diff options
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39023-8.txt | 3995 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39023-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 75858 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39023-h.zip | bin | 0 -> 85333 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39023-h/39023-h.htm | 4183 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39023-h/images/logo.jpg | bin | 0 -> 5069 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39023.txt | 3995 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 39023.zip | bin | 0 -> 75800 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 |
10 files changed, 12189 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/39023-8.txt b/39023-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..e5e66c5 --- /dev/null +++ b/39023-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3995 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Future Belongs to the People, by Karl Liebknecht + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Future Belongs to the People + +Author: Karl Liebknecht + +Translator: S. Zimand + +Release Date: March 1, 2012 [EBook #39023] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE *** + + + + +Produced by Odessa Paige Turner, Martin Pettit and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This book was produced from scanned images of public +domain material from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + +"THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE" + + +[Illustration: Logo] + + +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY +NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO +DALLAS · ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO + +MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED +LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA +MELBOURNE + +THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. +TORONTO + + + + +"The Future Belongs to the People" + +BY + +KARL LIEBKNECHT + +(Speeches made since the beginning of the War) + +EDITED AND TRANSLATED BY S. ZIMAND + +WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY WALTER WEYL + +New York + +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY +1918 + +_All rights reserved_ + + +Copyright 1918 + +BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + +Set up and Electrotyped. Published, November 16, 1918 + +Press of J. J. Little & Ives Co., New York + + + + +CONTENTS + + PAGE +PREFACE BY WALTER E. WEYL 9 + +INTRODUCTION 14 + +THE MAN LIEBKNECHT 21 + +THE FIRST DAYS 25 + +LIEBKNECHT'S VISIT TO BELGIUM 27 + +DID NOT CHEER THE KAISER 29 + +LIEBKNECHT DISAPPROVES OF THE MAJORITY SOCIALISTS OF + GERMANY 30 + +THE REICHSTAG MEETING OF DEC. 2, 1914 31 + +LIEBKNECHT CONDEMNED BY HIS PARTY 34 + +A NEW YEAR'S GREETING TO ENGLAND 36 + +SPEECH DELIVERED AT THE WAR MEETING OF THE PRUSSIAN + ASSEMBLY, MAR. 2, 1915 40 + +IN DEFENCE OF ROSA LUXEMBURG 53 + +LIEBKNECHT CALLED TO ARMY SERVICE 61 + +LIEBKNECHT QUESTIONS THE GOVERNMENT 62 + +LIEBKNECHT EXPELLED FROM SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY 74 + +REICHSTAG DISCUSSION ABOUT THE CENSORSHIP 75 + +JUSTICE IN GERMANY IN WAR TIME 76 + +THE SITUATION IN AUSTRIA 98 + +EDUCATION IN GERMANY IN WAR TIME 100 + +LIEBKNECHT PROTESTS AT BEING PREVENTED FROM DISCUSSING + THE SUBMARINE WARFARE 113 + +REICHSTAG MEETING OF MARCH 23, 1916 115 + +LIEBKNECHT'S COMMENTS ON THE IMPERIAL CHANCELLOR'S + SPEECH, APRIL 5, 1916 116 + +REICHSTAG MEETING, APRIL 7, 1916 118 + +LIEBKNECHT'S REMARKS ON THE GERMAN WAR LOAN, + REICHSTAG MEETING, APRIL 8, 1916 123 + +LIEBKNECHT'S MAY DAY MANIFESTO 126 + +LIEBKNECHT'S MAY DAY 1916 SPEECH 128 + +LIEBKNECHT'S REPLY TO HIS JUDGES 137 + +LIEBKNECHT'S TRIAL AND RELEASE 143 + + +"The aim of my life is the overthrow of monarchy. As my father, who +appeared before this court exactly thirty-five years ago to defend +himself against the charge of treason, was ultimately pronounced victor, +so I believe the day is not far distant when the principles which I +represent will be recognized as patriotic, as honorable, as true." + +KARL LIEBKNECHT. + + + + +PREFACE + + +The philosophy of Karl Liebknecht as revealed in these pages leaves but +a narrow ledge for heroes to stand on. To him the significant thing in +history is, and has always been, the stirring of the masses of men at +the bottom, their unconscious writhings, their awakenings, their +conscious struggles and finally their gigantic, fearsome upthrust, which +overturns all the little groups of clever men who have lived by holding +these masses down. In these conflicts, kings, priests, leaders, heroes +count for no more than flags or flying pennants. All great leaders, +Cæsar, Mahomet, Luther, Napoleon, are instruments of popular movements, +or at best manuscripts upon which the messages of their class and age +have been written. + +To Liebknecht all that Carlyle has said about heroes is contrary to +ideology and inversion of the truth. "As I take it," writes Carlyle, +"Universal History, the history of what man has accomplished in this +world, is at bottom the History of the Great Men who have worked there. +They were the leaders of men, these great ones; the modellers, patterns, +and in a wide sense creators, of whatsoever the general mass of men +contrived to do or to attain; all things that we see standing and +accomplished in the world are properly the outward material result, the +practical realization and embodiment of Thoughts that dwelt in the +Great Men sent into the world: the soul of the whole world's history, it +may justly be considered, were the history of these." + +Look at what is happening in Germany to-day and test, as best we may, +these two confronting theories concerning the influence of great men +upon history. As I write Germany is in the throes of revolution. The +immensely powerful Hohenzollern monarchy has fallen, the brave, +stubborn, modern-witted, money-bolstered aristocracy is shattered, and a +proscribed poor man, Karl Liebknecht, is loudly acclaimed. Was it one +man, a Foch, a Wilson, a Lenin or a Liebknecht that overturned this +mighty structure, or was it the movement of a hundred million men and +women, armed and unarmed, on the battle-field and in the factory, in +France and England and Russia and Germany? What could Liebknecht alone +have done with all his ringing eloquence and all his superb, I almost +said, sublime heroism? Clearly we must rule Carlyle out of the +controversy and agree with Liebknecht, the Socialist, that Liebknecht, +the hero, had little to do with this vast subversion. + +Yet, as Carlyle says, "One comfort is, that Great Men, taken up in any +way, are profitable company. We cannot look, however imperfectly, upon +any great man, without gaining something by him." + +At this safe distance no one could be more "profitable company" than +Karl Liebknecht as he stands up boldly against all that is powerful, +respectable and formidable in Germany and challenges it at the utter +risk of life and reputation. Such courage as his is almost +inconceivable; for us poor conforming or at best feebly protesting +little people it is quite impossible. To die among thousands, even to +die alone, if you think you hear the plaudits of your nation or your +class, is a thing many of us have learned to do, but to stand up against +a vindictive irrational war spirit, such as ruled Germany, to stand up +alone, to be contemned not only by your enemies but by those who called +themselves your comrades and friends, to be met by polite derision and +by actual threats of violence, to be called a madman, to be called a +traitor, to be misunderstood and doubted; to be met in occasional +moments of dejection even by doubts in your own mind, and still to hold +your own bravely and with cool passion, day after day and day after day, +in circumstances growing daily more difficult, and finally to go to +prison gladly, triumphantly--that is courage surpassing the courage of +the rest of us. It is easier to die even by torture than to persist in +this opposition to forces physical and mental not only confronting but +surrounding and even permeating us. + +We have agreed with Liebknecht that great events are not the doings of +great men but merely the large theater in which these great men play +their little parts. And yet, does not the hero, subordinate as he is to +the wider movement of the play, exert a somewhat stronger influence than +many followers of Marx seem willing to admit? Masses of men are moved +to vital historic decisions in part by economic motives, but these +motives must first be converted into emotion, and the hero, however his +own actions are motived, is one of the vital factors producing that +emotion. We shall perhaps never know to what extent the present rising +of the German people against their once invincible rulers was +occasioned, though not caused, by their vision of Karl Liebknecht, +standing there alone against all the judges, rulers, legislators and +respectables of Germany, and even against his fellow socialists. The +heroism of Liebknecht was at least a point and center of coalescence. + +The course of events has vindicated Karl Liebknecht. But it might well +have been otherwise. Had Germany won the war and established a clanging +_pax Germanica_ through the ruin of Europe, Liebknecht's heroism might +never have been recognized. He might have rusted in prison and been +released to obscurity and thereafter lived a futile life derided as a +blind fanatic. The force of circumstances, the obscure action of the +hundreds of millions, rescued Liebknecht and raised him to the highest +pinnacle of heroism. It stamped upon our minds for all time the picture +of this brave man standing alone surrounded by cruel, confidently +smiling foes. + +I said "alone." Yet this is not fair to a very small group of German +minority socialists, who stood by Liebknecht and by whom Liebknecht +stood. Among them were Rosa Luxemburg, Franz Mehring, Hugo Haase, George +Ledebour, and others, to whom, were real heroism always decorated, +would be given a higher order of "Pour le Mérite." But among all these +Karl Liebknecht stands preëminent. + +"And for all that mind you," concludes the French soldier Bertrand, in +"Under Fire," "there is one figure that has risen above the war and will +blaze with the beauty and strength of his courage." + +Barbusse continues: "I listened leaning on a stick towards him, drinking +in the voice that came in the twilight silence from the lips that so +rarely spoke. He cried with a clear voice, 'Liebknecht.'" + +WALTER WEYL. + + + + +TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE + + +"_The future belongs to the people._" The time was October 24, 1918; the +place, Berlin, the center of Germany; the speaker, Doctor Karl +Liebknecht. A remarkable change had indeed come over the Empire. As far +as the eye could reach, a great shouting, surging crowd had gathered +before the Reichstag buildings, a crowd such as might have foregathered +in times past on almost any day of national festivity, to do honor to +his Imperial Majesty, Kaiser Wilhelm. They were indeed shouting +frantically on this occasion, but with other sentiments, shouting not +for the Kaiser, but for abdication, while applauding frantically for +another, a bitter foe of the Kaiser, a man who had been sent to jail for +high treason, had been deprived of his seat in the Reichstag, had been +dubbed, even by those in his own party, an enemy of his kind--Karl +Liebknecht. And who, witnessing the flower-laden carriage of the great +popular hero, but would admit that a new day was at last dawning in that +land of autocracy, a day ushered in by the guns and men of Foch? + +The events leading to that ovation of the twenty-fourth of October are +of interest. + +From the earliest days of its organization, soon after the middle of the +nineteenth century, the German Social Democracy had taken a stand +against militarism. During the Franco-Prussian War, two of its chief +representatives, Wilhelm Liebknecht (the father of Karl Liebknecht) and +August Bebel, had refused to vote for the war budget. In 1912, during +the Balkan crisis, the German Socialists had attended in force the great +gathering of the International Socialist Conference at Basle, protesting +in vigorous tones against the war, and many there were on that occasion +who declared that even if danger of world war had not been entirely +eliminated, the Social Democrats of Germany, the strongest of the +International movement, were prepared to meet any emergency that might +arise. In the Reichstag elections, these Social Democrats had cast four +and a quarter millions of votes, while the labor unions, which in +Germany worked hand and hand with the Social-Democratic Party, numbered +no less than two and a half millions. The Socialist movement had the +support of hundreds of newspapers, possessed a strong and +well-disciplined organization and large financial resources, and was +remarkably rich in political experience. In efficiency of organization +it ranked second only to the Catholic Church. + +It was true that the German Social Democrats as yet had gained little +real influence on the international policy of the Empire, and despite +their powerful organization and their influence, they were in a position +before the war to use only moral pressure on the government. Yet to many +it seemed extremely unlikely that the German government would dare +instigate a world conflagration when opposed at home by this powerful +"internal enemy." + +The war came. Immediately after war's declaration, the Imperial +Chancellor called a meeting of the Reichstag on August 5, 1914, for the +purpose of approving the war budget. The day before this gathering was +held, he called together the leaders of the various parties, so the +story runs, among them the Social Democrats, and transmitted to them a +confidential communication. He had from a reliable source, he declared, +information that a secret understanding existed between the French and +the Belgian governments whereby the latter government had agreed, in +case of emergency, that it would give the French army passage through +Belgium for the purpose of invading Germany. It was because of this +agreement, the Chancellor declared, that the neutrality of Belgium had +to be violated. In addition to this information, the Chancellor told the +assembled legislators that the Russian army had invaded German soil and +had even then overrun two of the Prussian provinces. + +These statements produced the desired effect, convincing the majority of +the Social Democratic leaders that their only course was to support the +Kaiser and his government. The government knew how to fool them, knew +what to use in order to get their support, and the Kaiser and his +government were victorious. + +Every cable message during those days that reached America from Germany +emphasized the thought that there were no longer any parties in +Germany, that the Social Democrats had decided to give up their +agitation and work only for victory. To many radicals in America who had +pinned their faith to the internationalism of the German Social +Democracy, these reports seemed well-nigh unbelievable. The Socialist +leaders must have been put in jail, some argued. + +Then more news came to confirm the reports, and the papers came, +Socialist papers, and Socialist papers even of Germany, and all +contained the same unbelievable truth. Some said then, "Well, the +Government has taken over their papers and that is how this news can be +explained." But fact after fact came out which made even the most +doubtful admit that the cables had been based on truth. The strong and +great structure built by a generation lay prostrate on the ground. + +In those days of disillusion, I remember well a conversation among a few +of us concerning the plight of the Social Democracy. "The German +government knew their Socialists well, and knew how best to reach them," +declared one of our group. "There is one man in Germany, however, whom +we shouldn't despair of, even now. If he is still alive, I cannot but +believe that he will soon raise his voice against the course pursued by +the German government and by his own party, and show the world that even +in the land of utter darkness there still shines one light." + +Liebknecht's record was open. For a score of years he had fought +militarism tooth and nail. Could he now embrace it? Temporarily, it +seemed that he had. He opposed the majority of his fellow-Socialists in +the early days of August when they voted to support the war budget. But +his efforts were unsuccessful. The majority decreed that the Social +Democrats must support the war, and party discipline demanded that the +minority abide by the decision of the majority. Party discipline was +strong, at first too strong for Liebknecht. He yielded. Against his +better judgment he voted, on August 5, for the budget. He voted, but he +rebelled in spirit, and the next month, both at the home of a Socialist +Alderman, F. M. Wibaut, of Amsterdam, and at the residence of Lieutenant +Henry DeMan, in Brussels, he declared that he could not himself +understand what had possessed him when he gave his vote in the Reichstag +to the war budget. + +He soon extricated himself from his former allegiances, however, and the +noble spirit of courage which he afterwards displayed has but few +precedents in modern history. In order to portray to the reader the real +picture of the seemingly insurpassable obstacles against which he +fought, and the courage and idealism which he displayed, I have +collected and translated his speeches and his important utterances since +the beginning of the war and here present them in detail for the first +time to American readers. + +Liebknecht had many opportunities for making himself heard. He was a +Deputy of the Reichstag from Potsdam-Osthavelland, an assemblyman to +the Prussian _Landtag_ from Berlin and Councilman to the +_Stadverordneten Versammlung_ of Berlin. Within and without these +assemblies he used his pen and his voice alike. It was in the Prussian +Assembly, where from the very beginning he had four companions who +shared his point of view, that he delivered his longer addresses. + +His tactics in the Reichstag, where for some time he stood almost alone, +were somewhat different. Here, instead of delivering speeches, he used +the question with telling effect, as a means of bringing out the truth +on his side and of showing the emptiness of his opponents' claims. The +government resorted to every conceivable means to silence him, but +without success. Failing, they called him to military service, and put +him in the uniform of a German soldier. This act put a temporary end to +his outside public addresses, but he could still deliver his scathing +indictments in the Reichstag and in the Prussian Assembly. + +On May 1, 1916, he appeared at a public gathering in Berlin in civilian +dress, and delivered the speech which sent him to jail. Why did he +deliver that May Day address? Why did he not continue to reach the +public over the heads of the legislators from his seats in the two +Parliaments? It is indeed possible that he thought that the moment for +the Revolution had struck. For it is an address of revolution, and +seemed calculated to bring about an uprising of the workers. Perhaps he +was under the impression that his addresses and the terrible pressure +outside Germany had sufficiently awakened the German people, and that +they needed but a word to bring them into action. Whatever the reason, +the speech was a magnificent one; it required a courage which only a +Liebknecht possessed. + +When Ralph Waldo Emerson visited Henry Thoreau in his prison cell and +asked, "What are you doing here, Henry?" Thoreau replied, "What are you +doing outside when all people with ideals are inside?" That sentence +well describes the Germany of yesterday. Liebknecht was in prison, but +even in his lonesome cell he still inspired the "gathering hosts and +helped to make men free." + +I wish to express my sincerest gratitude to my friends, Bertram Benedict +and Dr. Wm. E. Bohn, for help and criticism. + +S. ZIMAND. + +_November 3, 1918_ + + + + +THE MAN LIEBKNECHT + + +Karl Liebknecht is a worthy son of a great sire. His father, Wilhelm +Liebknecht, for years a member of the Reichstag, was the author of +numerous pamphlets on Socialism and economics and was one of the first +founders of the Socialist Party in Germany. Karl Liebknecht was born in +Leipzig on August 13th, 1871, the same year in which his father was +arrested on the charge of high treason. His mother was wont to say that +she bequeathed to her son all the sorrow that was hers during that +period, all the courage and all the strength which she had to summon to +her aid to live through those days; and with her bequest went all the +sorrow for the sufferings of humanity, and all the courage and the +strength to battle for the cause of the people, which were back of the +father's trial. + +And thirty-five years later, Karl Liebknecht underwent the same ordeal +as his father--himself faced the accusation of high treason in the +highest courts of his native land. + +Liebknecht studied first at Leipzig and then in Berlin, attending the +university in each city. As a student he began his career of social +enlightenment by organizing literary societies for the study of social +problems. Liebknecht got his doctor's degree in Political Economy and +Law at the University of Würzburg. From 1889 he practised law in Berlin. +Later he became active in the Socialist movement in Berlin. In 1902 he +was elected Councilman to the Stadverordneten Versammlung (Common +Council) of Berlin. In October, 1907, he was tried for high treason +before the Imperial Court of Germany at Leipzig for his book on +"Militarism." The substance of this book which aroused the ire of the +German authorities was first set forth in a lecture before a group of +young people in 1906, for it is Liebknecht's belief that in the hands of +the younger generation of Germany lies the hope of salvation; let them +be impregnated, he would say, with the right social ideals before +militaristic training has an opportunity to do its work, and there will +be little danger of domination by the war lords, or of the fruition of +the war lords' aims. + +His trial was most interesting. It was said upon excellent authority +that the Kaiser himself was connected by secret wire with the court +room. Liebknecht bore himself triumphantly throughout; there was never a +moment of wavering, never any evidence of any quality contrary to the +gigantic and fearless strength which characterizes the man. Liebknecht +is himself a very able lawyer, and though he had noted lawyers to +represent him (including Hugo Haase, at present a leader of the Minority +Socialist Party in the Reichstag), he supplemented their speeches with +additional analyses of his own. + +Liebknecht took up the question, "What is high treason?" He turned the +tables upon Olshausen, who was conducting the trial against him, by a +quotation from a work of Olshausen himself which contradicted the stand +the latter was taking in the Liebknecht trial. The Socialist leader's +address to the judges was one of the boldest attacks ever made, either +up to that time or up to the present, against German militarism. "The +aim of my life," he declared, "is the overthrow of monarchy. As my +father, who appeared before this court exactly thirty-five years ago to +defend himself against the charge of treason, was ultimately pronounced +victor, so I believe the day is not far distant when the principles +which I represent will be recognized as patriotic, as honorable, as +true." + +Liebknecht's brave stand on this occasion was rewarded by a sentence of +a year and a half in a military prison. While serving his sentence he +was elected by the people of Berlin to represent them in the assembly of +Prussia. In the Landtag Liebknecht recommenced his fight against +militarism. It was there that he prophetically pronounced the word +"Republic" for the first time. On one occasion there was a debate upon +the building of a new opera house. "The opera house for which we are +asked to vote the necessary funds," he exclaimed, "should last for many +generations. We trust that it will last long after it has lost its +character as a Royal Opera House." + +In 1910 Liebknecht visited America to give a series of lectures, and the +United States made a strong impression upon him. He used to tell me +that he felt truly homesick for America and had a genuine desire to +repeat the visit. + +In 1912 he was elected representative to the Reichstag by the people of +Potsdam-Osthavelland, under the very window of the Kaiser. The +announcement of his success was met with wild demonstrations of delight. +The sentiments of the surging crowds before the office of the Berlin +_Vorwärts_ when the result of the election was made public were voiced +by a young workingman, when he exclaimed, "The new voice of freedom will +be heard from now on in the Reichstag." In the Reichstag Liebknecht +hurled with renewed zeal his invectives against the huge armaments and +militarism of Germany. + +Liebknecht the man is of the kindest nature and frankest personality. +There is to be seen in his make-up no grain of pretentiousness, of false +pride--indeed, he usually lunches quite happily upon a sandwich in the +train, too busy to find any other time for his meal. His home life is +ideal. His present wife--his first died in 1912--is a Russian by birth, +a graduate of the University of Heidelberg, and an ideal companion and +helpmate. + + + + +THE FIRST DAYS + + +On August 3rd and 4th, 1914, the Social-Democratic members of the +Reichstag called a special meeting in order to decide what stand the +party should take on the War. + +At the first vote taken, ninety-four members were for voting for the +budget and only fourteen against. At the last there were only three who +held out to the end--Liebknecht, Ledebour, and Haase. + +The officials of the party tried to give the impression that there were +no differences of opinion in the party, but Liebknecht wrote the +following letter, which was published in the _Bürger Zeitung_, Bremen, +September 18, 1914. + +"I understand that several members of the Socialist Party have written +all manner of statements to the press with regard to the deliberations +of the Socialist Party in the Reichstag on August 3rd and 4th. + +"According to these reports, there were no serious differences of +opinion in our party in regard to the political situation and our own +position, and decisions to assent to war credits are alleged to have +been arrived at unanimously. In order to prevent the dissemination of an +inadmissible fiction I feel it to be my duty to put on record the fact +that the issues involved gave rise to diametrically opposite views +within our party parliament, and these opposing views found expression +with a violence hitherto unknown in our deliberations. + +"It is also entirely untrue to say that assent to the war credits was +given unanimously." + + + + +LIEBKNECHT'S VISIT TO BELGIUM + + +On September 16th, 1914, Liebknecht went to Belgium to inform himself +about the situation, and here is what Camille Huysmans, the secretary of +the International Socialist Bureau, writes about Liebknecht's visit to +Belgium: + + +To P. Renaudel, Editor of _L'Humanité_. + +"MY DEAR RENAUDEL,--Liebknecht came to Belgium on September 16th, 1914. +He met several friends, and he came to see me at Brussels, at the Maison +du Peuple, in the afternoon. I asked him into my office and we had a +conversation which lasted more than two hours. I took him to dinner at a +restaurant in the town, and we again talked at length. I invited other +friends to meet him, among them our comrade Vandersmirsen. The next +morning we went out in two motor cars. We passed through several +districts. We tried to see Louvain, but the military authorities would +not allow us to do so. + +"At Tirlemont, through the mistake of an officer, we were caught in some +shrapnel fire, and we had to remain through the engagement. I showed +Liebknecht what actually took place. He questioned the Belgians. He +talked with the German soldiers. He was thus able to form his own +opinion on the spot. + +"To sum up: Liebknecht, when he came, knew nothing of what had happened +in Belgium. He went away convinced that the Belgians had not been sold +to Great Britain, that they had not organized bands of _francs-tireurs_, +that they had not assassinated the German wounded, and that the German +executions in Belgium were unjustifiable. + +"He came to Belgium honorably and honestly to gain information. Anything +else is calumny. Those Belgians who regarded the reception by me of a +German as an act of treason grasped him effusively by the hand when they +learned that he came to find out and to speak the truth. + +"Yours, + +"CAMILLE HUYSMANS." + + + + +DID NOT CHEER THE KAISER + + +BERLIN, _October_ 24, 1914. + +Editor, _Berliner Tageblatt_. + +Berlin. + +DEAR SIR: + +In your report of the meeting of the Prussian Assembly on the 22nd of +the month you say that during the reading by Dr. Delbrück of the +greetings of the Kaiser the whole house stood (that means, the +Social-Democrats also). That does not correspond with the truth. The +Social-Democratic members of the Assembly, who were in their places, +remained seated. + +With reference to the closing speech of the President your report reads +that the whole House applauded and took part in the cheers for the +Kaiser. That also is not true. Five members (Hofer, Adolf Hoffmann, Paul +Hoffmann, Liebknecht and Ströbel,--_S. Z._) of the Social-Democratic +representation in the _Landtag_ (that means half) left the room when +this speech of the President was delivered. + +I would ask you to print the above correction according to paragraph II +of the Press Law. + +Respectfully, + +KARL LIEBKNECHT. + + + + +LIEBKNECHT DISAPPROVES OF MAJORITY SOCIALISTS OF GERMANY + + +The Swiss Socialist paper _Volksrecht_ published in November, 1914, the +following statement, signed by Karl Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg, Franz +Mehring and Clara Zetkin. + +"In the Socialist press of the neutral countries of Sweden, Italy and +Switzerland, Comrades Dr. Suedekum and Richard Fischer have attempted to +portray the attitude of the German Social-Democrats towards the present +War in the light of their own ideas. We feel ourselves forced therefore +to explain through the same mediums that we, and certainly many other +German Social-Democrats, look on the War, its causes and its character, +as well as on the rôle of the Social-Democrats at the present time, from +a standpoint which in no way corresponds to that of Dr. Suedekum and +Herr Fischer. At the present time the state of martial law makes it +impossible for us to give public expression to our views." + + + + +REICHSTAG MEETING, DECEMBER 2, 1914, AND LIEBKNECHT'S DOCUMENT +EXPLAINING WHY HE VOTED "NO" + + +At the second War Session of the Reichstag, Dec. 2, 1914, Karl +Liebknecht not only voted against the War Budget--the only member of the +Reichstag so to vote--but also handed in an explanation of his vote, +which the President of the Reichstag refused to allow to be read, nor +was it printed in the Parliamentary report. The President banned it on +the pretext that it would entail calls to order. The document was sent +to the German Press, but not one paper published it. + +The full text of the protest was received by way of Switzerland. It runs +as follows: + +"My vote against the War Credit Bill of to-day is based on the following +considerations. This War, desired by none of the people concerned, has +not broken out in behalf of the welfare of the German people or any +other. It is an Imperialist War, a war over important territories of +exploitation for capitalists and financiers. From the point of view of +rivalry in armaments, it is a war provoked by the German and Austrian +war parties together, in the obscurity of semi-feudalism and of secret +diplomacy, to gain an advantage over their opponents. At the same time +the war is a Bonapartist effort to disrupt and split the growing +movement of the working class. + +"The German cry: 'Against Czarism!' is invented for the occasion--just +as the present British and French watchwords are invented--to exploit +the noblest inclinations and the revolutionary traditions and ideals of +the people in stirring up hatred of other peoples. + +"Germany, the accomplice of Czarism, the model of reaction until this +very day, has no standing as the liberator of the peoples. The +liberation of both the Russian and the German people must be their own +work. + +"The war is no war of German defense. Its historical basis and its +course at the start make unacceptable the pretense of the capitalist +government that the purpose for which it demands credits is the defense +of the Fatherland. + +"A speedy peace, a peace without conquests, this is what we must demand. +Every effort in this direction must be supported. Only by strengthening +jointly and continuously the currents in all the belligerent countries +which have such a peace as their object can this bloody slaughter be +brought to an end. + +"Only a peace based upon the international solidarity of the working +class and on the liberty of all the peoples can be a lasting peace. +Therefore, it is the duty of the proletariats of all countries to carry +on during the war a common Socialistic work in favor of peace. + +"I support the relief credits with this reservation: I vote willingly +for everything which may relieve the hard fate of our brothers on the +battlefield as well as that of the wounded and sick, for whom I feel the +deepest compassion. But as a protest against the war, against those