Aare from Reparations, but otherwise from the broad political aspect, three outstanding' features to-day present then selves in German polities andi ave likely to provide a clue to the future of the country for those who are interested' mit commercially or otherwise. Two of the aspects are political—one external (the Separatist movement), the other internal (the tendency of recent elections), while the third is perhaps most far-reaching of all, iak—With the dubious oily. as to whether they are! correlated there is mo occasion _.foronlookers so far removed from the scene of actual events us we are here to worry themvolves, and we, may go to the essentials of the different aspects! without further ado. The first consideration with which we shall deal is the Separatist ment, which a telegram week indicated as being i death-throes. Even those who aythpathize most with the posi tion of France viti-vis of her! Tnrger neighbour must have had grave doubts concerning—the wisdom of support being: given to the bulter state idea, such the Separatist. Rhineland move-iment connoted.—Tt was made attractive to Germans through! the ides that by becoming separate entities they would! somehow escape the payment of|® Reparations, but had such been the intention of the politics of the case, it is readily perceived! that the whole German Reich would speedily: have split into} its original component parts. Phe danger of such a conjuncture to the peace of Europe the end of the Separatist movement is to be welcomed.
'The Thuringian elections consolute the second feature in the German political situation which] calls for attention.—Socialists} have suffered a defeat, and tee is strong evidence' of E: neral movement to the Right on the part of the electorate. Litheek has followed suit, and) Renter reports that in the} Iheichstag elections a June the} direction. thix becomes apparent when we] consider the political history the country since the war. After the exit of the Kaiser and the disappearance of the leading} men of the militarist group fol-armistice, the Socialist element in. Germany became powerful. and it hoped to increase its influence vy bringing the Communist—paty to its aid. The latter were practically hand in glove with the Reds of Moscow. but it seemed to the Socialists that] even so they might provide an accession of strength. proved to he the case for but the German Ci have shown these gether too strong meat for the bulk of the: inhabitants. For] one thing the criminal clement seems to have been some' exalted in their ranks, incidentally, being to be equally a feature of the Separatists. 'The alliance is now proving fatal to the cause of the! moderate Socialists, and first in the case of the state' legislature of Thuringia and next of Tiibeck the elections show that Socialism is growing im disfavour. The pendulum, however, does not sem to be swinging violently, and there is suggestion that in the coming lections the country means to go further than the patting of bourgeois government into power." If it does so, and the rentenmark, to which' we shall refer immediately, continues to] be a success, there ought to be a ni siderable measure of stability in the country, Mention of the row! brings us to the third p tuo in the political life of Ger-way to-day, namely finance. The rentenma ed. the first_currenc cessfully, and it has bad, accord. ing to the lutest reports from Kurope, an extraordinary effect upon the gen of the! populace. "The intention—in fasting it was to it a note currency based on securities! within the county the limit, of is notes could be print-Te was received with gon-confidence' still remains. By the tine that the paper 1 gone solutely to perdition. when] nothing could be bought for less) than millions. people in Ger-life. A continuance of this state of affairs Cepends upon the scrupulous integrity with which the rentenmark is used by the Government, but up to the present mo complaint has been! heard on that score. It is further believed that the introduetion of a gold standard again, through the medium o* an international loan,. depends largely! upon the continued. favour in} which the. rentenmark is held, and this mast be a large inducement fo Berlin not to tamper with it. Tu the circumstances of the case it seems not, unlikely that we now see the beginnings of a stable currency which may bring Germany once more into the position of a country able to carry on international trade which economists regard as. an essential f recovery of Europe.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.