On April 12 Müller made a statement on the situation in the National Assembly at Berlin. He complained of French militarism, and in particular that Senegalese negroes should have been quartered in Frankfurt University. He laid the blame for the developments largely upon Kapp and his associates; and said that it was owing to the undermining of the loyalty of the Reichswehr by the reactionaries, that the working classes had now lost confidence in the republican army. The latest casualty list which had been received from the disturbed area proved the severity of the actions which had taken place; 160 officers and men had been killed and nearly 400 had been wounded. The advance of the German troops into the Ruhr had been necessary in order to protect the lives and property of peaceable citizens living in that district. It was true, said the speaker, that according to Articles 42 and 43 of the treaty of peace, the German government were not allowed to assemble armed forces in the neutral zone, because to do so would constitute a hostile act against the signatory powers; but, he asked, was this prescription laid down in order to prevent the reestablishment of public order? By an agreement of August 1919, the Entente had sanctioned the maintenance in the neutral zone of a military police force, and therefore the Entente, including France, had recognized that measures necessary for the preservation of order in the neutral zone did not constitute a violation of the treaty.