who +are responsible for it and who have caused it, against those who direct +it, against the capitalist purposes for which it is being used, against +plans of annexation, against the violation of the neutrality of Belgium +and Luxemburg, against unlimited rule of martial law, against the total +oblivion of social and political duties of which the Government and +classes are still guilty, I vote against the war credits demanded. + +KARL LIEBKNECHT. + +BERLIN, _December 2, 1914._" + + + + +KARL LIEBKNECHT CONDEMNED BY HIS PARTY FOR VOTING "NO" ON DECEMBER 2, +1914, AND HIS ANSWER + + +In December, 1914, the Social-Democratic representation of the Reichstag +censured Karl Liebknecht for voting "No" in the open meeting of the +Reichstag. + +At a meeting on February 2, 1915, the Reichstag Socialists adopted a +resolution condemning his stand and repudiating alleged misleading +information he had spread about the Party. To this Liebknecht answered +in the _Vorwärts_ of February 5, 1915, as follows: + +BERLIN, _February_ 5, 1915. + +Editor _Vorwärts_, + +BERLIN. + +DEAR COMRADE:-- + +Concerning the resolution adopted by the Social-Democratic Deputies of +the Reichstag I wish to remark: (1) I voted against the war credits +because the vote for the war credits is in my opinion in sharp +contradiction not only to the interests of the proletariat, but also to +the resolutions of the Social-Democratic Party and of the International +Socialist Convention. And the Social-Democratic Deputies in the +Reichstag are not justified in recommending a violation of the Program +and party decisions. + +In a letter of Dec. 3, 1914, addressed to the Chairman of the +Social-Democratic Deputies of the Reichstag I made my stand clear. + +(2) Misleading information about the Party I have not given out. The +Social-Democratic Deputies in the Reichstag, who are not the proper +authorities for such decisions, voted down my motion to postpone making +any decision on this point until a thorough discussion had taken place. + +KARL LIEBKNECHT. + + + + +A NEW YEAR'S GREETING TO ENGLAND + + +I am pleased to be able to write a message of brotherhood to British +Socialists at a time when the ruling classes of Germany and Great +Britain are trying by all means in their power to incite bloodthirsty +hatred between the two peoples. But it is painful for me to write these +lines at a time when our radiant hope of previous days--the Socialist +International--lies destroyed on the ground with a thousand +expectations, when even many Socialists in the belligerent +countries--for Germany is not an exception--have in this most rapacious +of all wars of robbery willingly put on the yoke of the chariot of +Imperialism, just when the evils of capitalism were becoming more +apparent than ever. I am, however, particularly proud and happy to send +my greetings to you, to the British Independent Labour Party, who, with +our Russian and Servian comrades, have saved the honor of Socialism +amidst the madness of national slaughter. + +Confusion reigns among the rank and file of the Socialist Army and many +blame Socialist principles for our present failure. It is not our +principles which have failed, however, but the representatives of those +principles. It is not a question of changing our principles, it is a +question of applying them to life, of carrying them into action. + +All the phrases of "national defense" and the "liberation of the +people" with which Imperialism decorates its instruments of murder are +but deceiving tinsel. Each Socialist Party has its enemy, the common +enemy of the International, in its own country. There it has to fight +it. The liberation of each nation must be its own work. + +Only blindness can order the continuation of the slaughter until the +"enemy" is crushed. The well-being of all nations is inseparably +connected; the struggle of the organized working class can only be +carried out internationally. + +Those who are seven times wise and whose weak souls are easily carried +away by the whirls of diplomatic winds and lost in the gulfs of +jingoism, say that the labor movement will no longer be international. + +The world war which has smashed the International must, however, be +realized as a powerful sermon making clear the need for a new +International, an International of another kind, with a different force +from that which the capitalist powers so easily scattered on August 4, +1914. + +Only in the coöperation of the working masses of all countries, in times +of war as in times of peace, does the salvation of humanity lie. Nowhere +have the masses desired this war. Nowhere do they desire it. Why should +they, then, with a loathing for war in their hearts, murder each other +to the finish? It would be a sign of weakness, it is said, for any one +people to suggest peace; well, let all the people suggest it together. +The nation which speaks first will not show weakness but strength. It +will win the glory and gratitude of posterity. It is the duty of every +Socialist at the present time to be a prophet of international +brotherhood, realizing that every word he speaks in favor of socialism +and peace, every action he performs for these ideals enflame similar +words and actions in other countries, until the flames of the desire for +peace shall flare high over all Europe. The example which you and our +Russian and Servian comrades have given to the world will have an +emulating effect wherever Socialists have been ensnared by the designs +of the ruling classes, and I am sure the mass of the British workers +will soon rally to the International Labor Party. Already among the +German workers there is far greater opposition to the war than is +generally supposed, and the louder the echo of the cry for peace in +other countries the more vehemently and energetically will they work for +peace here. Thus shall the working classes of all the belligerent +countries become conscious of the necessity to fight for a peace +consistent with the principles of Socialism, a peace without conquest +and without humiliation, a peace based not on hatred but on fraternity, +not on force but on freedom, a peace which, because of its justice, may +be everlasting. In this way, even during the war, the International can +be revived and can atone for its previous mistakes. Thus it must revive, +a different International, increased not only in numerical strength but +in revolutionary fervor, in clearness of vision and in preparedness to +overcome the danger of absolutism, of secret diplomacy, and of +capitalist conspiracies against peace. + +Workers of the World, unite! + +Unite in a war against war! + +With Socialist greetings, + +KARL LIEBKNECHT. + +BERLIN, _December, 1914_. + + + + +SPEECH DELIVERED AT THE WAR MEETING OF THE PRUSSIAN ASSEMBLY, TUESDAY, +MARCH 2, 1915 + + +The Censor forbade the printing of the following speech in Germany. It +is a clear analysis of the franchise question. Dr. Liebknecht also +blames the personal régime and rule of Bureaucracy for the War. +According to the _Vorwärts_ reports, when Liebknecht began to speak the +Free Conservatives, most of the National Liberals and the Centrum left +the chamber in a demonstrative manner. + +_Present_: The Minister of the Interior: Discussion about the Prussian +electoral reform, care for those disabled by war, and democratization of +external politics. + +Taking part in the discussion: Dr. Busse (Cons.), V. Papenheim (Cons.), +Dr. v. Zedlitz and Neukirch (Free Cons.), v. Loebell (Secretary of +Interior), Dr. Friedberg (Natl. Lib.), Cassel (Progressive People's +Party), Dr. Liebknecht (Soc.-Dem.). + + +_Dr. Liebknecht_ (Social-Democrat): Gentlemen, first I wish to protest +against the fact that Russian workingmen are treated differently from +the civilians of other enemy countries. Such differential treatment +cannot be justified--indeed, must be condemned as sharply as possible. + +As to the care to be taken of those disabled by war, I can only support +the heart-felt words which came from all parts of this house on this +question and echoed in our hearts, that we demand action on this matter +without delay and do everything possible to keep these unfortunate +people from all need and misery. But I do not wish to mistake what +experience teaches us--that we have every right to take words uttered in +days such as we are passing through with a great deal of criticism and +suspicion. On that account I would not like to throw all the words +uttered to-day in the scales as solid weight. We will see if, in the +future, deeds will follow. + +The great zeal with which this all-important question, which arouses all +human emotions, was discussed, has for me a special significance because +these debates serve to hide the complete silence of the bourgeois +parties on the decisive and important suffrage question. ("Very true" +from the Soc.-Dem.) + +Gentlemen, you can be assured that those who are in the field and the +unfortunate invalids in the hospitals will be convinced that everything +necessary is done in this important question only when we make it +possible for them at the settlement of the question to be guaranteed +necessary influence in legislation and administration. (Approval from +the Soc.-Dem.) They will not rely on the good will of the ruling +parties, and if the good words which were spoken with relation to the +care to be taken of the war invalids do not go hand in hand with +willingness to give to the mass of the people more rights, to make +possible a democratization of Prussia, then they preach to deaf ears +even if the words sound so very friendly. ("Very true" from Soc.-Dem.) + +Gentlemen, the 27th of February of this year will become a historical +day for Prussia. It was a critical day. In the Budget Committee the +Minister refused to give any assurance, even of a general nature, about +a future suffrage reform; and to-day also we heard nothing about it. The +Progressive Party expects, according to the speech delivered by +Assemblyman Pachnicke, suffrage reform after the war; they expect at +least the secret and the direct vote. The Centrum appeals to its "clear +and unmovable" position on the suffrage question, which no one knows +(Assemblyman Ströbel, Soc.-Dem., "Very good!"), and explains its present +silence by the party truce. The National Liberals put the question of +suffrage reform behind the task of winning the war. The Free +Conservatives, through Frhr. v. Zedlitz, give a straightforward refusal, +which Frhr. v. Zedlitz underlined three times last night in the _Post_. +("Very true" from the Free Conservatives.) I hear again a "Very true" +from the midst of the Free Conservatives, and emphasize it again +thus--according to them the war has brought out strong counter-reaction +against any democratization and Frhr. v. Zedlitz must surely know it, +because he warms himself behind the political stove. He considers the +discussion of the election reform as superfluous, a discussion which +endangers the party truce and which over-balances the discussions about +the Budget; and he scoffs at the idea about a general fraternization on +the foundation of the introduction of the suffrage law for the Reichstag +in Prussia. ("Hear! hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) The German Conservative +Party was silent and by its silence showed that it approved the +provoking refusal of Frhr. v. Zedlitz. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) +To-day also was this approval repeated in an unmistakable sense. + +_That clears the situation_, gentlemen,--clears it delightfully. +Clearness is especially necessary at this time. ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) It never was so necessary as to-day, when the word "party +truce" and the false conceptions of class harmonies, of unity and +unanimity of the people and other beautiful descriptive words about a +free German people of the future becloud many a mind. Gentlemen, we are +glad that this fog was blown away. The naked truth is: In Prussia +everything remains as it was before. Gentlemen, on October 22nd of last +year our warning with reference to the election reform was received by +this house partly with cold silence and partly with indignant murmur. It +was astounding to the gentlemen that the representatives of the third +class of Prussian helot voters dared, at this time, to raise the demand +of the people. The government was silent then. On February 9th the same +performance, and now the Committee's deliberations and the debates of +to-day which clarify the situation so well! Everything remains as it was +before--that is the significance of the day for Prussia. From the papers +we already knew that, gentlemen. Already in September, 1914, upon the +victory of the German troops, so many swelled up as "German friends of +the people." An apotheosis of Militarism, an apotheosis of Monarchism, +an apotheosis of the three-class system of voting and of all "Prussian +egotism" we found in the reactionary papers,--in the papers not only of +the Conservative Parties but even in those of the so-called Liberal +Parties. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +Gentlemen, in 1866 it was said: The schoolmaster, the Prussian +schoolmaster was victorious. To-day it is said: the Prussian system of +voting is victorious in this war or will be victorious in this war. +("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +What progress! It will be said, as it was said: The Prussian three-class +system of voting was victorious over democracy,--by which Russia is +naturally left out of consideration as a good friend of the past and +surely as a good friend of the future. The conclusion will be drawn +which was drawn in such an open way by Frhr. v. Zedlitz. But I should +like to advise you in your own interests not to forget that if this war, +especially in the first months, awakened a strong enthusiasm in the +German people, you must thank above all the fact that it was to be +against Czarism--against the Russian reaction,--("Very true!" from +Soc.-Dem.), against barbarism, unrighteousness; that it was thought to +be a struggle for the freedom of Europe. ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) + +And, gentlemen, do not forget the disastrous influence the backward +conditions in Prussia and in Germany, which conditions were combated by +us, had on the attitude of the Neutrals against Germany in this war! +("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +Gentlemen, in spite of all the characteristic and true Prussian +manifestations since the first months of the war, about which I just +spoke, we had even up to now political dreamers. Gentlemen, those will +now be enlightened about the situation, wherever they are, and that is +of great value. _The darkest pessimists were right in their prophecies._ +These debates have furnished water for our mills. The Conservative +parties of this house stand with their old animosity against any +democratization. From the Centrum nothing is to be hoped. The National +Liberals provide a special chapter. Their ideal with respect to the +electoral reform has been long similar to that of Frhr. v. Zedlitz, +namely, not democratization, but future plutocratization of the +electoral reform. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +So everything is as it was before! The National Liberals put out of +their present thoughts the struggle for peoples' rights, because success +is to them, as they say, more important. Gentlemen, that is explainable. +These gentlemen know, in fact, for what this war is fought. For their +electorate this war is such a tremendously important political and +economic business that the people's rights, bad or good, have to be +retarded. Gentlemen, the mine fields of Briey and Longwy, the mine +fields of West Poland, the colonies which promise important profits and +some other nice things are really no bad investments for German capital. +The people can wait. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) And Mr. +Pachnicke, the boldest representative of democracy in the bourgeois +parties of this house, is already satisfied in advance--sure enough, +only for the present, as he says--with the secret and direct vote! But +even the moderate optimism of Mr. Pachnicke and Mr. Cassel that a +majority is available in this house with reference to that patch-work +reform, was very roughly stripped of its mask in the Budget Commission +by a conservative interruption. Even here everything shall be as it was +before! And even for this patch-work reform Mr. Pachnicke wants to wait +until after the war. Gentlemen, we are not so modest. ("Very true!" from +the Soc.-Dem.) We see all other classes in the war, and especially +through the war, pursue unrestrained and without any compunction their +class interests. We know that this war serves or will serve, if it will +go according to the desire of the ruling class--the great capitalistic +interests--the interest of the ruling classes in a particular way. Shall +only the masses of the people wait until after the war? The technical +restoration of the law is a trifle. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +Gentlemen, do we have any cause to postpone our demand for +democratization in a time of martial law, the press censorship, the +suspension of the miserable right of assembly, in a time of the darkest +reaction, including the spy system in Prussia under the name of +_Burgfrieden_ (civic truce) in a form of military dictatorship, +celebrates its triumph, in a time when the people are more than ever +without any rights, in a time when by the war not only the danger to all +of the capitalistic economic order is made more striking than ever, but +when political pressure lies harder than ever on the people. In such a +time, there is no occasion for us to postpone our demands for +democratization. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Never did the class +character of the present society of the Prussian state reveal itself so +rude and unmasked as right now. Nor do we have any occasion to postpone +our demands for democratization at a time when the dangerous reaction of +the inner autocracy upon the external policy shows itself so awful and +dangerous, at a time which is really clamoring for the democratization +of exterior politics. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +Gentlemen, Mr. Assemblyman Dr. Pachnicke said the war has given new +support to the demand for electoral reform. Frhr. v. Zedlitz shouted a +shrill denial of these words. ("Hear! Hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) A word +which lighted up the situation as a lightning flash, a word for which I +and my friends thank him, a word of redemption which can be _a call of +alarm_ for the further interior Prussian-German development. In fact, +the war has given new support, not to a patch-work reform in the sense +of which Mr. Pachnicke speaks, but to a reform of the Prussian state in +body and soul. I mean in equal franchise and administration from below +up to the highest ranks. And that not only on account of the warlike +attitude of the German people, as Mr. Pachnicke thought. From entirely +different grounds. There never before appeared so clearly on the surface +the glaring contrast between the heavy duties of the majority of the +people and the privileged character of the state and the Administration, +as in these days; the contrast between the equal duties as cannon fodder +and the political inequalities in the state. ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) + +And further, gentlemen, in half-absolutism, in secret diplomacy, in +personal régime and all that, we see one of the most important immediate +causes for the breaking out of this war, which of course is conditioned +and made possible by international capitalism. ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) + +Gentlemen, if the imperialistic endeavors of high capitalism brought +about severe dangers to peace, there is needed more than ever control of +the exterior politics by the masses of the people ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.), a control which is denied by the constitution and +administration prevailing in Prussia and Germany to-day. I know that the +democratization of the exterior policy in other states also, where the +democratization of the interior policy has progressed, is much to be +desired and our friends in England, our friends in France, _to whom we +stand as near as ever before_, as far as they are conducting +Socialistic propaganda ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.), have raised +the demand before and also now for greater democratization of +international politics. Gentlemen, only democratization can erect a wall +against imperialistic and adventurous politics. Gentlemen, the millions +of victims who are butchered in this war, are butchered especially +because the mass of the people were deprived of any rights in the +countries concerned! ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) All of us, no +matter how many differences of opinion may exist now in our small +circle, are all agreed that the mass of the people did not want the war +in any of the countries concerned. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) And +if that is true, it follows that a democratic control of exterior +politics carried out in all states would have prevented the war. ("Very +true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) From that follows the right and duty, +especially now when Europe is buried in blood and murder, and sets on +fire its culture and the flower of its humanity, to raise the demand for +democratization of external politics, which can come only from +democratic internal politics which can be nourished in the soil of a +state democratic from head to foot. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +Gentlemen, I welcome the destruction of illusions which existed in large +circles of the people about the willingness of the ruling classes and +the government to grant an equal franchise law. A clear outlook is +especially necessary; the mist is now blown away, and this clearness is +not preached only--and you should not forget it--to those who are +guarding and supporting the Fatherland in their civilian clothes and +have experienced the need of these days, but also to those who are +standing in the battlefield and who are expecting to hear different news +from home, and who, when they read the papers about the debates of the +Budget Commission of Saturday and debates of to-day--I am absolutely +convinced on this point--will clinch their fists furiously in their +pockets and hurl curses at those who awakened in them hopes and +illusions, who deceived them about the truth,--namely that this war is +not carried on for the mass of the German people; about the truth, that +the mass of the people will be left after the war without rights, as +they were before the war, _unless they look out for their rights +themselves._ + +Gentlemen, the war preaches with a brazen tongue the necessity for +Democracy; and to you all, who think that you can rebuke in such a sharp +way the demands of the people, the idea must emerge, through the shell +of your careless hostility and provoking and people-betraying +demonstrations, that the interior political conditions of Germany will +form themselves even now during the war. + +Gentlemen, the proletariat is in exactly the same position as the poor +starving wretch of the old tragi-comedy, who, dressed in distinguished +garments, for one day of illusions, pretended to be a prince. After the +present revelations, the dream, the hero dream that every one is to be +recognized as a free German citizen, as an equal German citizen, this +dream will vanish even to the last illusionist,--he will awaken from the +illusion of this monstrous three-fourths of a year. He will get sober, +and full of bitterness, draw conclusions for his political attitude even +during the war. + +Gentlemen, the only salvation for the mass of the people is the struggle +that has not changed to-day from yesterday. Not by yielding and not by +adapting itself to conditions, and not by submissiveness, but only in +struggle will the people find its right. (Assemblyman Hoffman, +Soc.-Dem., "Very true!") + +The class struggle alone is the salvation of the proletariat and we hope +that we will carry on very soon the class struggle in open international +intercourse with the proletariat of all countries, even with those with +whom we are at war. In this international class struggle rests not only +hope for the democratization, for the political and economic +emancipation, of the working class, but also the one hope for the mass +of the people concerned even during the war. Their one prospect and hope +for the termination of the horrible killing of peoples is in the +struggle for a peace in a socialistic sense. + +Gentlemen, the equal franchise you rudely denied for the duration of the +war. Even after the war you don't want to grant such franchise. +Laughable patch-work reform is all that one of you, the representative +of the influential Progressive Party (_Fortschritlichen Volkspartei_), +expects at the most; the majority says even here "No." Gentlemen, that +means to the mass of the people the fist! ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) Against that I place the cry: away with the hypocrisy of the +_Burgfrieden_ (civil truce)! Forward to the class struggle! Forward to +the international class struggle for the emancipation of the working +class and against the war! ("Bravo!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + + + + +IN DEFENCE OF ROSA LUXEMBURG + + +Dr. Rosa Luxemburg, with whom the following speech of Dr. Liebknecht +deals, was tried in 1914 because at a public meeting she attacked +militarism and the tragedies which were happening in the German +barracks: brutal treatments, abuses and suicides of German soldiers. At +her trial nine hundred and twenty-two men from all parts of Germany were +ready to testify to something like thirty thousand separate instances of +brutal treatment of soldiers. + +Dr. Rosa Luxemburg was born in Russian Poland, of Jewish parents, and +studied in Switzerland. She went later to Germany in order to become +active in Social-Democratic propaganda. Being a foreigner, she would +have been immediately exiled by the authorities, had she not married a +Mr. Luxemburg--with whom she never lived--and in that way became a +German citizen. + +Dr. Rosa Luxemburg, or "Die Rote Rosa" (The Red Rose) as the Junkers +call her, is one of the very brilliant speakers of the Social-Democratic +Party of Germany and very few in the party equal her in debate. She has +written various books on scientific socialism. + +_Assembly Session, March 9, 1915._ + +Third reading of the Budget for the fiscal year 1915, with the proposed +law regarding the determination of the budget, with a special chapter in +reference to the administration of justice. Taking part in the +discussion of this special chapter, Dr. K. Liebknecht, Minister of +Justice Dr. Beseler and v. Pappenheim (Conservative), who by his motion +that the discussion on this chapter should be closed, made it impossible +for Liebknecht to answer the Secretary of Justice. + + +DR. LIEBKNECHT: Gentlemen, a few days ago, continuing an old tradition +of this house, which remained true to itself, even in this respect, you +deprived me of the floor; to-day you will have to endure what I shall +tell you,--what I really think. + +As is known to you, my party friend, Rosa Luxemburg, was condemned to +one year in prison for an alleged appeal to the soldiers for +insubordination. This decision was approved a few months ago by the +Supreme Court. In January of this year the execution of the sentence was +postponed until March 31st on account of her illness. She spent a few +weeks in a hospital at Schöneberg and was dismissed from it not cured, +on condition that she follow a certain course of treatment. On February +18th she was suddenly arrested at Südende by two officers of the +Criminal Department, brought to the Berlin Police Department, and then +to Division 7, that is, to the political division, and not to the +criminal division. Thence she was transported in the green wagon, +together with common criminals, to the women's prison in the +Barminstrasse, for the fulfillment of her one year's prison sentence. + +This incident unmasks with the precision of physical experiment the real +nature of the so-called _Burgfrieden_ (civil truce). ("Very true.") +Because this fundamentally political, this party political sentence is +executed now, we do not complain. Let those complain who believe in the +civil truce. (Stroebel, "Very true.") I know that my friend Luxemburg +will see in the execution of this sentence a proof that she has +fulfilled her duty, even in these times, of working for the interest of +the people in the socialistic way. But gentlemen, this is remarkable, +and this fact I wish most to emphasize--she was arrested for the +execution of the sentence, in spite of the fact that the execution of +the sentence was postponed until March 31, without giving her an +opportunity voluntarily to begin her term after the authorities thought +that the reasons for the postponement of the execution of the sentence +did not exist any longer. She was taken away without being given an +opportunity voluntarily to begin her sentence. The method of this +execution is open to much criticism. This transportation in the green +wagon and the details which I have just mentioned deserve the severest +reproach against those officials who are responsible for this action. +("Very true" by the Soc.-Dem.) + +Of special political significance is the reason for this execution. The +_Deutsche Tageszeitung_ brought out a notice, even before there appeared +any communication in our party press, of the arrest of my party friend, +which was surely inspired, and probably originated from a well-informed +source, and in which it was said in unmistakable language, that this +trial was started because Madame Dr. Luxemburg arranged political +meetings ("Hear, hear!" from the Socialists), because she was active +politically ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.). Surely the arrest was +not really a military measure, surely it was an execution of a sentence; +but the means described were used, and put in execution from motives +which put on it the seal of partisan political persecution in the most +objectionable form. Very remarkable it is, as I know, that this happened +after the Berlin secret police told the Commander of the Province of the +appearance of Madame Luxemburg at a few meetings. ("Hear, hear!" from +the Soc.-Dem.) The Commander in the Province, as the highest military +authority in the province of Brandenburg, advised the District Attorney, +who is in these days subordinate to him, to begin action against Madame +Luxemburg, to begin action against her on account of holding meetings, +on account of her political activity. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +Now let me give an illustration of how promptly the espionage system, +which was in this case at the service of the Justice officials and so in +confidential coöperation with the military dictatorship, functions. On +February 10th, Madame Luxemburg spoke at a party meeting in +Charlottenburg. On the 13th of February the order was given at +Frankfort-on-the-Main to arrest her. During this interval of three days, +or rather of two days, because the meeting took place on the evening of +February 10th, the spy who must have been present at the meeting (and in +whose behalf, as an officer of the Department of Justice, you will now +approve the Budget), reported the meeting to the Police Headquarters, +which reported to the Supreme Command, and from the Supreme Command the +report was forwarded to Frankfort-on-the-Main, from which the order for +arrest was given. So promptly does the machinery of the Prussian State +function for the political suppression of the people, even in these days +of the party truce. In this field the mechanism of the Prussian State +did prove itself remarkable. + +It should not be said that Madame Dr. Luxemburg was arrested because +after she held meetings she could not be located. Gentlemen, I know that +only by using all her strength, ill as she was, could she fulfill her +duty to the interests of the German people, to the interests of the +entire international proletariat. But, gentlemen, who wants to make us +believe that this action was taken without any connection with what she +did? ("Very true," from the Soc.-Dem.) The political aspect of what she +said was the determining factor for the authorities which "do not +recognize parties any longer." If she had only joined in buying the +usual market commodity labeled "Patriotism," then not only would she +have been spared from this remarkable attack but probably amnesty would +have been forced upon her. ("Very true," from the Soc.