republic seems
as much beyond debate as our own
American republic. There are a Ger.
tain number OF men and women. born
and bred in the old order, who will
remain monarchist until they die
There is a class, that Of army officers
officials and aristocrats. who will keep
the old faith until the end But