In a few hours, no doubt, Germany's capitulation, decided by its government, will be official. The chancellor, in a final diplomatic effort, tried, two weeks ago, to evade the formal withdrawal of the ordinances and decrees which organized the “passive resistance”. Then he fell back on a request for amnesty. It has been a long time since Messrs. de Margerie and de La Faille, the ambassadors of France and Belgium, were ordered not to take part in negotiations of this kind. Last Friday, the Belgian charge d'affaires went to Wilhelmstrasse to declare, to put an end to any ambiguity, that no negotiations could begin. The Reich must accept our preliminary conditions without making any reservations. Mr. Stresemann seems to have understood this inflexible attitude. On Saturday, in Berlin, a council of ministers was held. On Sunday, a second council followed. Yesterday, Monday, the Chancellor received the deputies who represent, in the Reichstag, the occupied territories, the great leaders of industry, agriculture and workers' unions. It was also announced that the prime ministers of the various German states were invited to assemble in Berlin. All these confabulations clearly announce the fifth act. Either in the form of a speech or in the form of a proclamation, the Chancellor afterwards. having protested against the violence done to his country, will publicly announce the end of the resistance. This attempt at recovery continued until the eleventh hour by the means of diplomacy, this long delay, these attempts at financial reform in extremis, these hasty symposia, these recall point by point the events of October-November 1918. In 1923 , Germany ended up with an even more resounding defeat than five years ago. At that time, given the gigantic equipment that the army still had (and which our control commissions had such difficulty in counting), many Germans could plead that their setbacks were due solely to the moral failure of politicians. In the present circumstances, such reasoning is no longer appropriate. The man who submits has no ties with the parties of revolution or even reform. All his compatriots know perfectly well that he is yielding to the superior force of the occupying powers. It will no longer be in the power of nationalists to repeat: We have not been defeated! Will the Stresemann government, having taken responsibility for the capitulation, be the government we will have in front of us to deal with the new reparations regime? Will the government with which we resolve this crucial issue have the right and the power to speak on behalf of the whole of Germany? At work we will judge Mr. Stresemann. He is openly threatened by General Ludendorff and by Hitler's Bavarian bands. Will he be able to hold them to their duty? This is a first question. Our course of action will depend on how events respond. Whatever the turn the outcome takes, we must first insist on a first point: the sincere withdrawal of all the ordinances which organized passive resistance. These orders, decrees and circulars number several hundred, assuming that our account is correct, which is not certain. The reversal of attitude of the Berlin government will probably result in disorder, since it means, among other measures, the complete cessation of subsidies. We will therefore have to ensure that, thanks to these troubles, a new offensive, more subtle than the old one, is not directed against us. To establish a satisfactory order on the ruins of the policy practiced by Berlin since January, it will be necessary for the occupying powers to come without delay with the Reich to a sort of provisional settlement or, if you like, to an armistice whose men who represent us in Koblenz and Dusseldorf appear to be the designated negotiators. This will clear the road leading to the final settlement.