-Dem.) But, +gentlemen, she tried by summoning all her strength, to act in the +proletarian and socialistic cause against the frenzied slaughter of +peoples. This does not suit the dominant power, and that is why the +arrest took place. + +But the worst feature is that it was not sufficient to arrest my friend +Luxemburg in this way, but that they also tried to stigmatize her honor +by stating that she had shown intentions of flight. + +Gentlemen, Madame Dr. Luxemburg wanted to travel to a friend in Holland, +and for this purpose she asked for a foreign passport from the police in +her district, who were naturally informed about her sentence, and then +she addressed herself to the Berlin police headquarters, also well +informed about her sentence, before the permission for a passport could +be had; as suspicion was aroused at the Berlin police headquarters, she +addressed herself, one day before she was arrested, with my help, to the +District Attorney of Frankfort-on-the-Main,--the official who was to +have executed the sentence, and had asked from him permission to take +the trip to Holland. The order to make this motion to the District +Attorney was given to her lawyer in Frankfort on the afternoon of +February 17th. Gentlemen, I do not need to tell you that a woman such as +Madame Dr. Luxemburg does not belong to the class who try to escape +from a sentence,--that a woman such as Madame Dr. Luxemburg is brave +enough to look her enemies in the eye and would not think of leaving +Germany in times like these, where there is being waged such an +important part of the struggle against international reaction,--against +imperialism. It is necessary to be a real Prussian police spirit in +order not to understand that. + +Considering the facts of which I just spoke, considering the +possibilities of passing the frontier in these times without the will of +the authorities, the talk about escaping can be characterized only as an +attempt to stigmatize the honor of this really persecuted woman, exactly +after the Russian method, which is not satisfied to punish politically +disagreeable subjects, but tries also to insult their honor as much as +possible. In fact, it happened that the military authorities arranged +that Madame Luxemburg should not be able to be active outside of Germany +in a manner not to the liking of the German ruling powers. Why don't you +say so openly and honestly, instead of hiding behind such obscure +phrases? Just as we have only one counterpart for your denial of the +suffrage reform, for the continuance of the exceptional laws, for your +refusal of any interior reform, namely the political ignorance and +animosity against the people of the Government of the Czar, so this +action against my friend Luxemburg is a counterpart to the arrest of the +Russian Duma Deputies, our admired and excellent friends in the struggle +for the freedom of the people and for the restoration of the peoples' +peace, trying in common with us to serve,--each in his own country,--in +universal opposition against its own government, for the benefit of its +own people and the good of the other people, the good of the +international proletariat, the good of humanity. And so sure as it is +that the arrest of the Duma deputies in Russia opened the eyes of +hundreds of thousands of blind ones, so sure are we that the action +against our comrade Luxemburg will awaken many a dreamer ("Very true" +from Soc.-Dem.), and that they will demand a struggle for a free Prussia +and a struggle for the ending of the mass murder of the people. +("Bravo!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + + + + +LIEBKNECHT CALLED TO ARMY SERVICE + + +On March 23, 1915, Liebknecht was ordered to place himself at the +disposal of the German military authorities. + +From this day on he was under military law as a member of a Landsturm +regiment. + + + + +LIEBKNECHT QUESTIONS THE GOVERNMENT + + +Beginning with August 20, 1915, Liebknecht began putting his questions +in the Reichstag which so much embarrassed the German Government. + +In England this form of parliamentary control of the Government is very +common. In Germany this form is very seldom used. The possibility of +putting supplementary questions gives this method a particularly great +usefulness where there is so little parliamentary criticism as in +Germany. + + +REICHSTAG MEETING, AUG. 20, 1915, 2 P. M. + +At the table of the Federal Government are present: Ministers Delbrück, +Helfferich, and Lisco. + +The first order of business is a question by Dr. Karl Liebknecht. + + +DR. KARL LIEBKNECHT: (reads his question amid great commotion in the +House) "Is the Government, in case of corresponding readiness of the +other belligerents, ready, on the basis of the renunciation of +annexations of every kind, to enter into immediate peace negotiations?" + +SECRETARY OF STATE V. JAGOW: "I believe I shall meet the wishes of the +great majority of the House if I decline to answer the question of the +member, Dr. Liebknecht, at the present time as inopportune." (Great +applause, especially at the right side of the House.) + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: "That is concealing the capitalistic policy of +conquest (great uproar). The answer of the Secretary of State is a +confession of a policy of annexation (repeated great uproar). The people +want peace" (continual uproar and laughter). + + +REICHSTAG MEETING, DEC. 15, 1915 + +The energy which Liebknecht displayed at this meeting was remarkable +considering that he had not completely recovered from the injury which +he had received in October, 1915, at the front. + + +Twenty-third meeting of the Reichstag, Dec. 14, 1915, 2 P. M. + +Present at the Federal Council table: Ministers v. Jagow and Helfferich. + +The first point on the order of the day--Questions by Dr. K. Liebknecht +(Soc.-Dem.). + + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: + + +FIRST QUESTION + +(I-a) Is the Government prepared, if the other belligerents are also +ready and prepared, to enter peace negotiations on the basis of the +renunciation of annexations? This question I withdraw since on Thursday, +Dec. 9, 1915 (Liebknecht refers here to Bethman-Hollweg's speech in the +Reichstag on Dec. 9, 1915, in which the Imperial Chancellor answered the +majority Socialist's peace interpellation. _S. Z._), the Imperial +Chancellor answered this question in the negative. The Government wants +a war of conquest, not peace! + +(I-b) On what other basis is the Government ready to enter immediately +upon peace negotiations? + +(Foreign Minister von Jagow by mistake begins to read the answer to +another question (laughter).) Then the following answer is given to +question I-b: + +In view of the debate of the 9th of December I decline to answer this +question. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT asks the floor for a supplementary question: What will +be the attitude of the Government towards peace proposals from neutral +countries as asked now by the Social-Democrats of Switzerland through +the Swiss Government.... (Great commotion.) + +PRESIDENT DR. KAEMPF: This is not a supplementary question. It is ruled +out of order. + +Dr. K. Liebknecht reads his + + +SECOND QUESTION + +II. Is the Government ready to lay before the nation the official +documents and semi-official documents relating to the secret +negotiations which preceded the declaration of war, especially + +(a) The diplomatic history of the Austrian Ultimatum to Serbia of July +23, 1914, including the official and semi-official negotiations between +the German and Austrian Governments after the crime of Sarajevo? + +(b) The history of the German entry into Luxemburg and Belgium? + +(c) Is the Government ready to create as soon as possible a +parliamentary commission for the examination of these documents and +reveal the responsible parties? + +FOREIGN MINISTER VON JAGOW: The available material about the origin of +the war has been published already. The Government intends to publish +other important documents relating to diplomatic negotiation, _in so far +as they appear to be necessary for the enlightenment of public opinion_ +(my italics, _S. Z._), but refuses to set up a parliamentary committee +dealing with the examination of these documents. The parties responsible +are our enemies. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT asks the floor for a supplementary question (great +merriment): Is the Government ready to lay immediately before us the +entire official documentary material dealing with the war? + +FOREIGN MINISTER VON JAGOW: I have nothing to add to my answer. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: A supplementary question (great merriment). Is it +known to the Imperial Chancellor that according to a remark made on Dec. +5, 1914, by the _former neutral Italian Prime Minister Giolitti_, +_Austria planned as early as 1913 an attack against Serbia_ (_Italics S. +Z._) (Great indignation and shouts.) + +PRESIDENT DR. KAEMPF: This is a new question. We will proceed to your +next question. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: According to paragraph 31 of our order of business I +have asked the floor to supplement my former question. + +PRESIDENT DR. KAEMPF: You have already asked two supplementary +questions. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: The order of business does not limit me to any +definite number. Amid great commotion in the House Dr. Liebknecht reads +another supplementary question: "Why did the Imperial Chancellor conceal +from the Reichstag earlier and at the meeting of August 4, 1914, the +Belgium Ultimatum?" + +PRESIDENT DR. KAEMPF: This also is not a supplementary question, but a +new question. Do you have another supplementary question? Now we come to +your next question. + + +THIRD QUESTION + +III (a) Is it known to the Government that the mass of German people +demand for themselves the right to decide about the external policy of +Germany, that they demand _abolition of secret diplomacy in favor of +permanent public control of foreign policy and its general +democratization_? (_Italics, S. Z._) + +(b) Is the Government prepared to bring in the course of the present +session of the Reichstag a bill which will fulfill the demand above +mentioned and submit the decisions on questions of war and peace to the +people's representatives? + +MINISTER OF EXTERIOR V. JAGOW: The Government is _not willing_ +(_Italics, S. Z._) to correspond with the wishes of Dr. Liebknecht and +to propose such a change in the Constitution. With this answer the rest +of the question is also answered. + + +FOURTH QUESTION + +Does the Government know in what economic distress the masses of the +German people labor on account of the war and on account of the desire +in capitalistic circles for profits and the impotence of the Government +in dealing with the situation? Is the Government now ready to check this +economic distress by improving the general welfare without further delay +and by putting aside all special interests, and taking the necessary +steps to provide for the population the necessary means of living (food, +clothing, shelter, heat and light); especially by regulating production +according to the general welfare? And by commandeering products and by +the uniform distribution of foodstuffs in such a way that the needy may +get sufficient food free or at low cost? + +MINISTER DIRECTOR DR. LEWALD: The Imperial Chancellor declines to answer +the question. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: A supplementary question (great merriment). Does the +Government recognize that according to experiments up to this time +general commandeering of products.... + +PRESIDENT DR. KAEMPF: This is not a supplementary question but a new +question. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: I ask the floor for another supplementary question +(great commotion and merriment). Will the Government put into operation +as soon as possible the decisions of the Budget Commission in line with +these demands? + +MINISTER DIRECTOR LEWALD: In the name of the Imperial Chancellor I +refuse to answer this supplementary question. + + +FIFTH QUESTION + +(a) What meaning does the Government ascribe to the expression "new +internal political orientation?" (_Neuorientierung der inneren +Politik._) + +(b) Does the Government have a concrete program concerning this new +internal political orientation? + +(c) What is this program in detail? + +(d) When does the Government intend to effect this program? + +(e) Does the Government intend during the present session or later to +introduce the reforms necessary to the democratization of the +constitution, democratization of the legislative powers and +democratization of the administration of the German Empire and the +states which compose the Empire? Particularly will the Government reform +the franchise laws governing the legislative and administrative bodies +and democratization of the constitution of the army? + +MINISTER DIRECTOR LEWALD: The Imperial Chancellor refuses to answer this +question also. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: A supplementary question. (Great commotion.) What is +the stand of the Government on the Prussian Franchise Reform? (Great +merriment at the right side of the House.) This is a question which is +of importance to the entire German people. That is the way Government +and Reichstag treat with the life and death problems of the German +people. The people will know now where they stand! (Continued +commotion.) + +PRESIDENT DR. KAEMPF: This is not a supplementary question, but a new +question. With that we are finished with the short questions. + + + Reichstag meeting January 11, 1916, 2 P. M. At the table of the + Federal Council are present: Ministers Helfferich and Delbrück. + + The first order of business: _Questions_ by Member DR. K. + LIEBKNECHT. + + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT reads his first question: + +"Is it known to the Imperial Chancellor that during the present war in +the United Turkish Empire the Armenian people were driven from their +homes and slaughtered by the hundred thousands? What negotiations has +the Imperial Chancellor undertaken with the United Turkish Government in +order to bring about the necessary punishment, to alleviate the +situation of the rest of the Armenian population in Turkey and to make +the repetition of such horrors impossible? + +To answer this question the floor is given to: + +PRIVY COUNCIL FRHR. V. STUMM: It is known to the Imperial Chancellor +that inflammatory demonstrations took place in Armenia on account of +which the Turkish Government was forced to deport the Armenian +population of certain districts and to assign them new living places. +About the reaction on the population taking place on account of these +measures an exchange of ideas between us and the Turkish Government is +now occurring. More details cannot be communicated. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: A supplementary question. Is it known to the Imperial +Chancellor that Professor Lepsius spoke of an absolute extermination of +the Armenians and that for these horrors the Christian population of +Turkey considers the German Government responsible? + +At this point great uproar broke out in the House and made it impossible +for Dr. Liebknecht to finish his questions. + +Shouts from the House: This is a new question! Finish! + +PRESIDENT DR. KAEMPF: This is a new question for which I cannot give the +floor. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: Mr. President, before you have heard the whole +question, you are not in a position to judge (laughter in the House) if +it is a new question or not. At any rate I wish to assert that the +President reached this conclusion that it is a new question not from his +own impulses (shouts in the House: _Oho!_) but because from parts of the +House it was called to his attention. + +PRESIDENT DR. KAEMPF: I ask you not to criticize the way I preside +(applause). We come now to the following question: + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: Will the Government be ready very soon to place +before the Reichstag for action data concerning the situation of the +population in the territory occupied by Germany? Further data concerning +the measures taken for the people in the occupied territory, concerning +the means of living, (food, clothing, shelter), concerning their health +condition, their rights, their numbers? Then data concerning the kind +and reason of the punishments decreed and reprisal measures taken +against the people in this territory by the German authorities, the +number of people executed, military requisitions of property and methods +followed in such operations? And the extent of the contributions levied +upon them, especially on the Belgian people?" + +To answer these questions the floor is given to: + +MINISTER DIRECTOR LEWALD: The Imperial Chancellor declines to put +before the Reichstag the material desired by Dr. Liebknecht. But he will +give information about the activities of the civil authorities in the +occupied territory on the request of the committee of the Reichstag. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: A supplementary question. How many places and +buildings were destroyed by the German authorities since the beginning +of the war for the purpose of reprisal--how many persons were arrested +and killed for the same purpose? + +PRESIDENT DR. KAEMPF: This is a new question. It is ruled out of order. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT reads the _third question_: Is the Government ready to +lay before the Reichstag without delay material concerning + +(a) Measures taken by the German military and civic authorities on the +basis of the _state of martial law_ for the suppression of the right of +assemblage and of personal liberty (prohibiting meetings, dissolving +societies, interference in private correspondence, arrests, searching of +homes, etc.), particularly the number of those put in military and +police (_cachot_) arrest without trial, during the war? Also the reason +for and length of these arrests? + +(b) The number, extent and causes of punishments inflicted during the +war upon members of the army and also the number of convicts in the +military prisons since the beginning of the war? + +MINISTER DIRECTOR LEWALD: The Imperial Chancellor declines to put before +the Reichstag the material asked by Dr. Liebknecht. (Dr. Liebknecht +shouts: That also is very characteristic.) + +PRESIDENT DR. KAEMPF: This word of Dr. Liebknecht is ruled out of order +as not permissible. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: A supplementary question. Does the Imperial +Chancellor know that in Germany the Military Authorities and Police +Authorities have established nearly everywhere dark chambers (laughter), +in which places the correspondence of people who are politically +disagreeable, among whom are Deputies of the Reichstag or Assembly, is +opened secretly?... (Great uproar. The bell of the President!) + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: I wish to protest against this autocratic suppression +of the order of business by the President and Reichstag. + +This finishes Liebknecht's questions. + + + + +LIEBKNECHT EXPELLED FROM THE SOCIAL-DEMOCRATIC PARTY + + +On January 13, 1916, by a vote of sixty to twenty-five, the Socialist +Central Committee expelled Dr. Karl Liebknecht from membership in the +Socialist Party for continuous "gross infractions of party discipline." +The majority Social-Democrats took that measure against Liebknecht for +having greatly embarrassed the Government with his questions two days +before in the Reichstag. + + + + +REICHSTAG DISCUSSION ABOUT THE CENSORSHIP + +_January 19, 1916_ + + +LIEBKNECHT was unable to obtain the floor at the general discussion. In +a personal remark after the discussion was closed he made the following +characteristic remarks: + +"Repeatedly members of this House told me that I work in the service of +the enemy, that I am a traitor. ("Very true," from the left side of the +House.) I wish to answer this by saying that I prefer being insulted by +you as a traitor or anything else, to being praised for speaking +according to your taste, as some members of the Social-Democratic group +of this House have done lately (merriment). Gentlemen, by your attitude +you show me that you wish to suppress truth and right." + + + + +JUSTICE IN GERMANY IN WAR TIME + + Twentieth Meeting of the Assembly, Friday, March 3, 1916, 11 + o'clock morning session. + + On the Ministerial Bench: Freiherr v. Schorlemer, v. Loebell and + Beseler. + + +The order of the day: Continuation of the discussion on second reading +of the budget of the Department of Justice. + +Taking part in the discussion: Assemblymen: Delbrück (Conservative), +Reinhard (Centrum), Minister of Justice Beseler, Assemblymen Liepmann +(National Liberal), Kanzow (Progressive Peoples Party), Nissen (Dane), +v. Trampczynski (Pole) and Dr. K. Liebknecht. + + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: It must be regretted that we have no statistics +concerning certain social phenomena which mirror justice under war +conditions of to-day. Thus there are lacking statistics of the number of +bankrupts, whose places of business could not be opened on account of +lack of actual supplies; statistics concerning evictions; concerning +suits against stores which sell on credit; statistics concerning firms +which have gone out of business and statistics concerning business +events and corporations registrations, from which it might have been +possible to see to what colossal degree small concerns have been ruined +by the war. There is no information concerning the shiftings on the +real-estate market; concerning new societies formed specially for the +purpose of exacting high interest from the people. Again, we have no +accurate information as to what proportion of existing societies +increased their capital,--some of whose increases went high into the +millions. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Statistics of the war +measures would show that they are nothing but patchwork, and that +economic war-damages can be prevented only when we strike at the root of +capitalism. The war-necessity measures are sufficient only to prevent +the population from resorting, as best they can, against frightful +economic injuries. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Such statistics +would give us an X-ray of the terrific injury and destruction which the +war has caused and continually causes the economic body of capitalism; +an X-ray picture of the capitalistic elephantiasis which the war has +brought into being (laughter from the right side of the House) in most +branches of big business, and a picture of the tearing apart of the +middle class and the accelerated proletarization of the masses. ("Very +true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Such a picture would show us the truth of the +well-known phrase: "Socialism whither we are tending." The extent of +crime is not indicated, only by cases brought to court. There exists +to-day surely a greater divergence than ever before between real +criminality and that brought before justice. With reference to the +crimes which come to justice statistics are lacking, and apart from +that, the accused is kept secretly hidden from the population, first by +the tendency, increasing more and more, to exclude the public from +trials and then by the censor,--which makes it impossible for the public +to get a clear picture of criminal justice. Thus the _Vorwärts_ is +forbidden to report without permission of the censor anything concerning +arrests made ("Hear, hear!" by the Soc.-Dem.). To report political +matters which could cause excitement is absolutely forbidden to the +_Vorwärts_. Thus a while ago the _Vorwärts_ could not write a syllable +of the imminent discharge from prison of Madame Dr. Rosa Luxemburg +("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.), and could only, later on, report the +resulting discharge. It seems that the authorities were conscious of the +fact that the announcement of her imminent discharge would bring out a +great mass of the population to express their sympathies for Madame Dr. +Luxemburg. In spite of the prohibiting order of the censor there were, +as is known, a great number of men and women who received and welcomed +Madame Luxemburg. Further it was reported that March 22nd was the date +fixed for the trial against the _Internationale_ magazine (Rosa +Luxemburg and Franz Mehring endeavored to publish in Germany a Socialist +monthly under the title of _The International_, to voice the views of +the Anti-War section of the German Social-Democratic Party. The +magazine was suppressed and the editors jailed. _S. Z._), in which Rosa +Luxemburg, Clara Zetkin and Franz Mehring were accused. Of that also the +_Vorwärts_ could not mention a single syllable. ("Hear, hear!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) + +Furthermore, it has become a rule of the censor that no report is +permitted of trials which refer in any way to peace demonstrations and +to riots on account of lack of food, so that the population shall not +get an idea in what numbers such trials are taking place. Statistics in +regard to sentences imposed on account of frauds involving military +supplies would be important,--which are happening very often; statistics +in regard to sentences on account of bribery in order to obtain +contracts for military supplies, offenses which flourished especially at +the beginning of the war. Of great value would be statistics in regard +to cases in which the state interfered on account of furnishing war +material to enemy states. As you know, in the period of the war, a +semi-official warning was issued against the inclination in big business +circles even during the war to furnish the enemy war material in a +roundabout way through the neutral states. ("Hear, hear!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) The official notification accentuated the fact that this +roundabout subterfuge through neutral countries is so plain that there +cannot be any doubt that the capitalistic circles concerned were +entirely conscious of the far-reaching effect of their action. ("Hear, +hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) A very noted senator in Lübeck (Lübeck is one +of three German Republics, _S. Z._), for instance, has been for a long +time under arrest for treason, because he put his Swedish copper mines +at the disposition of the Russians. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) +These cases must have increased, otherwise the official warning would be +unexplainable. You know how international business is related, +especially Big Business. The kinship exists, even if in changed form, +and naturally continues even now. You know that this kinship, especially +in the field of the armament industry,--(bell of the President). + +ASSEMBLYMAN ADOLF HOFFMAN: "Now comes the holy of holies!" + +VICE-PRESIDENT DR. KRAUSE: "I cannot see what that has to do with the +administration of justice and its responsibilities. We cannot now go +into a discussion of the censor and the capitalistic mischief, as you +call it." + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: I demand statistics which will show in how many cases +indictments were brought on account of such offenses. When in this +connection I point out the international kinship of capitalism, in war +contracts supplying German cannons to foreign countries, I believe I am +speaking to the point which is now open for discussion. In reality +German soldiers were shot by Krupp cannon which were furnished to +foreign countries. (Most of the Belgium cannons were Krupp cannons. _S. +Z._) (Lively "Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +VICE-PRESIDENT DR. KRAUSE: "The connection of this with the Department +of Justice is difficult for any logically-thinking man to find. I call +you to the question." ("Bravo!" at the right side of the House.) + +ASSEMBLYMAN DR. LIEBKNECHT: We are also without comprehensive statistics +in regard to the inmates of our prisons. We obtained in Committee only a +few communications, according to which the number of inmates of the +prisons of the Department of Justice had diminished, in so far as the +men are concerned, but the number of sentences imposed on women +increased. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Later it was communicated +to us that in the prisons of our Department of Justice there are an +extraordinary number of sentenced soldiers, whom the authorities had to +take there, because the military and fort prisons are entirely +overfilled. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) In the Prisons of the +Prussian Department of Justice there are at present 5000 prisoners. And +prisons which are under the control of the Minister of the Interior are +certainly being strongly demanded by military prisoners. It is a fact, +however, in very many cases, that sentenced soldiers are not entering +upon their sentences immediately, but are serving in the army. The +decrease in the number of prison inmates can also for the greatest part +be attributed to the pardons granted. In many cases it was decided, that +even without granting a pardon there should be a postponement in the +execution of the sentence, even an interruption in the fulfillment of +the sentence, in order that the soldiers concerned could be brought to +the barracks or into the trenches. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) +Referring to the question of the release of prisoners, the ex-convict in +the army was discussed in Committee. According to my experience, it is +in war that the ex-convicts, those who were ostracized in civil life, +have particularly shown, in the most excellent way, the qualities of +human fellowship. But the danger must not be overlooked. It consists in +this--that people of criminal inclination, whose temptations are greater +in the dangers which are facing them, are in the army in great numbers. +("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Our great responsibility towards the +defenseless population in the occupied territories must therefore give +us special concern. German papers commented bitterly when prisons were +opened in foreign countries in order that the inhabitants could enter +the army. But to a certain degree that happened also here in Germany. I +do not want to assert that the majority of excesses which happened in +the occupied territories against the civil population, the cruelties +which carry a special personal stamp, and which surpass the real war +cruelties, are committed particularly by discharged convicts--at all +events the question deserves special attention. It is important to note, +further, that our civil justice takes in to-day only a very small part +of the male population, as those who are called to the colors are under +the jurisdiction of the courts martial. There are courts martial also +for the civil population, as you know, especially in the provinces of +the frontier. Statistics are also lacking as to the doings of these +military courts. From the decrease of prisoners we cannot draw a +favorable conclusion as to the criminality of to-day. The source of +crime flows without interruption. The entire activity of justice is a +circulus vitiosus, a faulty short conclusion. Neglect leads to crime, +penalty to the increase of social weakness, to demoralization, to new +crime, new sentence and so on. Crime is a constitutional disease of +bourgeois society. (Laughter at the right side of the House.) What is +the condition at the roots of crimes during war? The first root is the +strengthening of the social causes of crime, the distress of the +population, the increase in the cost of living, the ruin of the family. +In order to examine the social roots of war criminality, the report of +the Trade Council Inspectors would be important--which unfortunately we +do not receive during the war. But by banishing these facts in a dark +chamber, they are not kept from the world. When the material in regard +to the secret social history of the war will finally be presented, +humanity will be terrified at the horrors which have shown themselves. +("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +I come now to the second root of war criminality. Mr. Kanzow +(Assemblyman of the Progressive People's Party) called Right one of the +holiest gods of the people. To-day Right is in a state of siege. How is +the principle of Right compatible with the principle of Might; how can +the idea of Right live in the atmosphere of war psychology, which means +a destruction of the fundamentals of all that is right? The conception: +"Might goes before Right," "Necessity Knows no Law," must pull down all +safeguards of law. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) The question as to +how the Ten Commandments stand to-day we hardly need to open. ("Very +true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) To-day it is not: "Love thy neighbor," but +kill thy neighbor! (The bell of the President.) + +VICE-PRESIDENT DR. KRAUSE: By such method you could throw the entire +world into the circle of your examination. ("Very true," and laughter at +the right side of the House.) + +ASSEMBLYMAN ADOLF HOFFMAN (Soc.-Dem.): "Justice has nothing to do with +right!" + +ASSEMBLYMAN DR. LIEBKNECHT: How would it be possible to speak about +criminology without considering it as a social phenomenon? ("Very true!" +from the Soc.-Dem.) When we wish to speak about criminality during war +we certainly must consider the special social phenomena of the war which +lead to crime! Justice is indeed not only the concern of the employees +of the Department of Justice, but the affair of the entire people. +("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) It is generally recognized to-day that +crime is to be considered a social disease. That war psychology is +responsible for preliminaries for the increase of crime is clear. Many a +sharp word could be said on this point, many a lash with the whip could +be given to the bourgeoisie society, but because the President does not +wish it, I will have to be silent about that which should also be said. +When Assemblyman Schenk von Schweinsburg said recently that the war +should not end very soon, lest after the war we shall again face such +conditions as in 1870--then I say, that from the present war no moral +regeneration can grow; from blood no innocence can grow; from might no +right can grow. The Apocalyptic rider rides even over righteousness and +tramples the seed of righteousness. + +The crime among the young is an especially serious phenomenon which can +be recognized in its entire importance only in connection with the +increased death rates of the young and the death rates of children, and +with the increased commitments to the reformatory. According to the +investigation of the _Zentrale für Jugendfürsorge_ (Headquarters of the +Welfare Society for the Youth), criminality among youths between twelve +and fourteen years has increased almost twice. ("Hear, hear!