Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-06-19

4 Satlonai conflict between
Great Britain and the Soviets
~ and by the recent striking
utterances of Mussolini, there
has been going on in Germany an in
tensely interesting struggle between
the republican and reactionary forces
which supplies significant insight
into existing German conditions. And
one must perceive clearly that this
struggle has had important conse-
duences outside Germany itself and in
the relations of Germany with her
conquerors of the war.
The present Marx cabinet, it will be
recalled, represents a rather incon-
gruous coalition of the Nationalists,
| who are monarchists; the Catholic
Centrists, who are republican, and the
Peoples party members, who are OPP
portunists, monarchists in sympathy
| for the most part, but aware that any
attempt at restoration of the empire
now would be disastrous.
| The basis of this coalition is domes-
tic rather than foreign policy. The
Nationalists, while hostile to the re-
public, were eager to regain the pleas
ures and profits of public Office and the
power and influence it brought. They
were, therefore, prepared to pledge
themselves to accept the republic pro-
visionally and the Locarno foreign
policy for the time being. The Cen
trists, on their side, desired aid in the
passage of school legislation which
would meet Catholic desires. The
Peoples party leaders, as always.
sought a coalition of the bourgeois
elements to restrain the Socialists.
Quarrels Provoked.
| Inevitably, however, this coalition
has resulted in internal quarrels and
at the same time provoke external
attacks. The Nationalist have been
assailed by their more extreme party
members for their acceptance alike of
the republic and of the Locarno poll
cies. This attack has been the bitterer
because this acceptance has not
brought with 1t the evacuation of the
Rhineland and the Sarre. Thus con-
siderable wing of the Nationalist
party, the die-dard faction, has increas-
| ingly argued that the price paid has
been too high and the coalition has
been a fraud.
The Centrists, by contrast, have
been steadily in hot water from the
start because not only is the party
| itself essentially republican, but the
rank and file Of its members have
been steadily suspicious of the real
purposes of the Nationalist and con-
WINGED of their purpose to overthrow
the republic. Moreover, a large part
of the party membership is made up
of workingmen, who are suspicious
both of the agrarian aristocracy which
dominates the Nationalist party and
the captains of industry who control
the Peoples party.
In recent days this protest in the
Center party has precipitated crisis.
Wirth, who was once chancellor and
remains prominent member of the
Center party and the representative,
in a sense, of the workingmen, has
taken the field in open and violent at
tacks upon the Marx cabinet and the
influence in 1t of the Nationalist. On
their side the Nationalists have de-
manded that Wirth be repudiated by
his party, to which the present chan
cellor belongs. Resolutions of censure
have been passed by the party, but
Wirth has not been expelled and his
attacks continue.
Peoples Party Disappointed.
In the same fashion the coalition
has brought disappointment to the
Peoples party, which is led by the
astute foreign secretary, Stresemann.
His conception has always been that
Germany must first free herself from
the remaining restraints of the de-
feat. He has from the outset sought
to bring about at Locarno and at Ge-
neva an understanding with Great
Britain and France which would lead
to the termination of the occupation.
which can legally continue until 1885.
This purpose was expressed in the
memorable conversations of Thoiry
last Fall.
lay the necessity to avoid any action
which might stimulate French or
British distrust. And the Nationalist,
pressed by their extremists, have been
unable to restrain themselves. Thus
they have continued a tariff struggle
with Poland and by public expression
disclosed their enduring hostility to
the state which is a close ally of
France.
Exactly in the same way the Ma.
tionalists have seen a chance to play
politics in the Anglo Russian struggle, |
which reached a climax recently with |
the expulsion of the Soviet agents in |
London. German Nationalist concep-
tons have always rested upon the pro-
posal to seek an alliance with Russia, |
~~'N W OC COIIIplclCu Wien a |
nationalistic Russia follows the pres
ent communistic regime, and by force |
revise the Versailles settlements. But
in the meantime the Nationalist have
steadily pressed all sorts of intrigues
with the Soviets themselves.
British Interest Lessons.
But the obvious danger of such tao
tics has patiently been that the
French would take alarm in the Polish
while the British would be
angered by the Soviet Irritation. And