PERTINAX

AN OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE Berlin, September 24. The following official communiqué is published: Today, at noon, the announced deliberations of the Empire government took place with the representatives of all the political parties of the occupied regions. The Chancellor made a presentation of the financial situation of the Reich and declared that if the Reich were to continue to pay the Ruhr credit, this state of affairs would lead to political, economic and social consequences which could not be borne by either the government , nor by the German people. However, the Chancellor made it known that the attempts of the Empire government to reach agreements with the former enemy powers, so that Germany's demands could be met, concerning the return of the expellees, the release prisoners and the restoration of Germany's sovereignty rights in the occupied regions, remained without effect. As a result, Germany can no longer expect an improvement in its external situation through the continuation of passive resistance. During the talks which followed this presentation by the Chancellor, the representatives of political parties from the occupied regions, with the exception of the nationalists, declared themselves unanimously in agreement on the fact that the inevitable consequences had to be drawn from financial exhaustion of Germany, which oblige it to abandon passive resistance, because, if it were otherwise, passive resistance, which was an effective weapon against the occupation contrary to the rights of the Ruhr, would be transformed into a weapon directed against the German population itself. The representatives of the Ruhr and the Rhine declared themselves ready to take responsibility for returning the population to orderly work. After the representatives of the political parties had finished their statements, the Chancellor noted that the responsibilities for the decision taken, to abandon passive resistance, lay solely with the Empire government. He thanked the representatives of the political parties of the occupied regions for the participation they would take in carrying out the measures required by the decision taken. In the afternoon, meetings between representatives of all groups of the population of the occupied regions with members of the Empire government and the Prussian government took place at the Imperial Chancellery. The Chancellor expressed the unanimous opinion of the Empire government regarding the necessity of ceasing passive resistance. These statements were not opposed by anyone. Representatives of all groups of the population presented their views on how passive resistance should be abandoned, and expressed the wishes of the population on this subject. The principle prevails that the work must be resumed according to a unanimous directive and not in isolation. The Chancellor affirmed, in conclusion, that the Empire government would pursue the goal it had set for itself with regard to the return of the expellees, the release of prisoners and the reestablishment of German sovereignty rights in the regions. busy. The attitude of the German parties towards the abandonment of resistance

From our private correspondent - Berlin, September 24. The government has resigned itself to abandoning passive resistance. We more or less agree on the facts, it is only the way of interpreting the events that varies. The far right and the far left are protesting violently against the withdrawal of the orders, which for them amounts to pure and simple capitulation. They are attacking the policies of the Stresemann government with more energy than ever. The left-wing parties are trying to represent to public opinion that the disastrous policy of the Cuno government has pushed Germany into the abyss and that the current government has the duty to quickly liquidate the Ruhr adventure in order to preserve unity. of the Reich threatened. So this is the end. In one form or another, the submission will be notified to us.
“For the second time,” writes the Berlin Gazette un Populaire, “France can boast of having beaten Germany. » The government seems to fear a power grab from the right-wing parties. Patriotic associations and military organizations display activity and use language that would be worrying if we had not known for a long time that their actions cause more noise than work. Ludendorff announced civil war in Augsburg and spoke of an expedition against North Germany. Among the socialists, we see a certain hesitation. Yesterday, in Berlin, the regional party congress demanded the resignation of Minister of National Defense Gessler and the replacement of the editors of Vorwaerts, the organ of the socialist parties, who are, in their opinion, too governmental. Yesterday, Sunday, was marked by clashes everywhere. Collisions and looting of shops took place in Dresden, Leipzig and Plauen. In Berlin, the police are alerted. Troop transports have taken place, and the Reichswehr stands ready to intervene. It is claimed that these are preparations necessitated by the attitude of the nationalists and that the government would proclaim, if necessary, a state of siege.

Threats of civil war

Berlin, September 24. Word came from Munich that during an assembly of the newly created Patriotic League, which took place in Augsburg, in the presence of General Ludendorff, an ex-captain called Mr. Stresemann "the aide-maneuver of the Swiss mark ", and announced that his nationalist friends intend to march on Berlin through Thuringia, with rifles, machine guns and the few cannons they have. He ended his speech by declaring that "the national revolution is about to break out." General Ludendorff then spoke. He said everything must be ready when the day of action comes. “The day will soon arrive,” he said, “when Prussia and Bavaria will together shake off the yoke of the enemy. " Mr. Hitler's organ reported on this assembly under the title: "We are arming ourselves for civil war. » Bavaria mass troops

London. September 23. - According to the Daily Mail correspondent in Berlin, there is undeniable evidence that large contingents of troops have been stationed this week in villages from where they can, in the event of an alert, easily reach Berlin. These troops, most of them Bavarian, are equipped with the most advanced war equipment and receive reinforcements every day. “The Reichswehr will do its duty” declares the Minister of War

Berlin, September 24. Democratic Party meeting,
the Minister of the Reichswehr, Mr. Gessler, declared, referring to the political situation, that, if it came to fighting, the clarity of his orders would leave nothing to be desired, and that the Reichswehr would execute them as promptly as possible. 'they would be given.