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) This increase touches also the youth of fourteen to sixteen +and naturally increases with the duration of the war. Offenses on +account of need and offenses on account of neglect of youth play an +important rôle. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Statistics would be +important which would show the relation between criminality and the +increase in the cost of living and the increase of the calls to the +army. The ruin of the family, insufficient education, need of better +housing, the partial abolition of laws protecting youth, all help to +increase criminality among the youth. To-day the youth of the +proletariat is in the position described in the melancholy song: +_Maiköfer fliege, dein Vater ist im Kriege_. (May-bug fly, your father +is in the war.) ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) The state took its +protecting hand away from the children; it is replaced by the +reformatory and criminal justice, in order to meet these phenomena of +human misery. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Added to that are the +moral causes, the contradiction of the entire present state of affairs +of Christian morality as preached in peace time; the entire morale of +bourgeoisie society is overturned. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) How +the old are singing, the young are twittering! The neglect of the youth +is a natural result of neglect of the entire human race in this war, the +neglect of our entire culture. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +Now commissioned officers are put into the schools to drum morality into +the youth; outside of the schools also a strong militarization of the +youth will take place. All kinds of demands for extreme reaction shoot +luxuriantly into blossom. In fact there was recently demanded the +restriction of free emigration of the youth from place to place. ("Hear, +hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +VICE-PRESIDENT DR. KRAUSE: All your last reproaches are not referring to +the administration of the Department of Justice. I call you for the +second time to the question, and call your attention to the resulting +consequences, according to the order of business. + +ASSEMBLYMAN DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: In time of peace it was possible to +discuss thoroughly in this connection the causes of criminality. Now +they try to muzzle me. ("Very true!" calls from the Soc.-Dem. "Even in +Parliament!") That is plainly impossible. (The bell of the President.) + +VICE-PRESIDENT DR. KRAUSE: I refuse to permit any criticism of the way I +preside. Certainly the discussion on the budget is the suitable place +for discussing all those social matters, but not in the section on the +Department of Justice's administration. This belongs to the general +discussion. + +ASSEMBLYMAN DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: I made my remarks in close connection +with the deliberation of the method for decreasing criminality among +youth. It is not possible to discuss criminality without discussing the +complex social conditions on which it grows. The Minister of Justice is +deeply interested in those methods which must be considered in +decreasing crimes. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +Another branch of material and spiritual misery is the increase of crime +among women. The President would not permit me to go into details to +show that just as crimes among the young go together with reform +schools, so criminology among women goes hand in hand with prostitution. +To discuss this matter in great detail is, according to the instructions +of the President, not suitable for this place. In criminality among +women, offenses because of misery and offenses because of neglect play +an important rôle, especially miscarriages. The campaign of our +Department of Justice against birth control is a particular chapter of +special importance which demands also sharp criticism. Birth control is +fought particularly on account of its danger to the military strength of +the people. We find that our criminal law, especially of late, has taken +sharp measures against abortion, in order to protect our army strength. +The women who are very often in most difficult distress, are forced to +give birth to future defenders of the Fatherland. I must protest against +this kind of procedure from the Department of Justice which defends +bayoneting the womb of the mother. (Great laughter at right side of the +House.) Previously not so much attention was given to the welfare of the +youth, to the remedy for crimes among the young. All these matters +attracted great interest only when they began to be considered from the +point of view of Militarism, in the light of the army strength of the +people. That is how irritability is to be explained when those questions +are touched. Sentences on offenses on account of neglect and offenses on +account of want in their severity present a great contrast to the mild +sentences against the profiteers of the necessities of life, those +vampires on the strength of the people. ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) This justice functioning strongly against the unfortunate +ones, who through social misery fell under the wheels of the law, and +the milder sentences on those dangerous hyenas of the battlefield, +gentlemen of high position, gentlemen from wealthy strata, show most +clearly that the class character of the present society is not +abolished during the war, but is aggravated, if that were at all +possible. All this in spite of the party truce and in spite of the +phrase "I know no parties any longer." (Liebknecht refers here to the +phrase of the Kaiser. _S. Z._) Also political justice did not cease to +any extent during the war. I wish to remind you of the way the +_schutzhaft_ (That is, confinement in prison till the end of the war. +_S. Z._) is treated now as a sentence without trial, without verdict, as +a punishment without any guaranties under the code of criminal +procedure. The relation between the military dictatorship and justice +also needs examination. Upon the searching of houses, which casts on our +justice the deepest shadow, the so-called Schutzhaft follows. Those who +are in the Schutzhaft cannot defend themselves in any way. The word +Schutzhaft taken literally means a "safe place," exactly the contrary of +what it really is. Those in Schutzhaft are not even in a position to get +the advice of counsel. Here in Berlin the authorities having +jurisdiction over the Schutzhaft are treating the lawyers very roughly +and excluding them more and more. An attempt of Attorney Weinberg to +obtain the interference of the Bar Association of Berlin against this +undeserved treatment was unfortunately put down by the Bar Association. +Hundreds and hundreds are or have been in the Schutzhaft for months, +yes, ever since the beginning of the war. A special light is thrown upon +this situation by some political trials also. In the criminal trials +against Westkamp and comrades in Düsseldorf the defendants were first +taken under the Schutzhaft, then under preventative arrest. In court the +warrant of arrest was withdrawn, but in spite of that, they were again +taken from the court room to prison, in Schutzhaft. ("Hear, hear!" from +the Soc.-Dem.) The result was that the appeals had to be given up, in +order not to extend their arrest, I do not know how long. My comrade +Caston in Düsseldorf was taken in preventative arrest one month before +trial began. The order for this arrest was rescinded, but he was held in +Schutzhaft until the beginning of the trial, and although he was +acquitted, he was taken back and interned in Schutzhaft again. ("Hear, +hear!" from the Soc.-Dem. Shouts "_The Russian Way!_") Now look at the +Prussia which was selected in this war to liberate the Russian people +from czarism. (Uproar on the right. "Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem. +Shouts from the Soc.-Dem. "Liberation is necessary here!") + +There is the case of Caston, in which the Imperial Chancellor was asked +for redress, but naturally in vain, because the sword of justice is now +in the hands of the military powers, its scales also, and behind the +figure of Justice grins Militarism. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem. +Laughter from the right.) + +The beginning of political trials under the party truce is as follows: +The military authorities hand over any kind of work, book or other kind +of material to the prosecuting attorney, with the instruction to +interfere. A very invidious rôle for our Justice! _Justitia Fundamentum +Regnorum_ (Justice is the foundation of states). No,--_Militarismus +Fundamentum Regnorum!_ (Militarism is the foundation of states!) Our +Justice does not know parties any longer, wherever there are not any +parties, where they capitulated before the military dictatorship. But +she knows very well parties when they have remained in opposition. There +is a very fine distinction in recognizing and considering only a certain +wing in the Social Democracy as a party, which for this wing is +considered a great honor. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem. Laughter on +the right.) This was expressed practically in the trial against my +comrade Walcher for distributing leaflets, of which the District +Attorney of District Court I in Berlin said in the indictment that the +leaflets were directed particularly against the majority wing of the +Social-Democratic representation in the Reichstag. The majority wing and +their policy are for the Department of Justice a particularly holy +object, and on different occasions expressing doubt as to this policy or +hindering the same was worked up in trials by the District Attorney as a +kind of new crime. The indictment against the said Walcher reads: "At +the same time the leaflet contains at the end an appeal to those workmen +who are not in accord with the policy accepted by the majority wing of +the Social-Democratic representation in the Reichstag, by violence to +alienate supporters of the majority Social-Democratic Party. To say +that the public peace is endangered by such action; I need not explain." +("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) We can be only very thankful to you +when by such methods you clarify over and over again the "Party truce" +(_Burgfrieden_), and in that way admit the correctness of our policy; in +that way you naturally attain only the contrary of what you wish to +attain. + +The editor of the _Vorwärts_ (Dr. Meyer) was indicted on account of his +book against the actions of responsible and irresponsible inciters to +annexation and on account of another work, "WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE +WAR," where he says what every one could say in Germany until July 29, +1914, and what was also said by your parties. In this pamphlet those who +are responsible for the kindling of the world war were pointed out. Dr. +Meyer, it is true, was acquitted, against the motion of the District +Attorney. + +The paragraphs about agitation, disturbance of the peace, high treason, +etc., are interpreted more and more loosely. Placing one class in a less +favorable light than another is now considered as inciting to +discontent. Every energetic peace move is prosecuted according to the +criminal code. At the Police Headquarters in Berlin a special commission +was appointed to try those who are arrested on account of peace +propaganda. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) This, surely enough, is +not only a German but an international phenomenon. Like Comrade Castor, +a number of Social-Democrats in Italy were also indicted on account of +distributing the Zimmerwald peace manifesto. In Italy the Zimmerwald +peace manifesto was declared not punishable, but in Düsseldorf it was +punishable. + +Furthermore, a number of persons were prosecuted on account of +distributing the peace manifesto adopted in Bern at the International +Women's Conference. Among others Clara Zetkin was arrested for the +distribution of the manifesto mentioned. She was arrested for treason +because she engaged in peace propaganda. The French Socialist Louise +Soumonneau was arrested for that also, but acquitted. In Germany the +proceedings are still pending, and so far as I can judge, there does not +exist any inclination to follow the good example of France. But the fact +that an Internationale of enemies of peace get together, with the help +of the Department of Justice, to fight the peace propaganda shows the +condition of the Christian foundation of our present culture. ("Very +true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) If defending the peace idea, if the +proclamation of the international proletariat class struggle against +war, is treason, then it is an honor to be reproached as a traitor. +("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) For us, who see our country in the +Internationale of the proletariat, it is impossible thus to be deceived +by the Department of Justice. But the administration of the Department +of Justice should consider if it is not the highest insult to our +present order of society to consider work for peace and against the +murdering of the people as treason! The Administration of the +Department of Justice, it seems, felt no breath of this Christian +spirit. Equal rights for all in our time? Peace propagandists are +prosecuted, war instigators not. War propaganda is considered as a +special political duty. Why are not capitalists prosecuted and +authorities who, under the threat of sending the working people to the +trenches, prevent them from putting forward demands to improve their +condition, prevent them in that way from going on strike? Why are not +those prosecuted for provocation who withhold from the people the rights +promised to them at the outbreak of the war, and who are accusing the +women of waste and gluttony? Why are not food profiteers prosecuted? + +They who conspire to violate an agreement are committing treason. ("Very +true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) High treason has come to be, in a certain +sense, a noble crime. There are certain places in Germany to-day, +especially in prison camps, where high treason is conceived, high +treason other than that just mentioned by me. (Liebknecht refers here to +plots about the Irish Revolution in the German prison camps. _S. Z._) In +1904 German citizens were indicted for high treason against czarism. +To-day those who breed revolutions are high traitors. (Great +disturbance. Shouts--"That's the limit!") + +VICE-PRESIDENT DR. KRAUSE: For the unworthy expression that the +Government breeds high treason, I call you to order. According to our +rules I could ask the House if you should speak any further. (Cries of +dissent from the Soc.-Dem.) I shall not do so yet, but if you continue +in that way I will have to do it. + +ASSEMBLYMAN DR. LIEBKNECHT: On account of writing and publishing a poem, +death sentence was pronounced, which later on was commuted to five +years' imprisonment. There exists a country, where conditions are even +worse than in Germany, and that is not Russia, but Austria. Only here +and there a cry of distress comes through to the civilized countries. +(Continual disturbance.) If in capitalistic society justice is the veil +of force, the war has torn aside this veil and the legend of the +Christian state, just like the legend of the constitutional state, +vanished over the entire world. One of the most important and proudest +philosophies of bourgeois society is crushed under the blows of the +world war; that can be said also about international law. Even a member +of this House (presumably he means Prof. Liszt, teacher of Law in the +University of Berlin. _S. Z._) revised his handbook on international +law, in order to defend as not contrary to international law all German +methods used in carrying on this war. Just as science, art, religion and +humanity, broke down in this volcanic eruption, so justice broke down +too. In the Budget Committee the Minister of Justice promised to +prohibit German law students from studying law in cities of the neutral +countries where there is a strong sentiment against the German. If that +system were applied to all higher institutions of learning, in which an +unfriendly view against Germany is manifested, then the whole world +would be closed to German students. We protest against drawing such +chauvinistic conclusions from the occurrences at Geneva and Lausanne, +and we protest that the extent of race hatred, under which the whole +world is suffering at present, is exaggerated. ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) The clemency decrees were so much praised here that we must +think that to-day even clemency itself is used for war purposes. (Great +disturbance.) On account of these considerations the clemency decrees +must be examined very critically. + +What future prospects has our Justice? The source of war criminality +will flourish more and more, the longer the war lasts; and will not the +lowering of the entire standard of living through enormous pressure, +lead to this--that the whip of need should be even after the war one of +the long-remaining acquisitions of our great time? ("Very true!" from +the Soc.-Dem.) Will not the war ethics, the stirred-up inclinations to +acts of violence, that "Necessity knows no law" and "Might goes before +right," produce effects of which we shall be afraid? The passions which +were unshackled by our present order of society cannot be gotten rid of +so quickly. Sodom and Gomorrha are not yet destroyed and with the +sharpening of the class struggle political justice and reaction will +also grow sharper. Those are the prospects for the future. There is in +prospect for the future of humanity in Europe a morale, physical and +economic, bled white. For us it follows inevitably from this side of +our social life that we should put all our strength into the +international class struggle against the war, in order to enforce peace +by the will of the people. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) The cries +of distress from the prisons and penitentiaries and places of misery +which cannot reach the public will sound one fine day more clearly in +the ears of those who now stop their ears and will help to wake up +humanity to the only holy struggle known by us Social-Democrats,--for +peace against war, against the capitalistic order of society, for +Socialism! (Lively applause from the Soc.-Dem. Great disturbance.) + +(After this masterful exposition by Liebknecht of the condition of +justice in Germany, the Minister of Justice of Prussia, Beseler, took +the floor for some general statements, ending by saying: "I refuse to +give an answer to Dr. Liebknecht.") + + + + +THE SITUATION IN AUSTRIA + + +(At the same meeting Assemblymen Nissen (Dane) and v. Trampcynski (Pole) +protested against the prosecution of their nationalities by the +authorities of the Department of Justice. To them the Minister of +Justice gave no definite reply. This situation gave Liebknecht another +chance and he took the floor again to add his protest and by a few +remarks to show the conditions existing in Austria, Germany's ally.) + +DR. LIEBKNECHT: The disciplining of a nationality living in Prussia fits +exactly into the general picture which I just sketched. Such a +"liberation" of our Danish compatriots I took as certain. The Minister +of Justice limited himself to general remarks about my speech, saying +that I resorted to insults. In that way he thought to provide himself a +comfortable retreat. I have no desire, after such words, to concern +myself any longer with the Minister of Justice. Only at one point I +shall have to add something, and that is in relation to his denial of my +remarks about the conditions in Austria. The Minister of Justice +represented that my facts had been invented. But in Austria +courts-martial are carrying out a true régime of terror, such as was not +carried on in the worst days in Russia. (Lively "Hear, hear!" from the +Soc.-Dem.--continued noise from the majority parties.) I have the +material in my hands. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) In Austria +there is no possibility of discussing those things from the tribune of a +Parliament. (Continued noise and shouts from the majority parties to +finish the debate.) + +ASSEMBLYMAN STRÖBEL (Soc.-Dem.): You make yourselves accomplices of +those bloody sentences. (Again continued noise.) + +DR. LIEBKNECHT, continuing: In a few months hundreds of years of hard +labor were decreed and also the death sentence which I mentioned before, +and which was pronounced by a military court on account of the poem I +spoke of before. (Lively "Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem. Commotion +among the majority.) One of my party comrades was sentenced to death on +account of a so-called seditious speech. + +(A few other sentences of the speech remain unheard on account of the +noise among the majority parties in the House. That closes the debate. +The Budget is approved.) + + + + +EDUCATION IN GERMANY DURING WAR + +MEETING OF THE PRUSSIAN ASSEMBLY + +March 16th, 1916, 11 o'Clock Morning Session + + On the Ministerial Bench: V. Trott zu Solz (Minister of Religion + and Education). + + The subject of discussion was: The Education and Religion Budget, + and as a special topic: The Higher Schools of Prussia. + + Taking part in the discussion: Dr. Karl Liebknecht (Social + Democrat), Wilderman (Centrum), Frhr. v. Zedlitz (Free + Conservative), Minister (Progressive People's Party). + + +In this discussion Liebknecht exposes the method and system of teaching +in the higher schools of Germany and gives full play to his great +courage. "The ideal _classical education lies in the spirit of +independence and humanity_," he exclaimed. And, addressing himself to +this reactionary parliament, he added: "Your ideal of classical +education is '_the ideal of the bayonet, of the bombshell, of poison gas +and grenades, which are hurled down on peaceful cities, and the ideal of +submarine warfare_.'" + +He also proves that an educational system cannot be separated from +social conditions and demands, along with a reform of the entire school +system, particularly that promotion from the primary school to the high +school shall not be considered any longer an act of charity but a right +to be demanded for every able pupil. + +His remarks brought out a cyclone of protest. Liebknecht was twice +recalled to the subject and thrice to order, and as the President +inquired of the House after the third call to order if it wished to +listen to the speaker any longer, the entire house, with the exception +of the small group of Social-Democrats, voted that he be denied the +floor. In this way they avoided listening to Liebknecht's indictments. + + +DR. LIEBKNECHT: The real character of capitalistic society is shown in +inequality of education, especially the inequality of the Prussian state +with its three-class system of voting, in the three-class system of +education: primary schools, higher schools, universities. The +educational system cannot be separated from social conditions. In order +to acquire education, time and economic opportunities are necessary. +Education in the capitalistic order of society is not an aim in itself. +Utilitarianism dominates our education. The higher schools serve as +preparatory institutes for higher official positions, whereas the +primary schools teach the fundamentals which serve to make tools for +capitalistic society. Social misfortunes come to the surface now more +than ever before: overcrowding of the classes, insufficient rooms, +scarcity of teachers, frequent change of teachers, undernourishment and +overfatigue of the children, and child labor. Especially does +undernourishment weaken the health of the proletariat and thus hinder +even the limited educational work of the primary school. But more than +ever before the primary school is used to-day in order to make firm the +position of the ruling classes, to capture the souls of the young +proletariat for the ruling class, for Militarism. When we think of all +that, we recognize how urgently the proletariat must work for a +fundamental reform of the entire school system. + +Neglect of youth through the war cannot be denied, exists in spite of +all camouflage. There is not enough rain in the heavens to wash away +this sin from the bourgeois form of society. Improvement of this +condition can be obtained only by sharp criticism. When one sees +that,--as happened to people at the Berlin Police Headquarters,--young +working girls 16 and 17 years old, who were arrested for some reason, +are told: "_You should be put against the wall and shot down_" ("Hear, +hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.)--then it must be recognized that we really do +not live in an age where class differences do not exist and where the +entire people stands united, but that, on the contrary, dissimilarities +are intensified now in the most inciting way. Where is, in face of this +fact, the sensitive German nature about which there is so much +discussion here? + +Very desirable would be statistics as to how few children of the +proletariat on account of existing institutions have obtained +opportunity to reach a higher school education; then the unimportance +of these few will be recognized, when compared with the millions and +millions to whom the road to all the splendor and magnificence which the +human spirit can receive, is closed. The amendments proposed (he refers +to amendments which will make it easier for able pupils of the primary +school to attend the higher schools in larger numbers than had been the +case; another amendment introduced by Dr. Porsch (Centrum) proposed that +the so-called Rektorat-Schools, which are for procuring a higher +education for moneyless pupils, should be supported--_S. Z._), are +merely patchwork experiment, because what is proposed will be to the +advantage only of the poor bourgeoisie, but not of the proletariat. +Don't you really sense what it means, when they try to make the pathway +to higher education an act of grace, whereas in reality it is an +original human right? The mass of the people will feel that instead of +their rights there is given to them _Bettelsuppen_ (coarse soup made of +black bread). Certainly only to such proletarian children will those +privileges be accorded, whose souls, which make them independent, are +already broken, who are robbed of their class consciousness and who +become accessories of capitalist society. And at the same time these +laughable experiments are presented to the people with a +self-sufficiency which makes it possible for them to recognize very well +the insincerity of the ruling classes. In closing educational +opportunities we see a brutal waste of spiritual energies, a waste of +human strength in the treadmill of mechanical labor, the denial of +human economy. It is as plain as law that the children of the +proletariat are held down by darkness of the soul. Touching is the +description of Dante who walks with Virgil through the forest of the +spirits which have not sinned, but have suffered because they did not +receive baptism; to-day it is because they are deprived of money! ("Very +true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +Considering the magnitude of the World War you and also the Christian +parties do not think of saving these starving ones, damned by +Capitalism. You try to give an impression that something is being done. + +By these Amendments you try to give an impression of wishing to throw +open the road to education to the people also, but that is because +Capitalism requires educated soldiers. You similarly replace the human +losses in the war by giving commissions to non-commissioned officers +because the dregs of the proletariat are required for service. The +tendencies of the amendment show how necessary it is to destroy the +demagogism and the deceit which took form in them. (President Graf +Schwerin-Löwitz calls the speaker to order.) After their experiences in +war time the proletariat will not allow itself to be duped. + +Assemblyman v. d. Osten said, that the uniform system of education leads +towards differentiation. But the truth is that capitalism makes the +great mass of the people uniform in the most brutal way and +differentiates the people only in classes, and makes impossible the real +differentiation among the classes of the people and through the whole +people. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +Assemblyman Oelze spoke here yesterday in glowing terms of education, +science and ideals. But instruction in history has been for a long time +systematically used to inculcate certain political sentiments in the +pupils. The higher schools especially have been for years places to +exercise this practice and in these higher schools hatred against +England was systematically developed, which seed has now sprouted in +such glorious fashion. The propaganda of the _Navy Society_ in the +higher schools demonstrates strikingly the whole spirit of the system of +teaching. The world's history has been _ad usum delphim_ turned into a +political fiction. Not political truth, not objective knowledge, but the +opposite are the main features of what you teach. In German teaching the +soul of youth should have a chance to develop freely. But what are the +themes put to our children? They are set to write patriotic editorials, +and certain phases of war patriotism are taught them. In that way we sow +the seeds of falsehood. This procedure following advice from above is a +cancerous disease for the entire school system. You will not obtain any +advantages, even among the students of the higher schools who come from +the bourgeois class. This most awkward method of strengthening your +class rule will work against you. + +And instruction in religion? By means of the most skillful dialect and +by pedagogical methods was bridged over the chasm between religion and +war, between Christianity and mass-murder. ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) The curtain of the temple is torn. But what spiritual +embarrassment comes to our children, when they hear of the Lord, who is +the Lord of all people, that is,--if I may use this word in this +connection,--an international God, a God of the entire humanity, when +this God of charity is claimed by each nation for itself and for the +war! I asked my child, who had to learn the catechism by heart +(instruction in religion is obligatory in Prussia. _S. Z._), if the +teacher always said: "Love thy neighbor as thyself!" The child answered: +"No, we should not love the Russians, Frenchmen and Englishmen!" ("Hear, +hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) How is that reconcilable? The most beautiful +pedagogy is that which reacts not through words, but through vision and +good example. But what shall children who are instructed in religion say +to the occurrences of the present? Here religion naturally cannot +become, as Christianity demands, an element penetrating the entire life +and determining each action, but something entirely different. From this +contrast you cannot escape and least of all when not the religion of +brotherly love but that of Baal is the religion of the world and when +even the children understand that in this war the main point is the +interest of capitalist society. + +One can pray again and again and still remain an inciter of war. To-day +an attempt is made to influence the children of the working people +toward the conception of life of the ruling class, of the capitalist +class, of the class of exploiters (shouts from the right part of the +House) toward the conception of life of war and mass killing. And how is +higher education inculcated in the occupied territories? When the first +school was reopened in Belgrade, a paper published there by the +Austrians stated that Servia committed a great sin when it fought +against Austria. (He could not go any further.) + +PRESIDENT GRAF SCHWERIN-LÖWITZ: The Servian schools have nothing to do +with the Budget. I recall you to the subject. + +LIEBKNECHT (continuing): The higher schools are also used as practical +helpers in the service of the present war. A systematic propaganda is +conducted in them for the war loans, and gold is collected in them. This +militarization of the schools has been characterized even by some parts +of the bourgeoisie as a questionable act. In the schools they have +already started to educate the human beings up to being war machines. +The schools are converted into training stables for the war. The +physical upbuilding of the youth is encouraged now to attract new +material for the Moloch, Militarism. Strengthening especially human +health has thus as its aim the destruction of human life. I do not want +to examine here how war psychology can reconcile itself to the +foundations of our entire education. + +Now I can speak only about the higher schools. Mr. Oelze demanded +yesterday that Militarism should be introduced to greater extent in the +higher schools, that Militarism should be the all-prevailing spirit. He +(Mr. Oelze) defined Militarism as complete subordination to discipline. +According to our conception Militarism means the opposite of imposed +discipline. