Inhuman Clause

Defense Minister General Wilhelm Groener made a bristling, characteristic speech to the Reichstag, last week, roundly declaring that "the present alarming increase in suicides among German soldiers" is directly due to a clause in the Versailles Treaty which prevents Germans from enlisting in the Reichswehr for a period of less than twelve years.

The intent of the treaty is of course to make it impossible for Germany to use her small army as a training school for warriors, something which might easily be done if quick turnovers in enlistment were allowed.

Fulminating against the twelve-year term, General Groener cried: "It is inhuman! Our young men enter the army enthusiastically, but after two or three years many begin to get restless under the necessarily strict discipline. Being unable to obtain a discharge the men become morose and despondent, with the result that some end their lives in fits of insanity."