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Moreover, the military +spirit has penetrated the school system to such a high degree that I +don't know what else is left for Mr. Oelze to ask for. In committee it +was said also in the bourgeois section that unilateral military +education leads to brutalizing the youth. But that does not frighten +you, when your holy of holies, Militarism, is helped. You want liberty +only for the ruling classes and oppression for the great masses. ("Very +true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) You abhor the free mind because it will mean +the twilight of the gods of the ruling classes. Classical education of +to-day is only a parody on real classic education. Classics surely do +not consist in driving home languages and some other knowledge of facts, +but their essence is the spirit of humanism, the spirit of independence, +of clear vision, of criticism, of everything which is felt to be +harmful. This is the real freedom of the spirit. The ideal of the +bayonet, of the bombshell, of poison gas and grenades which are hurled +down on peaceful cities, the ideal of submarine warfare, that is +something quite different. (Uneasiness and laughter from the Right +parties of the House.) This is the truth which I oppose to your +endeavors to mask the reality of things. According to an edict of +Governor von Schwerin of Frankfort-a-O., it was ordered that the +feeling for general fraternization, for the brotherhood of the people, +for the international peace enthusiasm should be stamped out. ("Hear, +hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Our enemies' deeds of shame against the +Germans must not be excused, but only hatred and revolt must be aroused +from those acts. We declare that to be a misuse of the schools of the +worst kind. That is your spirit of humanism. Mr. V. Canyre spoke about +softening the bones of ideas (_osteomalacia_), against which such a +propaganda must work in the school. But if it is true that the duty to +tell the truth is the aim of all education, then something entirely +different must be taught. In school must be taught, how this war arose, +not only that the abominable murder of Sarajevo was an incident to +inspire horror, but also the fact that the crime of Sarajevo was looked +upon in many circles as a gift from Heaven, serving them as a war +pretext. (He could not continue. The parties of the Right side of the +House broke out in cat-calls which became louder and louder. The +Assemblymen had raised themselves from their seats in great excitement +and left the room with continual shouts: "Put him out, put him out." +Assemblyman Liebknecht shouts to them: "Go out! You flee before the +truth, you can't hear the truth!") + +PRESIDENT GRAF SCHWERIN-LÖWITZ (who has rung the bell for a long time in +vain): I call you to order for the second time, and I call your +attention to the fact that in case you are called to order for a third +time I shall ask the House if it wishes to listen to you further. + +ASSEMBLYMAN LIEBKNECHT: I have told you only what I heard with my own +ears. + +The aim of humanistic education is that of complete freedom, a high, +ideal aim. Out of this spirit, great pedagogues such as Pestalozzi +demanded the unity of the school system. The school of to-day serves +only purposes of expediency. This is true also of the universities. The +spirit of Militarism corrodes the foundation of our entire educational +system. Art and science also are restrained. (President Graf +Schwerin-Löwitz: Please speak about the higher institutions of +learning.) The same phenomenon can be noticed also in the higher school +system. While it is the task of primary schools to make the youth of the +proletariat tools for the capitalistic order of society, it is the task +of the higher schools to prepare the youth of the ruling classes for the +great work which they have to perform in present society. In the +discussion of the question of the admission of foreigners to the +schools, Mr. v. Savigny declared in the committee meeting that the +admission of foreigners to German schools before (this war) was in order +to gain sympathy in foreign countries and in that way to obtain +indirectly political and economic advantages. This is true German +idealism which comes to light here. + +On the same level can be placed the present instruction about the +conditions in the Orient in the higher schools. It is being taught to +greater effect than before. Thus the higher schools also are converted +into an instrument of propaganda for economic purposes, which are back +of this war. + +This war, which has destroyed so much, has also destroyed the last +vestige of the bourgeois ideal of education, and to the surface came the +viewpoint of the pure utilitarianism in education. The technical quality +of teaching is also very much damaged by the war. Just as the Thirty +Years' War acted in ravaging and destroying in the educational field, +the present war is acting. (Assemblyman Hoffman, Soc.-Dem.: "Very +true!") The new method in teaching history is a sign of barbarism, a +sign of the fight to death being fought by the educational ideal of the +bourgeoisie. I spoke before about the poem of Schiller in which it is +said: "Only a miracle can carry you into the beautiful wonderland." To +the proletariat, for the unsaved souls, this word cannot be applied. No +miracle and no blessing from above can bring the proletariat into the +wonderland, in which all the treasures and magnificence of the human +soul are to be found. And when Dante's world-epic speaks about those +unsaved souls who live without hope and longing, that is also not true +of the proletariat. It does not live without hopes, but full of +confidence. But the liberation of the working class cannot come from +such motions as put by you to-day. + +PRESIDENT SCHWERIN-LÖWITZ: I call you to the question for the second +time and call your attention to the consequences which may occur +according to the rule of business. + +ASSEMBLYMAN LIEBKNECHT: I speak about the motion, about the chance of +those who are well off to attend high schools and colleges. This +spiritual liberation can also be the deed of the working class and it is +our duty to say to the working class also on this occasion: _To action! +Those in the trenches, as well as those here at home, should put down +their arms and turn against the common enemy_, which takes from them +light and air (great disturbance on the right side of the House). + +PRESIDENT GRAF SCHWERIN-LÖWITZ: I call you to order for the third time +and ask herewith whether the House wishes to hear the speaker any +further. (Stormy applause at the right. The Assemblymen are rushing with +great speed into the House. Only the Social-Democrats vote to listen +further to the speaker. Assemblyman Liebknecht leaves the speaker's desk +amid stormy shouts from the Assemblymen of the Right. Assemblyman Adolf +Hoffman (addressing himself to the right side of the House): "_When it +comes to yelling, you are the masters._") + + + + +LIEBKNECHT PROTESTS AT BEING PREVENTED FROM DISCUSSING THE SUBMARINE +WARFARE + +_Reichstag, March 22, 1916_ + + +PRESIDENT KAEMPF presides. + +For discussion: First reading of the Budget in connection with the +taxation bill. + +PRESIDENT KAEMPF: In accordance with an understanding between the +representatives of the different parties in the Reichstag the submarine +warfare will be excluded from this discussion until further decisions of +the _Seniorenconvent_. (Committee composed of the Party Leaders to +discuss the business of the Reichstag before it is discussed in open +session. _S. Z._) The discussion of this question will take place in the +meetings of the Budget Committee in the first days of next week. + +MEMBER DR. K. LIEBKNECHT (not belonging to any party in the Reichstag, +questions the order of business): I consider it my duty to dispute the +decision (laughter). This is a question which concerns most vitally the +present public interests. Everything is done under cover and we are +brought to discuss only accomplished facts. (Great commotion and shouts +so that the following words of the speaker can't be understood very +clearly.) Very soon it will be _Tirpitz redivivus_. The people have a +right to hear the Parliament on this important question immediately. The +people have a right to demand that nothing shall be hidden from them. + +PRESIDENT KAEMPF: Please make your remarks in a parliamentary fashion, +and don't present general political considerations when you speak to the +question of the order of business. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: In the Prussian Assembly everything is done under +cover. The same methods of concealing matters obtain as here. (Stormy +interruptions and calls: "This does not belong to the discussion about +the order of business.") I wish to protest against such a policy +injurious to the people, against the continuation of secret diplomacy in +Parliament. + + + + +REICHSTAG MEETING, MARCH 23, 1916 + + +Discussion of the Budget and taxation bill. + +Different persons spoke. + +Dr. Liebknecht asks to be recognized on the motion of closing the +discussion. + +DR. LIEBKNECHT (speaks to the question): I am sorry that under this +motion, which was directed in the first place against me, I will be +unable to say that I certainly refuse all taxes to the Government of +martial law, the government of _War über Alles_. (Excitement at the +right side of the House.) + +PRESIDENT KAEMPF: I must ask you to confine yourself to this discussion +of the order of business. + +MEMBER DR. LIEBKNECHT: I assert that even in the Prussian Assembly there +exists more freedom of speech than in this House. (Laughter and +excitement.) + +PRESIDENT KAEMPF: If you don't obey my orders I will be forced not to +let you talk any further to the question. + +MEMBER DR. LIEBKNECHT: It is also made impossible for me to look into +the dark chamber of our German war policies and military dictatorship. + +PRESIDENT KAEMPF: I can't give you the floor for this question any +longer. + + + + +LIEBKNECHT'S COMMENTS ON THE IMPERIAL CHANCELLOR'S SPEECH + +Reichstag Meeting, April 5, 1916 + + +On April 5, 1916, Karl Liebknecht made some sharp comments on certain +passages of the Imperial Chancellor's speech. Asserting that Germany's +aims were peaceful, the Chancellor said that Germany wanted the +"strength of quiet development" before the war. "We could have had all +we wanted by peaceful labor. Our enemies chose war." Liebknecht +retorted: "Lies, it was you who chose war." (Uproar followed, with cries +of "Scoundrel!" "Blackguard!" "Out with him!" The President at once +called Liebknecht to order.) + +Later Bethman-Hollweg made reference to the necessity of guarantees +against Belgium becoming again a vassal of France and England. "Here +also Germany cannot give over to Latinization the long-oppressed Flemish +race." Liebknecht interjected, "Hypocrisy!" "We desire to have neighbors +who will not again unite against us in order to throttle us, but with +whom we can work to our mutual advantage," said the Chancellor. +"Whereupon you suddenly fall upon them and strangle them--the invasion +of Belgium," said Liebknecht coolly. This sally caused another uproar, +Liebknecht shouting out "Invasion" whenever he got the chance. + +Towards the close of his speech the Imperial Chancellor declared that +the peace which ends this war must be a lasting peace. It must not +contain in it the seeds of new wars, but the seeds of a final peaceful +regulation of European affairs. "_Begin by making the German people +free!_" shouted Liebknecht. "Germany is only fighting in self-defense," +remarked the Chancellor. "Can any one believe that Germany is thirsting +for territory?" "Yes, certainly," roared Liebknecht as loudly as +possible. Thereupon the uproar redoubled. The President had to call the +Reichstag to order to prevent personal violence to Liebknecht. + + + + +REICHSTAG MEETING, APRIL 7, 1916 + + +VICE-PRESIDENT PAASCHE in the chair. + +On April 7, 1916, Liebknecht declared--in the Reichstag during the +discussion of the military estimates--that he had documents showing an +agreement between Herr Zimmerman, the Under Foreign Secretary, and Sir +Roger Casement, by which British prisoners were to be drilled to fight +against England. After some further remarks about Mohammedan prisoners +of war being pressed into service for Germany, Liebknecht was prevented +from speaking amid shouts of "Traitor!" from all parts of the Chamber. + +Liebknecht was able to speak later about the resignation of Von Tirpitz, +but was prevented from discussing the submarine campaign. Here is what +he said about the resignation of Von Tirpitz: + +"After the War had begun with the cry 'Against Czarism' the aim was soon +shifted westward." (Vice-President Paasche: "To say that the war began +with one or the other object is to insult the Government. I call you to +order and ask you not to dwell at any length on our war policy.") + +DR. LIEBKNECHT: "After the war aims had been shifted westward--(the +Vice-President: "I repeat my request"). I must touch on this question if +I am to discuss the opposing currents in the Government which brought +about the change in the Admiralty. The manner in which the conflict was +taken up in the Prussian Diet, the way in which the sharpening of the +war against England was demanded in the Reichstag on account of the +Baralong affair, and the scenes in the Prussian Diet before the change +of office, throw an interesting light on the differences within the +Government and in capitalist circles. A memorandum was to be published +on the subject of armed British merchantmen. It was kept back for some +length of time. In this one saw an acknowledgment by the Government of +the demand for a sharper submarine warfare. The attack in the Prussian +Diet was made premeditatedly, in order to show the strong opposition to +certain members of the Government (the Vice-President interrupted the +speaker) on pressure from the Prussian Diet. (The Vice-President again +requested the speaker to keep to the point.) You must not suppress a +most important political question." (General commotion. The +Vice-President again requested the speaker to keep to the point.) + +"I did keep to the point. I shall now discuss the memorandum on the +question of armed merchantmen, for which the Admiralty is responsible. +It is so composed that those who do not read it carefully with all the +supplements must be misled. The memorandum attempts to prove that +British merchantmen are armed in order to attack German submarines. (The +Vice-President again forbade a discussion of the submarine question, +and called Dr. Liebknecht to order.) With such a ruling I am +unable--(The Vice-President: "I ask the member not to criticise me.") So +I am obliged to say nothing on what politically is most material!" + +A few days after this scene in the Reichstag Herr Däumig, the editor of +the Socialist organ _Vorwärts_, sent a Hungarian journalist with a +letter of introduction to Dr. Liebknecht for an interview. The censor +condensed the interview, and it only reached Budapest by messenger. The +following extracts are from the suppressed portion printed in a Budapest +(paper) pamphlet: + +Dr. Liebknecht was greatly surprised at the visit, as he had been "quite +neglected by reporters nowadays because what I say is generally +considered 'dead copy' by the censor." + +The correspondent explains that it is a mistake to suppose that Herr +Liebknecht is as unpopular in Germany as he appears to be inside the +Reichstag. He showed him correspondence from parts of Germany, a pile +received in two days amounting to hundreds and hundreds of letters, +ninety per cent of which are of an encouraging and congratulatory +character. The remaining ten per cent are scurrilous anonymous attacks, +and these he puts in a separate bundle, which he compares with great +pride and satisfaction with the heap of more flattering epistles. + +He is overjoyed at the idea that he is, after all, not alone, as he +appears to be, and that although he is persecuted by his fellow-members +of the Reichstag, he is recompensed by the hearty congratulations of +the people. What he wanted to say in the Reichstag when he was muzzled +and expelled was said by two members, and he is quite satisfied on that +point. + +"Herr Davidson," said Liebknecht, "referred to the two cases I wanted to +mention, and he drew just as vivid a picture of the spirit prevailing in +the army and of the illegal persecutions as I should have done if I had +been allowed. + +"I wanted to call attention to the case of Dr. Nicolai, the world-famous +professor at the University of Berlin, who attended the Empress before +the war, and who was persecuted some time ago by the military +authorities for what were termed indiscreet utterances. He was appointed +to the directorship of two military hospitals at the beginning of the +war at Graudentz, but some one reported him to the military authorities +and he was discharged. On March 1st he was again sent away from Berlin, +this time to Danzig, and was ordered to be sworn in as a soldier. He +refused to obey, and as a consequence the world-famous professor was +degraded to the status of a private. Orders were given that he was not +to be allowed to provide his own food, and he was ordered to submit all +his scientific literary work to the military authorities for approval. + +"The same thing happened to another scientist, who wrote in a letter: 'I +am sorry for and disapprove of the cruelties committed in Belgium, and, +as a good Christian, I regret and disapprove of the terrors of this +war.' + +"I know for a fact that the higher command uses German soldiers to spy +on other German soldiers, a system which brands soldiers and commanders +alike." + + + + +LIEBKNECHT'S REMARKS ON THE GERMAN WAR LOAN + +(_Reichstag Meeting, April 8, 1916_) + + +DR. LIEBKNECHT: "Gentlemen, the principal work of the Secretary of the +Treasury, whose salary we are asked to vote for, was his activity for +the war loan during the last year. I intend to examine critically those +activities (great merriment). The new loan has brought 1,400,000,000 +marks less than the preceding one, but still a grand total of +10,000,000,000 marks. We should investigate carefully from what funds +the money invested in the war loan comes. Does this money invested in +the war loan come from private or public funds." (Cries of protest from +all sides of the House. Many Deputies rise from their seats in +excitement. Continued cries: "This is the limit! Shall we allow him to +go so far?" Cries of "Treason." "The fellow belongs in an insane +asylum.") + +Dr. K. Liebknecht clenches his fists and shouts a few words which cannot +be understood. Great uproar again. Shouts of "Finish! Finish!" A few +members of the Reichstag call out loudly: "Mr. President, you must +preserve our rights!" "Down," from the platform! The Secretary of the +Treasury tries to calm a few members of the House. + +PRESIDENT DR. KAEMPF: According to the order of business the floor +cannot be taken from a member of the House until he is called to order +three times. + +MEMBER DR. MÜLLER MEININGEN (Progressive Party): "Then he will betray us +three times." (Stormy applause in the House in which the galleries +join.) + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: In regard to our loans, it has been said that our +system of inbreeding--that the practice of obtaining loans on a former +loan in order to invest the capital thus obtained in another new war +loan is a sort of "_perpetuum mobile_." In a certain sense the loans may +be compared to a merry-go-round. To a large extent it means simply the +centralization of public wealth in the Treasury. (Great uproar and cries +of "Finish" and "Treason.") I have the right to criticise. The truth +must be spoken and you shall not hinder me. (Great uproar. Member +Hubrich goes to Dr. Liebknecht and snatches Liebknecht's notes from his +hands, and throws them on the floor. Stormy applause in the House in +which the galleries join. Liebknecht raises his clenched fists and +shouts. He then addresses himself to the President in an agitated tone. +He is twice called to order by the President. Around the speakers' +tribune are small and excited groups gesticulating. Member Dr. Müller +Meiningen goes to the tribune and in a violent tone hurls indignant +reproaches at Liebknecht. The minority Social-Democrats of the +Reichstag--Henke, Dittmann and Zubeil--rush to the tribune and put +themselves in front of Liebknecht, other members of the House try to +calm down the excited ones. The majority Social-Democrat Keil shouts: +"Put the fellow out and then all will be finished." The whole House is +in great excitement and uproar, notwithstanding the continual clang of +the presidential bell. Finally the President is able to restore order, +and declares that the chair finds that there is no quorum. The meeting +is adjourned.) + + + + +LIEBKNECHT'S MAY DAY MANIFESTO + +This May Day Manifesto called the people of Berlin to the May Day +Demonstration of 1916. He was sentenced to jail for expressions in this +May Day Speech. + + +"Poverty and misery, need and starvation, are ruling in Germany, +Belgium, Poland and Servia, whose blood the vampire of imperialism is +sucking and which resemble vast cemeteries. The entire world, the +much-praised European civilization, is falling into ruins through the +anarchy which has been let loose by the world war. + +"Those who profit from the war want war with the United States. +To-morrow, perhaps, they may order us to aim lethal weapons against new +groups of brethren, against our fellow-workers in the United States, and +fight America, too. Consider well this fact: As long as the German +people does not arise and use force directed by its own will, the +assassination of the people will continue. Let thousands of voices shout +'Down with the shameless extermination of nations! Down with those +responsible for these crimes!' Our enemy is not the English, French, nor +Russian people, but the great German landed proprietors, the German +capitalists and their executive committee. + +"Forward, let us fight the government; let us fight these mortal enemies +of all freedom. Let us fight for everything which means the future +triumph of the working-classes, the future of humanity and civilization. + +"Workers, comrades, and you, women of the people, let not this festival +of May, the second during the war, pass without protest against the +Imperialist Slaughter. On the first of May let millions of voices cry, +'Down with the shameful crime of the extermination of peoples!' 'Down +with those responsible for the War!'" + + + + +LIEBKNECHT'S MAY DAY, 1916, SPEECH + +_Delivered at the Potsdamerplatz, Berlin, May 1, 1916_ + +(Report by one present at the demonstration) + + +BERLIN, May 1. Very early in the morning, with three other comrades, I +reached Hortensienstrasse, where Comrade Liebknecht lives. We enter No. +14, climb up the stairs, ring his bell. Comrade Liebknecht opens the +door himself. He is thin, his hair looks unusually black and his face is +deathly pale. He walks like a dead man, walking with grim steps. He +leaves us and soon returns with his wife; she is a Russian. She nods +welcome to us all. Suddenly a terrible fear comes to me. No one has +spoken a word, yet we all feel that we are in the presence of a supreme +moment. From Comrade Liebknecht's grim silence we judge that he is about +to hurl prudence to the four winds and defy the Government. + +He hands out, one to each of us, a copy of the speech which he will +deliver. So far not one word has been spoken. While we are hurriedly +reading his speech, which is to be delivered within a few hours, he +remarks, "I have several thousand of these printed." + +We have finished reading the prospectus which will make history and +send him to prison. Then we go into conference. We have been with him +just an hour. We leave him. + +Shortly after 2 P. M. of the same May day, I have taken a hasty lunch at +the Central Hotel. As I near the door I hear the footsteps of the great +multitudes. As far as I can see, all the streets and side streets are +full of surging, silently moving human beings; all moving in the +direction where the May Day demonstration is to take place. These are +men and women, mostly women. The men among them are mostly over fifty. +Suddenly it becomes apparent to me that there are more children in the +crowds than men and women together. As they march I notice that I cannot +see one in the crowd who has a smile on her or his face. Along the route +no one is cheering them. I had never seen such immense crowds in the +streets of Berlin. Not even during the Agadir crisis had the streets of +Berlin held such multitudes. The crowds move as though they are part of +a funeral procession. They are all sad, very sad. I recognize a group of +comrades in the crowd. I rush in and join them. _Mund halten_ (keep your +mouth shut) is the unwritten rule, and every one seems to observe it +strictly. + +Some one has turned the head of the procession into Unter den Linden. We +do not know why; very few of us have noticed it, anyhow. We suddenly see +a platoon of mounted guards dashing through the crowd, but they are +riding on the sidewalk. The part of the procession that had been +marching on the sidewalk rushes to the middle of the street in order to +escape being trampled upon by the mounted guards. Another group of +mounted guards rides past hurriedly, and still another follows. The +people in the procession all about me do not seem to notice them. Not +even a whisper one hears. Their footsteps have a strange sound to my +ears. On reaching the palace grounds I see in the distance five persons. +From their elbows up they tower over the heads of the multitude +surrounding them. I leave my friends and elbow my way through the thick +crowd. I explain my impolite advance on the ground that I am a reporter +on a party (Socialist) paper. I finally reach the spot where Comrade +Liebknecht and other comrades are standing. The crowds are close where +they are standing, and I cannot make out whether they are standing on a +raised platform or in a motor car. I am about twenty or twenty-five feet +from the doctor. + +Suddenly one of the comrades near Dr. Liebknecht raises his hand and at +once proceeds to speak. The multitude is anxious to hear him. Every one +is sounding "Hush" in order to obtain silence and thus making more +noise. Dr. Liebknecht uncovers his head; some one near by offers to +relieve him of his hat. Deathly silence reigns all about the grounds. +The interior of a cathedral cannot be more silent. The doctor begins: +"Comrades and friends." They start to cheer him. He holds up his hand +forbiddingly, then he resumes: "Some years ago a witty Socialist +observed that in Prussia we Germans have three cardinal rights, which +are: we can be soldiers, we can pay taxes and we can keep our tongues +between our teeth. The Socialist who made this observation made it with +a grim humor, but to-day the humor of it must be disconnected from +it--it is all too grim. Especially in these days this observation is too +true. To-day we are sharing these three great Prussian State privileges +in full. Every German citizen is given the full privilege to carry a +rifle in any manner. Even the Boy Scout has been incited to play the +ridiculous rôle of a soldier. They have thus planted the spirit of hate +deep in his youthful soul. Meanwhile the old Landsturmer is forced to +perform forced labor in invaded countries, in spite of the fact that +under the laws of the Imperial Constitution he cannot be called out for +any other purpose than for the defense of the Fatherland. + +"As for his second privilege--his right to pay taxes--in this respect +the German citizen is, up to the present time, far ahead of his brothers +in foreign lands whom he is engaged in exterminating. And yet more +privileges of this kind are awaiting him in the days to come--after the +end of the war. The high taxes which the German people have so far paid +are insignificant compared to the great burdens which they must carry +after the war, and for which their masters are daily preparing them with +such touching delicacy of patriotic sentiment through the medium of the +official press. + +"The new Germany has the unquestionable right to hold its tongue +between its teeth. Recently our official press has been flooded by +authoritative and pharisaic exhortations to soldiers' wives that they +must, for God's sake, not complain so much about the scarcity of food. +Keep your mouth shut tight when hungry. Keep your mouth shut tight when +your children are hungry, keep your mouth shut when your children want +milk, keep your mouth shut when your children cry for bread, keep your +mouth shut and write no letters to the front." + +Outside of Germany these phrases might sound like the stock phrases of a +professional agitator, but not so in Germany, at least not in those +days. I carefully watched for the effect of these remarks all about me, +and I saw no dry eyes. + +Amid tense silence the doctor continued: "In a recent issue the +mouthpiece of the Pharisees, the "_Muenchener Neueste Nachrichten_," +complains thus (reading from a clipping): + +"'Our soldiers do not always receive from their dear ones at home the +best encouragement to hold on. A soldier on furlough who, before +obtaining leave, had performed for his Fatherland unflinchingly, went +through many hardships with good humor, but after a visit home returned +to the front with a sad face, worrying day and night about his dear ones +and the pretended scarcity at home.' + +"'Pretended' scarcity certainly is palatable, especially when one is +reminded of the fact that our police is weighing the bread, that butter +is out of the market, that fat, meat and margarine have reached a price +that is beyond the probable reach of the workingman! + +"Another well-nourished Pharisee exhorts in the columns of the +_Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung_ by asking, 'Where is scarcity to be +found?' and no doubt after having partaken of a good dinner he preaches +with these words: 'We must teach ourselves at home how to manage to get +along in our homes with as little as possible. But of course in large +families with children the small earnings of the breadwinner being now +totally absent, this sum must be replaced by the creation of a relief +fund so that there may not be any serious want.' Exactly, but under no +circumstances must the people complain of hunger. It annoys the soldier +terribly and cripples his fighting power. Therefore do not write +complaining letters to the front. In other words, you wives of soldiers, +hide the truth from your husbands; in fact, lie to them. + +"The old proverb says, 'The mouth speaketh out of the fullness of the +heart,' and if her children's stomach is empty it is hard for the wife +not to mention to her far-away soldier husband that it is hard to +provide for his children with food while he is offering his life for his +country. But if it is not found possible for your masters to prevail +upon you to 'keep your tongue between your teeth,' then they resort to a +more practical means. They have a very simple means of stopping these +annoying complaints. The Prussian censor is now supervising these +letters of wives at home to their husbands at the front. They simply do +not allow this objectionable correspondence to go through. Poor and +unfortunate German soldier! He deserves pity! At the command of the +militarist Government he has gone into the enemy country, and at the +command of the Government he must steal from other nations. He is +required to perform difficult services. The sufferings that he endures +are past description. About him everywhere shells and bombs sow death +and destruction. His wife and children at home are suffering want and +hardship; she looks about her and finds her children crying for bread. +She is desperate, but she must not appeal or complain to any one. She +must hold her tongue and suffer inwardly. But how can she silence her +children? She must not even share the sympathy of her husband at the +front, because that cripples her soldier husband's fighting powers. Her +soldier husband must 'hold on' and 'steal' in the land of her neighbors. +He must hold on and 'suffer' because the capitalists, the hurrah +patriots and the armor-plate kings have willed it so. Every one must +keep his or her tongue between the teeth, for the war profiteers must +make money out of the want and misery of the wives and their husband +soldiers at the front. + +"By a lie the German workingman was forced into the war, and by like +lies they expect to induce him to go on with war!" A mighty shout went +up from a thousand throats--"Hurrah for Liebknecht." Liebknecht raised +his hand for silence. Then steadily, though knowing the cost, he said: +"Do not shout for me, shout rather 'We will have no more war. We will +have peace--now!'" + +Scarcely had he finished speaking when, as if by magic, a tremendous +tumult arose. Near the spot where the doctor and his friends had been +standing the crowds surged back and forth. The great multitudes in the +palace grounds had the appearance of an immense sea whose surface was +every inch covered with human heads, those of men and women. The +children became terrified. The shouts of the grown-ups and the terrified +shrieks of the children added vehemence to the scene. The next moment I +see Comrade Liebknecht pulled down from the stand. His friends also +follow. Then I see fists raised. I suddenly discover that the jostling +of the crowds about me has carried me further away from the spot where a +riot is in progress. I again elbow my way toward where the doctor and +his companions have been pulled down from the stand. I had made some +progress when suddenly I find myself being swept backward by a huge +human wave. + +In spite of my wish to see what is going on behind me I am being carried +away further and further. Several hundred thousand panic-stricken souls +are rushing towards the streets and avenues that lead to the grounds. +The scene is frightful. Every one is shouting. I steal a glimpse of the +spot which is now the center of the sudden panic. I gasp with fright. I +see numberless mounted soldiers with large black whips in their hands +lashing the crowds. Their mounts are so close to the struggling and +frightened men and women, yea, even children, that it is a miracle that +thousands are not pinned to the ground. I cannot tell whether they are +killed or whether they fainted. But there are many of them. I myself was +forced to step over several persons. I tried to lift up a body, but in +the next moment I was carried away.... + +May Day evening. Twenty-five or thirty meet secretly at the home of a +comrade in ---- street. We all know what the report is. Herr Doctor is +arrested. We are all sad, very sad. We have met to exchange views as to +what step to take next. Every one is laboring with heavy thoughts within +himself. The silence is sickening. With the exception of four the men +who come together to exchange views are all soldiers in the active army. +Not all of them are privates. We have spent the entire night, sometimes +in heavy silence and again in deliberation. It is decided that we +---- ---- ----. Are the German workingmen thinking? Their present +thoughts are tragic. They hurt. + + + + +LIEBKNECHT'S REPLY TO HIS JUDGES + + +While in prison Dr. Liebknecht sent two letters to the military court +handling his case, in which he explained his position. It was Dr. +Liebknecht's hope that these letters would be read to the Reichstag and +in that way reach the German people. But this was not the case. The +letters were put before the Parliamentary Committee, which investigated +Liebknecht's case and on whose recommendation the Reichstag, by a vote +of 229 to 111, refused to ask for his release. A copy of one of these +letters was smuggled out of prison and sent out of Germany. + + +Berlin, May 3rd, 1916. +_To the Royal Military Court, Berlin:_ + +In the investigation of the case against me, the records of remarks need +the following elucidation: + +I. The German Government is in its social and historical character an +instrument for the crushing down and exploitation of the laboring +classes; at home and abroad it serves the interests of junkerism, of +capitalism, and of imperialism. + +The German Government is a reckless champion of expansion in world +politics, the most ardent promoter in the competition of armaments, and +accordingly one of the most powerful influences in developing the +causes of the present war. + +In partnership with the Austrian Government the German Government +contrived to bring about this war and so burdened itself with the +greatest responsibility for the immediate outbreak of the war. + +The German Government started the war under cover of deception practiced +upon the common people and even upon the Reichstag (compare, among other +things, the concealment of the ultimatum to Belgium, the make-up of the +German White Book, the elimination of the Czar's dispatch of July 29, +1914), and it tries by reprehensible means to keep up the war spirit +among the people. + +It carries on the war with methods that, judged even by standards +hitherto conventional, are monstrous. The invasion of Belgium and +Luxemburg, poisonous gases, which in the meantime have become of common +use by all the belligerents, and then look at the Zeppelin bombs, which +outdo everything and which are intended to kill all that live, +combatants or non-combatants, within a wide region; submarine commerce +warfare; the torpedoing of the _Lusitania_, etc.; the system of hostages +and forced contributions at the beginning, especially in Belgium; the +systematic entrapping of Ukrainian, Georgian, Baltic Provincials, +Polish, Irish, Mohammedan, and other prisoners of war in the German +prison camps for the purpose of having them do treasonable war service +and treasonable spying for the Central Powers; Under-Secretary +Zimmerman's agreement with Sir Roger Casement in December, 1914, +regarding the organization, equipment, and training in the German prison +camps of the "Irish Brigade," composed of captured British soldiers; the +attempts by means of threats of forcible interment to compel Christians +of a hostile nationality found in Germany to do treasonable war service +against their countries, and so forth. (Necessity knows no law!) + +The German Government has, through the establishment of martial law, +enormously increased the political lawlessness and economic +exploitations of the people; it refuses all serious political and social +reforms, while at the same time it tries to hold the people docile for +the imperialistic war policy, by means of rhetorical phrases about equal +rights accorded to all parties, about alleged discontinuation of +discriminations in social and political matters, about an alleged +readjustment and new direction of political matters, and so on. + +The German Government because of its consideration for agrarian and +capitalists' interests has completely failed to care for the economic +welfare of the people during the war, to guard against misery and the +practice of revolting extortion upon the people. + +The German Government is still holding fast to its war aims and so +constitutes the chief obstacle in the way of immediate peace +negotiations upon the basis of renunciation of annexations and +oppressions of all sorts: Through the maintenance--in itself illegal--of +martial law (censorship, etc.) it prevents the public from learning +unpleasant facts and prevents Socialist criticism of its measures. The +German Government thereby reveals its system of seeming legality and +sham popularity as a system of actual force, of genuine hostility to the +people and bad faith as regards the masses. + +The cry of "Down with the Government!" is meant to brand this entire +policy of the Government as fatal to the masses of the people. + +This cry also indicates that it is the duty of every representative of +the welfare of the proletariat to wage a struggle of the most strenuous +character--the class struggle--against the Government. + +II. The present war is not a war for the defense of the national +integrity, not for the liberation of oppressed peoples, not for the +welfare of the masses. + +From the standpoint of the proletariat this war only signifies the most +extreme concentration and extension of political suppression, of +economic exploitation, and of military slaughtering of the working-class +body and soul for the benefit of capitalism and of absolutism. + +To all this the working-class of all countries can give but one answer: +a harder struggle, the international class struggle against the +capitalist Governments and the ruling classes of all countries for the +abolition of all oppression and exploitation by the institution of a +peace conceived in the Socialist spirit. In this class struggle the +Socialist, whose Fatherland is the International, finds included the +defense of everything that he, as a Socialist, is bound to defend. The +cry of "Down with war" signifies that I thoroughly condemn and oppose +the present war because of its historical nature, because of its general +social causes and specific way in which it originated (developed), and +because of the way it is being carried on and the objects for which it +is being waged. That cry signifies that it is the duty of every +representative of proletarian interests to take part in the +international class struggle for the purpose of ending the war. + +III. As a Socialist I am fundamentally opposed to the existing military +system as well as of this war, and I always supported with all my power +the fight against Militarism as an especially important task and a +matter of life and death for the working-class of all countries. +(Compare my book "Militarism" and my reports to the International Young +People's Conferences at Stuttgart, 1907, and Copenhagen, 1910.) The war +demands that we carry on the struggle against Militarism with redoubled +energy. + +IV. Since 1889 May 1st has been consecrated to manifestations and +propaganda in favor of the great basic principles of Socialism, against +all exploitation, oppression, and violence; dedicated to propaganda for +the solidarity of workers of all countries--a solidarity which the war +has not abolished, but strengthened--against the workers' fratricidal +strife, for peace and against war. + +During the war the manifestation and propaganda of these principles is a +doubly sacred duty imposed upon every Socialist. + +V. The policy advocated by me was outlined in the resolution adopted by +the International Socialist Congress held in Stuttgart (1907), which +pledged Socialists of all countries--after they should have failed to +prevent a war--to work with all their energies towards its quick ending, +and to take advantage of the conditions created by the war for hastening +the abolition of the capitalist order of society. + +This Socialist policy is meant to be international, even in its ultimate +consequences. It imposes upon the Socialists of other countries the same +obligation with reference to their Governments and ruling classes that I +with others in Germany followed against the Government and ruling +classes of Germany. + +This Socialist policy has an international effect, by spreading +reciprocal encouragement from nation to nation; it promotes the +international class struggle against war. + +Since the beginning of the war I, together with others, have defended in +every possible way and upheld in the most public manner this Socialist +policy, and besides, so far as possible, have entered into connections +with those who shared my sentiments in other countries. + +(I may mention, for example, my journey to Belgium and Holland in +September, 1914; my Christmas letter in 1914 to the Labor Leader; the +International Socialist Meetings in Switzerland, in which, I regret to +say, I was unable to participate personally, being prevented by superior +powers, etc.) + +VI. This policy to which, cost it what it may, I shall hold fast, is +not mine alone, but it is also the policy of an ever-increasing +proportion of the people in Germany and of the other belligerent and +neutral States. It will soon become, as I hope--and to this end I am +resolved to toil on--the policy of the working-class of all countries, +which will then possess the power to break the imperialistic will of the +ruling classes, and to shape as may seem best the mutual relations and +conditions of the people for the benefit of all mankind. + +KARL LIEBKNECHT, +_Armierungssoldat_. + + + + +LIEBKNECHT'S TRIAL AND RELEASE + + +On June 28th, 1916, Karl Liebknecht was sentenced at secret trial to +thirty months' penal servitude. When the public prosecutor asked for +this secrecy, Liebknecht exclaimed: + +"It is cowardice on your part, gentlemen. Yes, I repeat, that you are +cowards if you close these doors." + +Nevertheless, the court decided to exclude the public, upon which +Liebknecht cried to his wife and Rosa Luxemburg, in the audience, "Leave +this comedy, where everything, including even the decision, has been +prepared beforehand." + +Following the announcement of the sentence given Liebknecht, the +Potsdamerplatz in Berlin was the scene of a serious outbreak. + +The next day (according to reports from Switzerland) strikes of protest +against the Liebknecht case took place in Berlin and some 55,000 persons +were involved in them. In other cities strikes and demonstrations of +protest also took place. + +An appeal was taken but resulted only in an increase in the sentence to +four years' and one month's imprisonment at hard labor. Furthermore, he +was deprived of all his civil rights for a period of six years after he +should have served his term. + + +[Associated Press Dispatch] + +PARIS, October 25.--An enormous crowd assembled before the Reichstag +building in Berlin yesterday, calling for the abdication of Emperor +William and the formation of a republic, according to a special dispatch +from Zurich to _L'Information_. + +Dr. Karl Liebknecht, the Socialist leader who has just been released +from prison, was applauded frantically. He was compelled to enter a +carriage filled with flowers from which he made a speech declaring that +the time of the people had arrived. + + +_Printed in the United States of America._ + + + + +The following pages contain advertisements of a few of the Macmillan +books on kindred subjects. + + +The End of the War + +BY WALTER E. WEYL + +_Author of "American World Policies," "The New Democracy,"_ etc. + +_$2.00_ + +"The most courageous book on politics published in America since the war +began."--_The Dial._ + +"An absorbingly interesting book ... the clearest statement yet +presented of a most difficult problem."--_Philadelphia Ledger._ + +"Mr. Weyl says sobering and important things.... His plea is strong and +clear for America to begin to establish her leadership of the democratic +forces of the world ... to insure that the settlement of the war is made +on lines that will produce international amity everywhere."--_N. Y. +Times._ + + +The New Democracy + +AN ESSAY ON CERTAIN POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC TENDENCIES IN THE UNITED +STATES + +_Cloth, $2.00_ + +"A masterly, scathing, and absolutely fearless arraignment of things +that ought not to be in a republic, and of tendencies that no democracy +ought to tolerate."--_Boston Herald._ + +"A thoughtful volume ... a big synthesis of the whole social problem in +this country. A keen survey."--_Chicago Evening Post._ + +"A searching and suggestive study of American life.... A book to make +people think.... Notable for its scholarship and brilliant in execution, +it is not merely for the theorist, but for the citizen."--_Newark +Evening News._ + + +American World Policies + +_12mo, $2.25_ + +"It is refreshing to read Dr. Weyl ... his approach to the problem is +absolutely sound and right."--_The Dial._ + +"An economic philosophy neatly balanced, suavely expressed, and of +finely elastic fibre."--_New York Sun._ + + +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + +Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York + + +_THE WORKS OF H. H. POWERS, Ph.D._ + + +The Great Peace + +"A clear, frank statement of the problems confronting the nations of the +world and how those problems must be faced to insure a lasting peace." +(Ready Shortly.) + + +America among the Nations + +_Cloth, $1.50_ + +"For an understanding of this new crisis that we are facing in 1918 we +know of no book more useful or more searching or clearer or more +readable than H. H. Powers' 'America among the Nations.' It is really a +biography, or rather, a biographical study. Its hero, however, is not a +man but an imperial people."--_Outlook, New York._ + +"Mr. Powers takes unusually broad views and they are enforced by a +historical knowledge and a logical development of ideas that carry +conviction.... An excellent book."--_Philadelphia Public Ledger._ + + +The Things Men Fight For + +_Cloth, $1.50_ + +"An able, unprejudiced and illuminating treatment of a burning +question."--_Philadelphia North American._ + +"Probably no other book dealing with the war and its sources has made so +dispassionate and unbiased a study of conditions and causes as does this +volume."--_New York Times._ + +"Out of the unusual knowledge born of wide observation and experience +came this unusual book. We may not altogether agree with its +conclusions, but we must admire the breadth of it, and feel better +informed when we have perused it. The liberal spirit of it cannot fail +to impress the careful reader."--_Literary Digest._ + + +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + +Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York + + +_ERNEST POOLE'S NEW BOOK_ + +The Village: Russian Impressions + +BY ERNEST POOLE + +_Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50_ + +This volume describes in personal and narrative form Mr. Poole's visit +to the small estate of an old Russian friend, whose home was a rough log +cabin in the North of Russia. From there he ranged the neighborhood in +company with his friend, talking with peasants in their huts; with the +vagabonds camped at night on the riverside; with the man who kept the +village store; with the priest, the doctor and the school teacher, as +well as with the saw-mill owner. + +Their views of the war, the revolution and American friendship are all +of great significance now, for the peasants form nearly ninety per cent. +of the Russian people. + + +"The Dark People": Russia's Crisis + +BY ERNEST POOLE + +_Author of "His Family," "The Harbor," etc._ + +_Cloth, 12mo, $1.50_ + +"Too strange, too romantic, too imaginative, to be anything but sober +truth.... We have read no book which got closer to the heart ... of the +Russian people."--_N. Y. Tribune._ + +"A valuable book, ... sane and informative, ... shows close study by an +impartial mind."--_N. Y. Herald._ + +"We have never read a book more deeply thrilling. It is not the book of +a dreamer, but of one whose vision is far because his heart beats for +his fellowmen...."--_Book Review._ + +"A sincere, unpretentious, and strikingly successful attempt to get at +the mind and heart of these people in the midst of revolution."--_N. Y. +Evening Post._ + + +Inside the Russian Revolution + +BY RHETA CHILDE DORR + +_Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50_ + +"Mrs. Dorr's book is an excellent piece of reporting. It will be the +exceptional reader who will not find here what he would most like to get +from an American visitor who has had exceptional opportunities to learn +the truth. Her book will have to be consulted by the future historian of +anarchy's reign in Russia."--_Springfield Republican._ + +"As a distinctively first-hand study of a world event of illimitable +influence and implications, this volume is a milestone along the pathway +of history."--_Philadelphia North American._ + + +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + +Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York + + +The Flaming Crucible + +BY ANDRE FRIBOURG TRANSLATED BY A. B. MAURICE + +_$1.50_ + +Under the title _Croire_, this autobiography of a French infantryman was +published in Paris in 1917. It is a revelation of the French spirit. It +is rather a biography of the spirit, than an account of the amazing +experiences M. Fribourg encountered, from 1911 at Agadir, through the +fighting on the Meuse, and part of the campaign in Flanders. The +descriptions are memorable for their beautiful style, their pathos or +their elevation. There is a definite climax toward the end where M. +Fribourg returns to a hospital in Paris, broken and dulled, his faith +momentarily befogged. Gradually he readapts himself, regains and +confirms his faith in the human spirit that was so vivid when he lived +with his fellow soldiers. + + +Behind the Battle Line + +BY MADELINE Z. DOTY + +_Cloth, $1.25_ + +What are the women of the world planning for the future? To find that +out, Miss Doty made a trip around the world. She takes you into the +heart of each nation she visited--Japan, China, Russia, Norway, Sweden, +England and France. The differences in civilization are vividly shown, +mainly through the daily thought and life of the women. _Behind the +Battle Line: Around the World in 1918,_ depicts the great spiritual +struggle that, beside the physical battle, engulfs the world. + + +The War and the Future + +BY JOHN MASEFIELD + +_Author of "Gallipoli," "The Old Front Line," etc._ + +_Cloth, $1.25_ + +"It was well to reprint these lectures, and it will be well for the book +to have the widest possible reading and permanent preservation for +rereading.... No man in the world to-day has a more searching, accurate, +and divinely just spiritual vision of the war and of the issues involved +in it.... If ever a book was inspired, this was."--_N. Y. Tribune._ + + +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + +Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Future Belongs to the People, by +Karl Liebknecht + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE *** + +***** This file should be named 39023-8.txt or 39023-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/0/2/39023/ + +Produced by Odessa Paige Turner, Martin Pettit and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This book was produced from scanned images of public +domain material from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/39023-8.zip b/39023-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..8749374 --- /dev/null +++ b/39023-8.zip diff --git a/39023-h.zip b/39023-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..0831647 --- /dev/null +++ b/39023-h.zip diff --git a/39023-h/39023-h.htm b/39023-h/39023-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c419637 --- /dev/null +++ b/39023-h/39023-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,4183 @@ +<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd"> + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"> + <head> + <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html;charset=iso-8859-1" /> + <title> + The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Future Belongs To The People, by Karl Liebknecht. + </title> + <style type="text/css"> + + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + + p.bold {text-align: left; font-weight: bold;} + p.bold2 {text-align: center; font-weight: bold; font-size: 150%;} + + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + h1 span, h2 span { display: block; text-align: center; } + #id1 { font-size: smaller } + + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + hr.smler { width: 10%; } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding: 5px; border-collapse:collapse; border: none; text-align: right;} + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + text-indent: 0px; + } /* page numbers */ + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smaller {font-size: smaller;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + + .right {text-align: right;} + .left {text-align: left;} + .tbrk {margin-bottom: 1em;} + + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +Project Gutenberg's The Future Belongs to the People, by Karl Liebknecht + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Future Belongs to the People + +Author: Karl Liebknecht + +Translator: S. Zimand + +Release Date: March 1, 2012 [EBook #39023] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE *** + + + + +Produced by Odessa Paige Turner, Martin Pettit and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This book was produced from scanned images of public +domain material from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + +</pre> + + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_1" id="Page_1">[Pg 1]</a></span></p> + +<p class="bold2">"THE FUTURE BELONGS<br />TO THE PEOPLE"</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_2" id="Page_2">[Pg 2]</a></span></p> + +<div class="center"><img src="images/logo.jpg" width='200' height='72' alt="logo" /></div> + +<p class="center">THE MACMILLAN COMPANY<br /> +NEW YORK · BOSTON · CHICAGO<br /> +DALLAS · ATLANTA · SAN FRANCISCO<br /><br /> +MACMILLAN & CO., <span class="smcap">Limited</span><br /> +LONDON · BOMBAY · CALCUTTA<br />MELBOURNE<br /><br /> +THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, <span class="smcap">Ltd.</span><br />TORONTO</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_3" id="Page_3">[Pg 3]</a></span></p> + +<h1><span>"The Future Belongs<br />to the People"</span><br /><span id="id1">BY</span> <span>KARL LIEBKNECHT</span></h1> + +<p class="center">(Speeches made since the beginning of the War)</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="center">EDITED AND TRANSLATED BY<br />S. ZIMAND</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="center">WITH AN INTRODUCTION<br /><span class="smcap">By</span> WALTER WEYL</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="center">New York<br /> +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY<br />1918<br /><i>All rights reserved</i></p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_4" id="Page_4">[Pg 4]</a></span></p> + +<p class="center">Copyright 1918<br /> +<span class="smcap">By</span> THE MACMILLAN COMPANY<br /> +Set up and Electrotyped. Published, November 16, 1918</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="center">Press of J. J. Little & Ives Co., New York</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_5" id="Page_5">[Pg 5]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>CONTENTS</span></h2> + +<table summary="CONTENTS"> + <tr> + <td></td> + <td><span class="smaller">PAGE</span></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Preface by Walter E. Weyl</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Introduction</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_14">14</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Man Liebknecht</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_21">21</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The First Days</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Liebknecht's Visit to Belgium</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_27">27</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Did Not Cheer the Kaiser</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_29">29</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Liebknecht Disapproves of the Majority Socialists of Germany</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Reichstag Meeting of Dec. 2, 1914</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_31">31</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Liebknecht Condemned by His Party</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_34">34</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">A New Year's Greeting to England</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_36">36</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Speech Delivered at the War Meeting of the Prussian Assembly, Mar. 2, 1915</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_40">40</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">In Defence of Rosa Luxemburg</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_53">53</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Liebknecht Called to Army Service</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_61">61</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Liebknecht Questions the Government</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_62">62</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Liebknecht Expelled from Social Democratic Party</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_74">74</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Reichstag Discussion about the Censorship</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_75">75</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Justice in Germany in War Time</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_76">76</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">The Situation in Austria</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_98">98</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Education in Germany in War Time</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_100">100</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_6" id="Page_6">[Pg 6]</a></span><span class="smcap">Liebknecht Protests at Being Prevented from Discussing the Submarine Warfare</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Reichstag Meeting of March 23, 1916</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_115">115</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Liebknecht's Comments on the Imperial Chancellor's Speech, April 5, 1916</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_116">116</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Reichstag Meeting, April 7, 1916</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_118">118</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Liebknecht's Remarks on the German War Loan, Reichstag Meeting, April 8, 1916</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_123">123</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Liebknecht's May Day Manifesto</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_126">126</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Liebknecht's May Day 1916 Speech</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_128">128</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Liebknecht's Reply to His Judges</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_137">137</a></td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td class="left"><span class="smcap">Liebknecht's Trial and Release</span></td> + <td><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td> + </tr> +</table> + +<hr /> + +<blockquote><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[Pg 8]</a></span></p><p>"The aim of my life is the overthrow of monarchy. As my father, who +appeared before this court exactly thirty-five years ago to defend +himself against the charge of treason, was ultimately pronounced victor, +so I believe the day is not far distant when the principles which I +represent will be recognized as patriotic, as honorable, as true."</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Karl Liebknecht.</span></p></blockquote> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>PREFACE</span></h2> + +<p>The philosophy of Karl Liebknecht as revealed in these pages leaves but +a narrow ledge for heroes to stand on. To him the significant thing in +history is, and has always been, the stirring of the masses of men at +the bottom, their unconscious writhings, their awakenings, their +conscious struggles and finally their gigantic, fearsome upthrust, which +overturns all the little groups of clever men who have lived by holding +these masses down. In these conflicts, kings, priests, leaders, heroes +count for no more than flags or flying pennants. All great leaders, +Cæsar, Mahomet, Luther, Napoleon, are instruments of popular movements, +or at best manuscripts upon which the messages of their class and age +have been written.</p> + +<p>To Liebknecht all that Carlyle has said about heroes is contrary to +ideology and inversion of the truth. "As I take it," writes Carlyle, +"Universal History, the history of what man has accomplished in this +world, is at bottom the History of the Great Men who have worked there. +They were the leaders of men, these great ones; the modellers, patterns, +and in a wide sense creators, of whatsoever the general mass of men +contrived to do or to attain; all things that we see standing and +accomplished in the world are properly the outward material result, the +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span>practical realization and embodiment of Thoughts that dwelt in the +Great Men sent into the world: the soul of the whole world's history, it +may justly be considered, were the history of these."</p> + +<p>Look at what is happening in Germany to-day and test, as best we may, +these two confronting theories concerning the influence of great men +upon history. As I write Germany is in the throes of revolution. The +immensely powerful Hohenzollern monarchy has fallen, the brave, +stubborn, modern-witted, money-bolstered aristocracy is shattered, and a +proscribed poor man, Karl Liebknecht, is loudly acclaimed. Was it one +man, a Foch, a Wilson, a Lenin or a Liebknecht that overturned this +mighty structure, or was it the movement of a hundred million men and +women, armed and unarmed, on the battle-field and in the factory, in +France and England and Russia and Germany? What could Liebknecht alone +have done with all his ringing eloquence and all his superb, I almost +said, sublime heroism? Clearly we must rule Carlyle out of the +controversy and agree with Liebknecht, the Socialist, that Liebknecht, +the hero, had little to do with this vast subversion.</p> + +<p>Yet, as Carlyle says, "One comfort is, that Great Men, taken up in any +way, are profitable company. We cannot look, however imperfectly, upon +any great man, without gaining something by him."</p> + +<p>At this safe distance no one could be more "profitable company" than +Karl Liebknecht as he stands up boldly against all that is powerful, +respectable and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> formidable in Germany and challenges it at the utter +risk of life and reputation. Such courage as his is almost +inconceivable; for us poor conforming or at best feebly protesting +little people it is quite impossible. To die among thousands, even to +die alone, if you think you hear the plaudits of your nation or your +class, is a thing many of us have learned to do, but to stand up against +a vindictive irrational war spirit, such as ruled Germany, to stand up +alone, to be contemned not only by your enemies but by those who called +themselves your comrades and friends, to be met by polite derision and +by actual threats of violence, to be called a madman, to be called a +traitor, to be misunderstood and doubted; to be met in occasional +moments of dejection even by doubts in your own mind, and still to hold +your own bravely and with cool passion, day after day and day after day, +in circumstances growing daily more difficult, and finally to go to +prison gladly, triumphantly—that is courage surpassing the courage of +the rest of us. It is easier to die even by torture than to persist in +this opposition to forces physical and mental not only confronting but +surrounding and even permeating us.</p> + +<p>We have agreed with Liebknecht that great events are not the doings of +great men but merely the large theater in which these great men play +their little parts. And yet, does not the hero, subordinate as he is to +the wider movement of the play, exert a somewhat stronger influence than +many followers of Marx seem willing to admit? Masses of men are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> moved +to vital historic decisions in part by economic motives, but these +motives must first be converted into emotion, and the hero, however his +own actions are motived, is one of the vital factors producing that +emotion. We shall perhaps never know to what extent the present rising +of the German people against their once invincible rulers was +occasioned, though not caused, by their vision of Karl Liebknecht, +standing there alone against all the judges, rulers, legislators and +respectables of Germany, and even against his fellow socialists. The +heroism of Liebknecht was at least a point and center of coalescence.</p> + +<p>The course of events has vindicated Karl Liebknecht. But it might well +have been otherwise. Had Germany won the war and established a clanging +<i>pax Germanica</i> through the ruin of Europe, Liebknecht's heroism might +never have been recognized. He might have rusted in prison and been +released to obscurity and thereafter lived a futile life derided as a +blind fanatic. The force of circumstances, the obscure action of the +hundreds of millions, rescued Liebknecht and raised him to the highest +pinnacle of heroism. It stamped upon our minds for all time the picture +of this brave man standing alone surrounded by cruel, confidently +smiling foes.</p> + +<p>I said "alone." Yet this is not fair to a very small group of German +minority socialists, who stood by Liebknecht and by whom Liebknecht +stood. Among them were Rosa Luxemburg, Franz Mehring, Hugo Haase, George +Ledebour, and others, to whom,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> were real heroism always decorated, +would be given a higher order of "Pour le Mérite." But among all these +Karl Liebknecht stands preëminent.</p> + +<p>"And for all that mind you," concludes the French soldier Bertrand, in +"Under Fire," "there is one figure that has risen above the war and will +blaze with the beauty and strength of his courage."</p> + +<p>Barbusse continues: "I listened leaning on a stick towards him, drinking +in the voice that came in the twilight silence from the lips that so +rarely spoke. He cried with a clear voice, 'Liebknecht.'"</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Walter Weyl.</span></p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE</span></h2> + +<p>"<i>The future belongs to the people.</i>" The time was October 24, 1918; the +place, Berlin, the center of Germany; the speaker, Doctor Karl +Liebknecht. A remarkable change had indeed come over the Empire. As far +as the eye could reach, a great shouting, surging crowd had gathered +before the Reichstag buildings, a crowd such as might have foregathered +in times past on almost any day of national festivity, to do honor to +his Imperial Majesty, Kaiser Wilhelm. They were indeed shouting +frantically on this occasion, but with other sentiments, shouting not +for the Kaiser, but for abdication, while applauding frantically for +another, a bitter foe of the Kaiser, a man who had been sent to jail for +high treason, had been deprived of his seat in the Reichstag, had been +dubbed, even by those in his own party, an enemy of his kind—Karl +Liebknecht. And who, witnessing the flower-laden carriage of the great +popular hero, but would admit that a new day was at last dawning in that +land of autocracy, a day ushered in by the guns and men of Foch?</p> + +<p>The events leading to that ovation of the twenty-fourth of October are +of interest.</p> + +<p>From the earliest days of its organization, soon after the middle of the +nineteenth century, the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span>German Social Democracy had taken a stand +against militarism. During the Franco-Prussian War, two of its chief +representatives, Wilhelm Liebknecht (the father of Karl Liebknecht) and +August Bebel, had refused to vote for the war budget. In 1912, during +the Balkan crisis, the German Socialists had attended in force the great +gathering of the International Socialist Conference at Basle, protesting +in vigorous tones against the war, and many there were on that occasion +who declared that even if danger of world war had not been entirely +eliminated, the Social Democrats of Germany, the strongest of the +International movement, were prepared to meet any emergency that might +arise. In the Reichstag elections, these Social Democrats had cast four +and a quarter millions of votes, while the labor unions, which in +Germany worked hand and hand with the Social-Democratic Party, numbered +no less than two and a half millions. The Socialist movement had the +support of hundreds of newspapers, possessed a strong and +well-disciplined organization and large financial resources, and was +remarkably rich in political experience. In efficiency of organization +it ranked second only to the Catholic Church.</p> + +<p>It was true that the German Social Democrats as yet had gained little +real influence on the international policy of the Empire, and despite +their powerful organization and their influence, they were in a position +before the war to use only moral pressure on the government. Yet to many +it seemed extremely unlikely that the German government would dare<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span> +instigate a world conflagration when opposed at home by this powerful +"internal enemy."</p> + +<p>The war came. Immediately after war's declaration, the Imperial +Chancellor called a meeting of the Reichstag on August 5, 1914, for the +purpose of approving the war budget. The day before this gathering was +held, he called together the leaders of the various parties, so the +story runs, among them the Social Democrats, and transmitted to them a +confidential communication. He had from a reliable source, he declared, +information that a secret understanding existed between the French and +the Belgian governments whereby the latter government had agreed, in +case of emergency, that it would give the French army passage through +Belgium for the purpose of invading Germany. It was because of this +agreement, the Chancellor declared, that the neutrality of Belgium had +to be violated. In addition to this information, the Chancellor told the +assembled legislators that the Russian army had invaded German soil and +had even then overrun two of the Prussian provinces.</p> + +<p>These statements produced the desired effect, convincing the majority of +the Social Democratic leaders that their only course was to support the +Kaiser and his government. The government knew how to fool them, knew +what to use in order to get their support, and the Kaiser and his +government were victorious.</p> + +<p>Every cable message during those days that reached America from Germany +emphasized the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> thought that there were no longer any parties in +Germany, that the Social Democrats had decided to give up their +agitation and work only for victory. To many radicals in America who had +pinned their faith to the internationalism of the German Social +Democracy, these reports seemed well-nigh unbelievable. The Socialist +leaders must have been put in jail, some argued.</p> + +<p>Then more news came to confirm the reports, and the papers came, +Socialist papers, and Socialist papers even of Germany, and all +contained the same unbelievable truth. Some said then, "Well, the +Government has taken over their papers and that is how this news can be +explained." But fact after fact came out which made even the most +doubtful admit that the cables had been based on truth. The strong and +great structure built by a generation lay prostrate on the ground.</p> + +<p>In those days of disillusion, I remember well a conversation among a few +of us concerning the plight of the Social Democracy. "The German +government knew their Socialists well, and knew how best to reach them," +declared one of our group. "There is one man in Germany, however, whom +we shouldn't despair of, even now. If he is still alive, I cannot but +believe that he will soon raise his voice against the course pursued by +the German government and by his own party, and show the world that even +in the land of utter darkness there still shines one light."</p> + +<p>Liebknecht's record was open. For a score of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> years he had fought +militarism tooth and nail. Could he now embrace it? Temporarily, it +seemed that he had. He opposed the majority of his fellow-Socialists in +the early days of August when they voted to support the war budget. But +his efforts were unsuccessful. The majority decreed that the Social +Democrats must support the war, and party discipline demanded that the +minority abide by the decision of the majority. Party discipline was +strong, at first too strong for Liebknecht. He yielded. Against his +better judgment he voted, on August 5, for the budget. He voted, but he +rebelled in spirit, and the next month, both at the home of a Socialist +Alderman, F. M. Wibaut, of Amsterdam, and at the residence of Lieutenant +Henry DeMan, in Brussels, he declared that he could not himself +understand what had possessed him when he gave his vote in the Reichstag +to the war budget.</p> + +<p>He soon extricated himself from his former allegiances, however, and the +noble spirit of courage which he afterwards displayed has but few +precedents in modern history. In order to portray to the reader the real +picture of the seemingly insurpassable obstacles against which he +fought, and the courage and idealism which he displayed, I have +collected and translated his speeches and his important utterances since +the beginning of the war and here present them in detail for the first +time to American readers.</p> + +<p>Liebknecht had many opportunities for making himself heard. He was a +Deputy of the Reichstag from Potsdam-Osthavelland, an assemblyman to +the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> Prussian <i>Landtag</i> from Berlin and Councilman to the +<i>Stadverordneten Versammlung</i> of Berlin. Within and without these +assemblies he used his pen and his voice alike. It was in the Prussian +Assembly, where from the very beginning he had four companions who +shared his point of view, that he delivered his longer addresses.</p> + +<p>His tactics in the Reichstag, where for some time he stood almost alone, +were somewhat different. Here, instead of delivering speeches, he used +the question with telling effect, as a means of bringing out the truth +on his side and of showing the emptiness of his opponents' claims. The +government resorted to every conceivable means to silence him, but +without success. Failing, they called him to military service, and put +him in the uniform of a German soldier. This act put a temporary end to +his outside public addresses, but he could still deliver his scathing +indictments in the Reichstag and in the Prussian Assembly.</p> + +<p>On May 1, 1916, he appeared at a public gathering in Berlin in civilian +dress, and delivered the speech which sent him to jail. Why did he +deliver that May Day address? Why did he not continue to reach the +public over the heads of the legislators from his seats in the two +Parliaments? It is indeed possible that he thought that the moment for +the Revolution had struck. For it is an address of revolution, and +seemed calculated to bring about an uprising of the workers. Perhaps he +was under the impression that his addresses and the terrible <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span>pressure +outside Germany had sufficiently awakened the German people, and that +they needed but a word to bring them into action. Whatever the reason, +the speech was a magnificent one; it required a courage which only a +Liebknecht possessed.</p> + +<p>When Ralph Waldo Emerson visited Henry Thoreau in his prison cell and +asked, "What are you doing here, Henry?" Thoreau replied, "What are you +doing outside when all people with ideals are inside?" That sentence +well describes the Germany of yesterday. Liebknecht was in prison, but +even in his lonesome cell he still inspired the "gathering hosts and +helped to make men free."</p> + +<p>I wish to express my sincerest gratitude to my friends, Bertram Benedict +and Dr. Wm. E. Bohn, for help and criticism.</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">S. Zimand.</span></p> + +<p><i>November 3, 1918</i></p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>THE MAN LIEBKNECHT</span></h2> + +<p>Karl Liebknecht is a worthy son of a great sire. His father, Wilhelm +Liebknecht, for years a member of the Reichstag, was the author of +numerous pamphlets on Socialism and economics and was one of the first +founders of the Socialist Party in Germany. Karl Liebknecht was born in +Leipzig on August 13th, 1871, the same year in which his father was +arrested on the charge of high treason. His mother was wont to say that +she bequeathed to her son all the sorrow that was hers during that +period, all the courage and all the strength which she had to summon to +her aid to live through those days; and with her bequest went all the +sorrow for the sufferings of humanity, and all the courage and the +strength to battle for the cause of the people, which were back of the +father's trial.</p> + +<p>And thirty-five years later, Karl Liebknecht underwent the same ordeal +as his father—himself faced the accusation of high treason in the +highest courts of his native land.</p> + +<p>Liebknecht studied first at Leipzig and then in Berlin, attending the +university in each city. As a student he began his career of social +enlightenment by organizing literary societies for the study of social +problems. Liebknecht got his doctor's degree<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> in Political Economy and +Law at the University of Würzburg. From 1889 he practised law in Berlin. +Later he became active in the Socialist movement in Berlin. In 1902 he +was elected Councilman to the Stadverordneten Versammlung (Common +Council) of Berlin. In October, 1907, he was tried for high treason +before the Imperial Court of Germany at Leipzig for his book on +"Militarism." The substance of this book which aroused the ire of the +German authorities was first set forth in a lecture before a group of +young people in 1906, for it is Liebknecht's belief that in the hands of +the younger generation of Germany lies the hope of salvation; let them +be impregnated, he would say, with the right social ideals before +militaristic training has an opportunity to do its work, and there will +be little danger of domination by the war lords, or of the fruition of +the war lords' aims.</p> + +<p>His trial was most interesting. It was said upon excellent authority +that the Kaiser himself was connected by secret wire with the court +room. Liebknecht bore himself triumphantly throughout; there was never a +moment of wavering, never any evidence of any quality contrary to the +gigantic and fearless strength which characterizes the man. Liebknecht +is himself a very able lawyer, and though he had noted lawyers to +represent him (including Hugo Haase, at present a leader of the Minority +Socialist Party in the Reichstag), he supplemented their speeches with +additional analyses of his own.</p> + +<p>Liebknecht took up the question, "What is high<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> treason?" He turned the +tables upon Olshausen, who was conducting the trial against him, by a +quotation from a work of Olshausen himself which contradicted the stand +the latter was taking in the Liebknecht trial. The Socialist leader's +address to the judges was one of the boldest attacks ever made, either +up to that time or up to the present, against German militarism. "The +aim of my life," he declared, "is the overthrow of monarchy. As my +father, who appeared before this court exactly thirty-five years ago to +defend himself against the charge of treason, was ultimately pronounced +victor, so I believe the day is not far distant when the principles +which I represent will be recognized as patriotic, as honorable, as +true."</p> + +<p>Liebknecht's brave stand on this occasion was rewarded by a sentence of +a year and a half in a military prison. While serving his sentence he +was elected by the people of Berlin to represent them in the assembly of +Prussia. In the Landtag Liebknecht recommenced his fight against +militarism. It was there that he prophetically pronounced the word +"Republic" for the first time. On one occasion there was a debate upon +the building of a new opera house. "The opera house for which we are +asked to vote the necessary funds," he exclaimed, "should last for many +generations. We trust that it will last long after it has lost its +character as a Royal Opera House."</p> + +<p>In 1910 Liebknecht visited America to give a series of lectures, and the +United States made a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> strong impression upon him. He used to tell me +that he felt truly homesick for America and had a genuine desire to +repeat the visit.</p> + +<p>In 1912 he was elected representative to the Reichstag by the people of +Potsdam-Osthavelland, under the very window of the Kaiser. The +announcement of his success was met with wild demonstrations of delight. +The sentiments of the surging crowds before the office of the Berlin +<i>Vorwärts</i> when the result of the election was made public were voiced +by a young workingman, when he exclaimed, "The new voice of freedom will +be heard from now on in the Reichstag." In the Reichstag Liebknecht +hurled with renewed zeal his invectives against the huge armaments and +militarism of Germany.</p> + +<p>Liebknecht the man is of the kindest nature and frankest personality. +There is to be seen in his make-up no grain of pretentiousness, of false +pride—indeed, he usually lunches quite happily upon a sandwich in the +train, too busy to find any other time for his meal. His home life is +ideal. His present wife—his first died in 1912—is a Russian by birth, +a graduate of the University of Heidelberg, and an ideal companion and +helpmate.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>THE FIRST DAYS</span></h2> + +<p>On August 3rd and 4th, 1914, the Social-Democratic members of the +Reichstag called a special meeting in order to decide what stand the +party should take on the War.</p> + +<p>At the first vote taken, ninety-four members were for voting for the +budget and only fourteen against. At the last there were only three who +held out to the end—Liebknecht, Ledebour, and Haase.</p> + +<p>The officials of the party tried to give the impression that there were +no differences of opinion in the party, but Liebknecht wrote the +following letter, which was published in the <i>Bürger Zeitung</i>, Bremen, +September 18, 1914.</p> + +<p>"I understand that several members of the Socialist Party have written +all manner of statements to the press with regard to the deliberations +of the Socialist Party in the Reichstag on August 3rd and 4th.</p> + +<p>"According to these reports, there were no serious differences of +opinion in our party in regard to the political situation and our own +position, and decisions to assent to war credits are alleged to have +been arrived at unanimously. In order to prevent the dissemination of an +inadmissible fiction I feel it to be my duty to put on record the fact +that the issues <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span>involved gave rise to diametrically opposite views +within our party parliament, and these opposing views found expression +with a violence hitherto unknown in our deliberations.</p> + +<p>"It is also entirely untrue to say that assent to the war credits was +given unanimously."</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>LIEBKNECHT'S VISIT TO BELGIUM</span></h2> + +<p>On September 16th, 1914, Liebknecht went to Belgium to inform himself +about the situation, and here is what Camille Huysmans, the secretary of +the International Socialist Bureau, writes about Liebknecht's visit to +Belgium:</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p>To P. Renaudel, Editor of <i>L'Humanité</i>.</p> + +<p>"<span class="smcap">My dear Renaudel</span>,—Liebknecht came to Belgium on September 16th, 1914. +He met several friends, and he came to see me at Brussels, at the Maison +du Peuple, in the afternoon. I asked him into my office and we had a +conversation which lasted more than two hours. I took him to dinner at a +restaurant in the town, and we again talked at length. I invited other +friends to meet him, among them our comrade Vandersmirsen. The next +morning we went out in two motor cars. We passed through several +districts. We tried to see Louvain, but the military authorities would +not allow us to do so.</p> + +<p>"At Tirlemont, through the mistake of an officer, we were caught in some +shrapnel fire, and we had to remain through the engagement. I showed +Liebknecht what actually took place. He questioned the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> Belgians. He +talked with the German soldiers. He was thus able to form his own +opinion on the spot.</p> + +<p>"To sum up: Liebknecht, when he came, knew nothing of what had happened +in Belgium. He went away convinced that the Belgians had not been sold +to Great Britain, that they had not organized bands of <i>francs-tireurs</i>, +that they had not assassinated the German wounded, and that the German +executions in Belgium were unjustifiable.</p> + +<p>"He came to Belgium honorably and honestly to gain information. Anything +else is calumny. Those Belgians who regarded the reception by me of a +German as an act of treason grasped him effusively by the hand when they +learned that he came to find out and to speak the truth.</p> + +<p class="center">"Yours,</p> + +<p class="right">"<span class="smcap">Camille Huysmans.</span>"</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>DID NOT CHEER THE KAISER</span></h2> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Berlin</span>, <i>October</i> 24, 1914.</p> + +<p>Editor, <i>Berliner Tageblatt</i>.<br /> Berlin.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Sir:</span></p> + +<p>In your report of the meeting of the Prussian Assembly on the 22nd of +the month you say that during the reading by Dr. Delbrück of the +greetings of the Kaiser the whole house stood (that means, the +Social-Democrats also). That does not correspond with the truth. The +Social-Democratic members of the Assembly, who were in their places, +remained seated.</p> + +<p>With reference to the closing speech of the President your report reads +that the whole House applauded and took part in the cheers for the +Kaiser. That also is not true. Five members (Hofer, Adolf Hoffmann, Paul +Hoffmann, Liebknecht and Ströbel,—<i>S. Z.</i>) of the Social-Democratic +representation in the <i>Landtag</i> (that means half) left the room when +this speech of the President was delivered.</p> + +<p>I would ask you to print the above correction according to paragraph II +of the Press Law.</p> + +<p class="center">Respectfully,</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Karl Liebknecht</span>.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>LIEBKNECHT DISAPPROVES OF MAJORITY SOCIALISTS OF GERMANY</span></h2> + +<p>The Swiss Socialist paper <i>Volksrecht</i> published in November, 1914, the +following statement, signed by Karl Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg, Franz +Mehring and Clara Zetkin.</p> + +<p>"In the Socialist press of the neutral countries of Sweden, Italy and +Switzerland, Comrades Dr. Suedekum and Richard Fischer have attempted to +portray the attitude of the German Social-Democrats towards the present +War in the light of their own ideas. We feel ourselves forced therefore +to explain through the same mediums that we, and certainly many other +German Social-Democrats, look on the War, its causes and its character, +as well as on the rôle of the Social-Democrats at the present time, from +a standpoint which in no way corresponds to that of Dr. Suedekum and +Herr Fischer. At the present time the state of martial law makes it +impossible for us to give public expression to our views."</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>REICHSTAG MEETING, DECEMBER 2, 1914, AND LIEBKNECHT'S DOCUMENT EXPLAINING WHY HE VOTED "NO"</span></h2> + +<p>At the second War Session of the Reichstag, Dec. 2, 1914, Karl +Liebknecht not only voted against the War Budget—the only member of the +Reichstag so to vote—but also handed in an explanation of his vote, +which the President of the Reichstag refused to allow to be read, nor +was it printed in the Parliamentary report. The President banned it on +the pretext that it would entail calls to order. The document was sent +to the German Press, but not one paper published it.</p> + +<p>The full text of the protest was received by way of Switzerland. It runs +as follows:</p> + +<p>"My vote against the War Credit Bill of to-day is based on the following +considerations. This War, desired by none of the people concerned, has +not broken out in behalf of the welfare of the German people or any +other. It is an Imperialist War, a war over important territories of +exploitation for capitalists and financiers. From the point of view of +rivalry in armaments, it is a war provoked by the German and Austrian +war parties together, in the obscurity of semi-feudalism and of secret +diplomacy, to gain an advantage over their opponents. At the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> same time +the war is a Bonapartist effort to disrupt and split the growing +movement of the working class.</p> + +<p>"The German cry: 'Against Czarism!' is invented for the occasion—just +as the present British and French watchwords are invented—to exploit +the noblest inclinations and the revolutionary traditions and ideals of +the people in stirring up hatred of other peoples.</p> + +<p>"Germany, the accomplice of Czarism, the model of reaction until this +very day, has no standing as the liberator of the peoples. The +liberation of both the Russian and the German people must be their own +work.</p> + +<p>"The war is no war of German defense. Its historical basis and its +course at the start make unacceptable the pretense of the capitalist +government that the purpose for which it demands credits is the defense +of the Fatherland.</p> + +<p>"A speedy peace, a peace without conquests, this is what we must demand. +Every effort in this direction must be supported. Only by strengthening +jointly and continuously the currents in all the belligerent countries +which have such a peace as their object can this bloody slaughter be +brought to an end.</p> + +<p>"Only a peace based upon the international solidarity of the working +class and on the liberty of all the peoples can be a lasting peace. +Therefore, it is the duty of the proletariats of all countries to carry +on during the war a common Socialistic work in favor of peace.</p> + +<p>"I support the relief credits with this reservation:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> I vote willingly +for everything which may relieve the hard fate of our brothers on the +battlefield as well as that of the wounded and sick, for whom I feel the +deepest compassion. But as a protest against the war, against those who +are responsible for it and who have caused it, against those who direct +it, against the capitalist purposes for which it is being used, against +plans of annexation, against the violation of the neutrality of Belgium +and Luxemburg, against unlimited rule of martial law, against the total +oblivion of social and political duties of which the Government and +classes are still guilty, I vote against the war credits demanded.</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Karl Liebknecht.</span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Berlin</span>, <i>December 2, 1914.</i>"</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>KARL LIEBKNECHT CONDEMNED BY HIS PARTY FOR VOTING "NO" ON DECEMBER 2, 1914, AND HIS ANSWER</span></h2> + +<p>In December, 1914, the Social-Democratic representation of the Reichstag +censured Karl Liebknecht for voting "No" in the open meeting of the +Reichstag.</p> + +<p>At a meeting on February 2, 1915, the Reichstag Socialists adopted a +resolution condemning his stand and repudiating alleged misleading +information he had spread about the Party. To this Liebknecht answered +in the <i>Vorwärts</i> of February 5, 1915, as follows:</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Berlin</span>, <i>February</i> 5, 1915.</p> + +<p>Editor <i>Vorwärts</i>,<br /> <span class="smcap">Berlin.</span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dear Comrade</span>:—</p> + +<p>Concerning the resolution adopted by the Social-Democratic Deputies of +the Reichstag I wish to remark: (1) I voted against the war credits +because the vote for the war credits is in my opinion in sharp +contradiction not only to the interests of the proletariat, but also to +the resolutions of the Social-Democratic Party and of the International +Socialist Convention. And the Social-Democratic Deputies<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> in the +Reichstag are not justified in recommending a violation of the Program +and party decisions.</p> + +<p>In a letter of Dec. 3, 1914, addressed to the Chairman of the +Social-Democratic Deputies of the Reichstag I made my stand clear.</p> + +<p>(2) Misleading information about the Party I have not given out. The +Social-Democratic Deputies in the Reichstag, who are not the proper +authorities for such decisions, voted down my motion to postpone making +any decision on this point until a thorough discussion had taken place.</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Karl Liebknecht.</span></p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>A NEW YEAR'S GREETING TO ENGLAND</span></h2> + +<p>I am pleased to be able to write a message of brotherhood to British +Socialists at a time when the ruling classes of Germany and Great +Britain are trying by all means in their power to incite bloodthirsty +hatred between the two peoples. But it is painful for me to write these +lines at a time when our radiant hope of previous days—the Socialist +International—lies destroyed on the ground with a thousand +expectations, when even many Socialists in the belligerent +countries—for Germany is not an exception—have in this most rapacious +of all wars of robbery willingly put on the yoke of the chariot of +Imperialism, just when the evils of capitalism were becoming more +apparent than ever. I am, however, particularly proud and happy to send +my greetings to you, to the British Independent Labour Party, who, with +our Russian and Servian comrades, have saved the honor of Socialism +amidst the madness of national slaughter.</p> + +<p>Confusion reigns among the rank and file of the Socialist Army and many +blame Socialist principles for our present failure. It is not our +principles which have failed, however, but the representatives of those +principles. It is not a question of changing our principles, it is a +question of applying them to life, of carrying them into action.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span></p><p>All the phrases of "national defense" and the "liberation of the +people" with which Imperialism decorates its instruments of murder are +but deceiving tinsel. Each Socialist Party has its enemy, the common +enemy of the International, in its own country. There it has to fight +it. The liberation of each nation must be its own work.</p> + +<p>Only blindness can order the continuation of the slaughter until the +"enemy" is crushed. The well-being of all nations is inseparably +connected; the struggle of the organized working class can only be +carried out internationally.</p> + +<p>Those who are seven times wise and whose weak souls are easily carried +away by the whirls of diplomatic winds and lost in the gulfs of +jingoism, say that the labor movement will no longer be international.</p> + +<p>The world war which has smashed the International must, however, be +realized as a powerful sermon making clear the need for a new +International, an International of another kind, with a different force +from that which the capitalist powers so easily scattered on August 4, +1914.</p> + +<p>Only in the coöperation of the working masses of all countries, in times +of war as in times of peace, does the salvation of humanity lie. Nowhere +have the masses desired this war. Nowhere do they desire it. Why should +they, then, with a loathing for war in their hearts, murder each other +to the finish? It would be a sign of weakness, it is said, for any one +people to suggest peace; well, let all the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> people suggest it together. +The nation which speaks first will not show weakness but strength. It +will win the glory and gratitude of posterity. It is the duty of every +Socialist at the present time to be a prophet of international +brotherhood, realizing that every word he speaks in favor of socialism +and peace, every action he performs for these ideals enflame similar +words and actions in other countries, until the flames of the desire for +peace shall flare high over all Europe. The example which you and our +Russian and Servian comrades have given to the world will have an +emulating effect wherever Socialists have been ensnared by the designs +of the ruling classes, and I am sure the mass of the British workers +will soon rally to the International Labor Party. Already among the +German workers there is far greater opposition to the war than is +generally supposed, and the louder the echo of the cry for peace in +other countries the more vehemently and energetically will they work for +peace here. Thus shall the working classes of all the belligerent +countries become conscious of the necessity to fight for a peace +consistent with the principles of Socialism, a peace without conquest +and without humiliation, a peace based not on hatred but on fraternity, +not on force but on freedom, a peace which, because of its justice, may +be everlasting. In this way, even during the war, the International can +be revived and can atone for its previous mistakes. Thus it must revive, +a different International, increased not only in numerical strength but +in revolutionary fervor, in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span> clearness of vision and in preparedness to +overcome the danger of absolutism, of secret diplomacy, and of +capitalist conspiracies against peace.</p> + +<p>Workers of the World, unite!</p> + +<p>Unite in a war against war!</p> + +<p>With Socialist greetings,</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Karl Liebknecht.</span></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Berlin</span>, <i>December, 1914</i>.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>SPEECH DELIVERED AT THE WAR MEETING OF THE PRUSSIAN ASSEMBLY, TUESDAY, MARCH 2, 1915</span></h2> + +<p>The Censor forbade the printing of the following speech in Germany. It +is a clear analysis of the franchise question. Dr. Liebknecht also +blames the personal régime and rule of Bureaucracy for the War. +According to the <i>Vorwärts</i> reports, when Liebknecht began to speak the +Free Conservatives, most of the National Liberals and the Centrum left +the chamber in a demonstrative manner.</p> + +<p><i>Present</i>: The Minister of the Interior: Discussion about the Prussian +electoral reform, care for those disabled by war, and democratization of +external politics.</p> + +<p>Taking part in the discussion: Dr. Busse (Cons.), V. Papenheim (Cons.), +Dr. v. Zedlitz and Neukirch (Free Cons.), v. Loebell (Secretary of +Interior), Dr. Friedberg (Natl. Lib.), Cassel (Progressive People's +Party), Dr. Liebknecht (Soc.-Dem.).</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p><i>Dr. Liebknecht</i> (Social-Democrat): Gentlemen, first I wish to protest +against the fact that Russian workingmen are treated differently from +the civilians of other enemy countries. Such differential <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span>treatment +cannot be justified—indeed, must be condemned as sharply as possible.</p> + +<p>As to the care to be taken of those disabled by war, I can only support +the heart-felt words which came from all parts of this house on this +question and echoed in our hearts, that we demand action on this matter +without delay and do everything possible to keep these unfortunate +people from all need and misery. But I do not wish to mistake what +experience teaches us—that we have every right to take words uttered in +days such as we are passing through with a great deal of criticism and +suspicion. On that account I would not like to throw all the words +uttered to-day in the scales as solid weight. We will see if, in the +future, deeds will follow.</p> + +<p>The great zeal with which this all-important question, which arouses all +human emotions, was discussed, has for me a special significance because +these debates serve to hide the complete silence of the bourgeois +parties on the decisive and important suffrage question. ("Very true" +from the Soc.-Dem.)</p> + +<p>Gentlemen, you can be assured that those who are in the field and the +unfortunate invalids in the hospitals will be convinced that everything +necessary is done in this important question only when we make it +possible for them at the settlement of the question to be guaranteed +necessary influence in legislation and administration. (Approval from +the Soc.-Dem.) They will not rely on the good will of the ruling +parties, and if the good words which were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> spoken with relation to the +care to be taken of the war invalids do not go hand in hand with +willingness to give to the mass of the people more rights, to make +possible a democratization of Prussia, then they preach to deaf ears +even if the words sound so very friendly. ("Very true" from Soc.-Dem.)</p> + +<p>Gentlemen, the 27th of February of this year will become a historical +day for Prussia. It was a critical day. In the Budget Committee the +Minister refused to give any assurance, even of a general nature, about +a future suffrage reform; and to-day also we heard nothing about it. The +Progressive Party expects, according to the speech delivered by +Assemblyman Pachnicke, suffrage reform after the war; they expect at +least the secret and the direct vote. The Centrum appeals to its "clear +and unmovable" position on the suffrage question, which no one knows +(Assemblyman Ströbel, Soc.-Dem., "Very good!"), and explains its present +silence by the party truce. The National Liberals put the question of +suffrage reform behind the task of winning the war. The Free +Conservatives, through Frhr. v. Zedlitz, give a straightforward refusal, +which Frhr. v. Zedlitz underlined three times last night in the <i>Post</i>. +("Very true" from the Free Conservatives.) I hear again a "Very true" +from the midst of the Free Conservatives, and emphasize it again +thus—according to them the war has brought out strong counter-reaction +against any democratization and Frhr. v. Zedlitz must surely know it, +because he warms himself behind the political stove.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span> He considers the +discussion of the election reform as superfluous, a discussion which +endangers the party truce and which over-balances the discussions about +the Budget; and he scoffs at the idea about a general fraternization on +the foundation of the introduction of the suffrage law for the Reichstag +in Prussia. ("Hear! hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) The German Conservative +Party was silent and by its silence showed that it approved the +provoking refusal of Frhr. v. Zedlitz. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) +To-day also was this approval repeated in an unmistakable sense.</p> + +<p><i>That clears the situation</i>, gentlemen,—clears it delightfully. +Clearness is especially necessary at this time. ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) It never was so necessary as to-day, when the word "party +truce" and the false conceptions of class harmonies, of unity and +unanimity of the people and other beautiful descriptive words about a +free German people of the future becloud many a mind. Gentlemen, we are +glad that this fog was blown away. The naked truth is: In Prussia +everything remains as it was before. Gentlemen, on October 22nd of last +year our warning with reference to the election reform was received by +this house partly with cold silence and partly with indignant murmur. It +was astounding to the gentlemen that the representatives of the third +class of Prussian helot voters dared, at this time, to raise the demand +of the people. The government was silent then. On February 9th the same +performance, and now the Committee's deliberations<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> and the debates of +to-day which clarify the situation so well! Everything remains as it was +before—that is the significance of the day for Prussia. From the papers +we already knew that, gentlemen. Already in September, 1914, upon the +victory of the German troops, so many swelled up as "German friends of +the people." An apotheosis of Militarism, an apotheosis of Monarchism, +an apotheosis of the three-class system of voting and of all "Prussian +egotism" we found in the reactionary papers,—in the papers not only of +the Conservative Parties but even in those of the so-called Liberal +Parties. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.)</p> + +<p>Gentlemen, in 1866 it was said: The schoolmaster, the Prussian +schoolmaster was victorious. To-day it is said: the Prussian system of +voting is victorious in this war or will be victorious in this war. +("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.)</p> + +<p>What progress! It will be said, as it was said: The Prussian three-class +system of voting was victorious over democracy,—by which Russia is +naturally left out of consideration as a good friend of the past and +surely as a good friend of the future. The conclusion will be drawn +which was drawn in such an open way by Frhr. v. Zedlitz. But I should +like to advise you in your own interests not to forget that if this war, +especially in the first months, awakened a strong enthusiasm in the +German people, you must thank above all the fact that it was to be +against Czarism—against the Russian reaction,—("Very true!" from +Soc.-Dem.), against barbarism, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span>unrighteousness; that it was thought to +be a struggle for the freedom of Europe. ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.)</p> + +<p>And, gentlemen, do not forget the disastrous influence the backward +conditions in Prussia and in Germany, which conditions were combated by +us, had on the attitude of the Neutrals against Germany in this war! +("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.)</p> + +<p>Gentlemen, in spite of all the characteristic and true Prussian +manifestations since the first months of the war, about which I just +spoke, we had even up to now political dreamers. Gentlemen, those will +now be enlightened about the situation, wherever they are, and that is +of great value. <i>The darkest pessimists were right in their prophecies.</i> +These debates have furnished water for our mills. The Conservative +parties of this house stand with their old animosity against any +democratization. From the Centrum nothing is to be hoped. The National +Liberals provide a special chapter. Their ideal with respect to the +electoral reform has been long similar to that of Frhr. v. Zedlitz, +namely, not democratization, but future plutocratization of the +electoral reform. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.)</p> + +<p>So everything is as it was before! The National Liberals put out of +their present thoughts the struggle for peoples' rights, because success +is to them, as they say, more important. Gentlemen, that is explainable. +These gentlemen know, in fact, for what this war is fought. For their +electorate this war is such a tremendously important political and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span>economic business that the people's rights, bad or good, have to be +retarded. Gentlemen, the mine fields of Briey and Longwy, the mine +fields of West Poland, the colonies which promise important profits and +some other nice things are really no bad investments for German capital. +The people can wait. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) And Mr. +Pachnicke, the boldest representative of democracy in the bourgeois +parties of this house, is already satisfied in advance—sure enough, +only for the present, as he says—with the secret and direct vote! But +even the moderate optimism of Mr. Pachnicke and Mr. Cassel that a +majority is available in this house with reference to that patch-work +reform, was very roughly stripped of its mask in the Budget Commission +by a conservative interruption. Even here everything shall be as it was +before! And even for this patch-work reform Mr. Pachnicke wants to wait +until after the war. Gentlemen, we are not so modest. ("Very true!" from +the Soc.-Dem.) We see all other classes in the war, and especially +through the war, pursue unrestrained and without any compunction their +class interests. We know that this war serves or will serve, if it will +go according to the desire of the ruling class—the great capitalistic +interests—the interest of the ruling classes in a particular way. Shall +only the masses of the people wait until after the war? The technical +restoration of the law is a trifle. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.)</p> + +<p>Gentlemen, do we have any cause to postpone our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> demand for +democratization in a time of martial law, the press censorship, the +suspension of the miserable right of assembly, in a time of the darkest +reaction, including the spy system in Prussia under the name of +<i>Burgfrieden</i> (civic truce) in a form of military dictatorship, +celebrates its triumph, in a time when the people are more than ever +without any rights, in a time when by the war not only the danger to all +of the capitalistic economic order is made more striking than ever, but +when political pressure lies harder than ever on the people. In such a +time, there is no occasion for us to postpone our demands for +democratization. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Never did the class +character of the present society of the Prussian state reveal itself so +rude and unmasked as right now. Nor do we have any occasion to postpone +our demands for democratization at a time when the dangerous reaction of +the inner autocracy upon the external policy shows itself so awful and +dangerous, at a time which is really clamoring for the democratization +of exterior politics. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.)</p> + +<p>Gentlemen, Mr. Assemblyman Dr. Pachnicke said the war has given new +support to the demand for electoral reform. Frhr. v. Zedlitz shouted a +shrill denial of these words. ("Hear! Hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) A word +which lighted up the situation as a lightning flash, a word for which I +and my friends thank him, a word of redemption which can be <i>a call of +alarm</i> for the further interior Prussian-German development. In fact, +the war has<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> given new support, not to a patch-work reform in the sense +of which Mr. Pachnicke speaks, but to a reform of the Prussian state in +body and soul. I mean in equal franchise and administration from below +up to the highest ranks. And that not only on account of the warlike +attitude of the German people, as Mr. Pachnicke thought. From entirely +different grounds. There never before appeared so clearly on the surface +the glaring contrast between the heavy duties of the majority of the +people and the privileged character of the state and the Administration, +as in these days; the contrast between the equal duties as cannon fodder +and the political inequalities in the state. ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.)</p> + +<p>And further, gentlemen, in half-absolutism, in secret diplomacy, in +personal régime and all that, we see one of the most important immediate +causes for the breaking out of this war, which of course is conditioned +and made possible by international capitalism. ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.)</p> + +<p>Gentlemen, if the imperialistic endeavors of high capitalism brought +about severe dangers to peace, there is needed more than ever control of +the exterior politics by the masses of the people ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.), a control which is denied by the constitution and +administration prevailing in Prussia and Germany to-day. I know that the +democratization of the exterior policy in other states also, where the +democratization of the interior policy has progressed, is much to be +desired and our friends in England, our friends in France, <i>to whom we +stand</i><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> <i>as near as ever before</i>, as far as they are conducting +Socialistic propaganda ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.), have raised +the demand before and also now for greater democratization of +international politics. Gentlemen, only democratization can erect a wall +against imperialistic and adventurous politics. Gentlemen, the millions +of victims who are butchered in this war, are butchered especially +because the mass of the people were deprived of any rights in the +countries concerned! ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) All of us, no +matter how many differences of opinion may exist now in our small +circle, are all agreed that the mass of the people did not want the war +in any of the countries concerned. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) And +if that is true, it follows that a democratic control of exterior +politics carried out in all states would have prevented the war. ("Very +true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) From that follows the right and duty, +especially now when Europe is buried in blood and murder, and sets on +fire its culture and the flower of its humanity, to raise the demand for +democratization of external politics, which can come only from +democratic internal politics which can be nourished in the soil of a +state democratic from head to foot. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.)</p> + +<p>Gentlemen, I welcome the destruction of illusions which existed in large +circles of the people about the willingness of the ruling classes and +the government to grant an equal franchise law. A clear outlook is +especially necessary; the mist is now blown away,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> and this clearness is +not preached only—and you should not forget it—to those who are +guarding and supporting the Fatherland in their civilian clothes and +have experienced the need of these days, but also to those who are +standing in the battlefield and who are expecting to hear different news +from home, and who, when they read the papers about the debates of the +Budget Commission of Saturday and debates of to-day—I am absolutely +convinced on this point—will clinch their fists furiously in their +pockets and hurl curses at those who awakened in them hopes and +illusions, who deceived them about the truth,—namely that this war is +not carried on for the mass of the German people; about the truth, that +the mass of the people will be left after the war without rights, as +they were before the war, <i>unless they look out for their rights +themselves.</i></p> + +<p>Gentlemen, the war preaches with a brazen tongue the necessity for +Democracy; and to you all, who think that you can rebuke in such a sharp +way the demands of the people, the idea must emerge, through the shell +of your careless hostility and provoking and people-betraying +demonstrations, that the interior political conditions of Germany will +form themselves even now during the war.</p> + +<p>Gentlemen, the proletariat is in exactly the same position as the poor +starving wretch of the old tragi-comedy, who, dressed in distinguished +garments, for one day of illusions, pretended to be a prince. After the +present revelations, the dream, the hero dream that every one is to be +recognized as a free German<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> citizen, as an equal German citizen, this +dream will vanish even to the last illusionist,—he will awaken from the +illusion of this monstrous three-fourths of a year. He will get sober, +and full of bitterness, draw conclusions for his political attitude even +during the war.</p> + +<p>Gentlemen, the only salvation for the mass of the people is the struggle +that has not changed to-day from yesterday. Not by yielding and not by +adapting itself to conditions, and not by submissiveness, but only in +struggle will the people find its right. (Assemblyman Hoffman, +Soc.-Dem., "Very true!")</p> + +<p>The class struggle alone is the salvation of the proletariat and we hope +that we will carry on very soon the class struggle in open international +intercourse with the proletariat of all countries, even with those with +whom we are at war. In this international class struggle rests not only +hope for the democratization, for the political and economic +emancipation, of the working class, but also the one hope for the mass +of the people concerned even during the war. Their one prospect and hope +for the termination of the horrible killing of peoples is in the +struggle for a peace in a socialistic sense.</p> + +<p>Gentlemen, the equal franchise you rudely denied for the duration of the +war. Even after the war you don't want to grant such franchise. +Laughable patch-work reform is all that one of you, the representative +of the influential Progressive Party (<i>Fortschritlichen Volkspartei</i>), +expects at the most; the majority says even here "No." Gentlemen, that +means to the mass<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> of the people the fist! ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) Against that I place the cry: away with the hypocrisy of the +<i>Burgfrieden</i> (civil truce)! Forward to the class struggle! Forward to +the international class struggle for the emancipation of the working +class and against the war! ("Bravo!" from the Soc.-Dem.)</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>IN DEFENCE OF ROSA LUXEMBURG</span></h2> + +<p>Dr. Rosa Luxemburg, with whom the following speech of Dr. Liebknecht +deals, was tried in 1914 because at a public meeting she attacked +militarism and the tragedies which were happening in the German +barracks: brutal treatments, abuses and suicides of German soldiers. At +her trial nine hundred and twenty-two men from all parts of Germany were +ready to testify to something like thirty thousand separate instances of +brutal treatment of soldiers.</p> + +<p>Dr. Rosa Luxemburg was born in Russian Poland, of Jewish parents, and +studied in Switzerland. She went later to Germany in order to become +active in Social-Democratic propaganda. Being a foreigner, she would +have been immediately exiled by the authorities, had she not married a +Mr. Luxemburg—with whom she never lived—and in that way became a +German citizen.</p> + +<p>Dr. Rosa Luxemburg, or "Die Rote Rosa" (The Red Rose) as the Junkers +call her, is one of the very brilliant speakers of the Social-Democratic +Party of Germany and very few in the party equal her in debate. She has +written various books on scientific socialism.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span></p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p><i>Assembly Session, March 9, 1915.</i></p> + +<p>Third reading of the Budget for the fiscal year 1915, with the proposed +law regarding the determination of the budget, with a special chapter in +reference to the administration of justice. Taking part in the +discussion of this special chapter, Dr. K. Liebknecht, Minister of +Justice Dr. Beseler and v. Pappenheim (Conservative), who by his motion +that the discussion on this chapter should be closed, made it impossible +for Liebknecht to answer the Secretary of Justice.</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. Liebknecht</span>: Gentlemen, a few days ago, continuing an old tradition +of this house, which remained true to itself, even in this respect, you +deprived me of the floor; to-day you will have to endure what I shall +tell you,—what I really think.</p> + +<p>As is known to you, my party friend, Rosa Luxemburg, was condemned to +one year in prison for an alleged appeal to the soldiers for +insubordination. This decision was approved a few months ago by the +Supreme Court. In January of this year the execution of the sentence was +postponed until March 31st on account of her illness. She spent a few +weeks in a hospital at Schöneberg and was dismissed from it not cured, +on condition that she follow a certain course of treatment. On February +18th she was suddenly arrested at Südende by two officers of the +Criminal Department, brought to the Berlin Police Department, and then +to Division 7, that is,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> to the political division, and not to the +criminal division. Thence she was transported in the green wagon, +together with common criminals, to the women's prison in the +Barminstrasse, for the fulfillment of her one year's prison sentence.</p> + +<p>This incident unmasks with the precision of physical experiment the real +nature of the so-called <i>Burgfrieden</i> (civil truce). ("Very true.") +Because this fundamentally political, this party political sentence is +executed now, we do not complain. Let those complain who believe in the +civil truce. (Stroebel, "Very true.") I know that my friend Luxemburg +will see in the execution of this sentence a proof that she has +fulfilled her duty, even in these times, of working for the interest of +the people in the socialistic way. But gentlemen, this is remarkable, +and this fact I wish most to emphasize—she was arrested for the +execution of the sentence, in spite of the fact that the execution of +the sentence was postponed until March 31, without giving her an +opportunity voluntarily to begin her term after the authorities thought +that the reasons for the postponement of the execution of the sentence +did not exist any longer. She was taken away without being given an +opportunity voluntarily to begin her sentence. The method of this +execution is open to much criticism. This transportation in the green +wagon and the details which I have just mentioned deserve the severest +reproach against those officials who are responsible for this action. +("Very true" by the Soc.-Dem.)</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span></p><p>Of special political significance is the reason for this execution. The +<i>Deutsche Tageszeitung</i> brought out a notice, even before there appeared +any communication in our party press, of the arrest of my party friend, +which was surely inspired, and probably originated from a well-informed +source, and in which it was said in unmistakable language, that this +trial was started because Madame Dr. Luxemburg arranged political +meetings ("Hear, hear!" from the Socialists), because she was active +politically ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.). Surely the arrest was +not really a military measure, surely it was an execution of a sentence; +but the means described were used, and put in execution from motives +which put on it the seal of partisan political persecution in the most +objectionable form. Very remarkable it is, as I know, that this happened +after the Berlin secret police told the Commander of the Province of the +appearance of Madame Luxemburg at a few meetings. ("Hear, hear!" from +the Soc.-Dem.) The Commander in the Province, as the highest military +authority in the province of Brandenburg, advised the District Attorney, +who is in these days subordinate to him, to begin action against Madame +Luxemburg, to begin action against her on account of holding meetings, +on account of her political activity. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.)</p> + +<p>Now let me give an illustration of how promptly the espionage system, +which was in this case at the service of the Justice officials and so in +confidential coöperation with the military dictatorship, functions.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span> On +February 10th, Madame Luxemburg spoke at a party meeting in +Charlottenburg. On the 13th of February the order was given at +Frankfort-on-the-Main to arrest her. During this interval of three days, +or rather of two days, because the meeting took place on the evening of +February 10th, the spy who must have been present at the meeting (and in +whose behalf, as an officer of the Department of Justice, you will now +approve the Budget), reported the meeting to the Police Headquarters, +which reported to the Supreme Command, and from the Supreme Command the +report was forwarded to Frankfort-on-the-Main, from which the order for +arrest was given. So promptly does the machinery of the Prussian State +function for the political suppression of the people, even in these days +of the party truce. In this field the mechanism of the Prussian State +did prove itself remarkable.</p> + +<p>It should not be said that Madame Dr. Luxemburg was arrested because +after she held meetings she could not be located. Gentlemen, I know that +only by using all her strength, ill as she was, could she fulfill her +duty to the interests of the German people, to the interests of the +entire international proletariat. But, gentlemen, who wants to make us +believe that this action was taken without any connection with what she +did? ("Very true," from the Soc.-Dem.) The political aspect of what she +said was the determining factor for the authorities which "do not +recognize parties any longer." If she had only joined in buying the +usual market commodity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> labeled "Patriotism," then not only would she +have been spared from this remarkable attack but probably amnesty would +have been forced upon her. ("Very true," from the Soc.-Dem.) But, +gentlemen, she tried by summoning all her strength, to act in the +proletarian and socialistic cause against the frenzied slaughter of +peoples. This does not suit the dominant power, and that is why the +arrest took place.</p> + +<p>But the worst feature is that it was not sufficient to arrest my friend +Luxemburg in this way, but that they also tried to stigmatize her honor +by stating that she had shown intentions of flight.</p> + +<p>Gentlemen, Madame Dr. Luxemburg wanted to travel to a friend in Holland, +and for this purpose she asked for a foreign passport from the police in +her district, who were naturally informed about her sentence, and then +she addressed herself to the Berlin police headquarters, also well +informed about her sentence, before the permission for a passport could +be had; as suspicion was aroused at the Berlin police headquarters, she +addressed herself, one day before she was arrested, with my help, to the +District Attorney of Frankfort-on-the-Main,—the official who was to +have executed the sentence, and had asked from him permission to take +the trip to Holland. The order to make this motion to the District +Attorney was given to her lawyer in Frankfort on the afternoon of +February 17th. Gentlemen, I do not need to tell you that a woman such as +Madame Dr. Luxemburg does not belong to the class who try to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> escape +from a sentence,—that a woman such as Madame Dr. Luxemburg is brave +enough to look her enemies in the eye and would not think of leaving +Germany in times like these, where there is being waged such an +important part of the struggle against international reaction,—against +imperialism. It is necessary to be a real Prussian police spirit in +order not to understand that.</p> + +<p>Considering the facts of which I just spoke, considering the +possibilities of passing the frontier in these times without the will of +the authorities, the talk about escaping can be characterized only as an +attempt to stigmatize the honor of this really persecuted woman, exactly +after the Russian method, which is not satisfied to punish politically +disagreeable subjects, but tries also to insult their honor as much as +possible. In fact, it happened that the military authorities arranged +that Madame Luxemburg should not be able to be active outside of Germany +in a manner not to the liking of the German ruling powers. Why don't you +say so openly and honestly, instead of hiding behind such obscure +phrases? Just as we have only one counterpart for your denial of the +suffrage reform, for the continuance of the exceptional laws, for your +refusal of any interior reform, namely the political ignorance and +animosity against the people of the Government of the Czar, so this +action against my friend Luxemburg is a counterpart to the arrest of the +Russian Duma Deputies, our admired and excellent friends in the struggle +for the freedom of the people and for the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span>restoration of the peoples' +peace, trying in common with us to serve,—each in his own country,—in +universal opposition against its own government, for the benefit of its +own people and the good of the other people, the good of the +international proletariat, the good of humanity. And so sure as it is +that the arrest of the Duma deputies in Russia opened the eyes of +hundreds of thousands of blind ones, so sure are we that the action +against our comrade Luxemburg will awaken many a dreamer ("Very true" +from Soc.-Dem.), and that they will demand a struggle for a free Prussia +and a struggle for the ending of the mass murder of the people. +("Bravo!" from the Soc.-Dem.)</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>LIEBKNECHT CALLED TO ARMY SERVICE</span></h2> + +<p>On March 23, 1915, Liebknecht was ordered to place himself at the +disposal of the German military authorities.</p> + +<p>From this day on he was under military law as a member of a Landsturm +regiment.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>LIEBKNECHT QUESTIONS THE GOVERNMENT</span></h2> + +<p>Beginning with August 20, 1915, Liebknecht began putting his questions +in the Reichstag which so much embarrassed the German Government.</p> + +<p>In England this form of parliamentary control of the Government is very +common. In Germany this form is very seldom used. The possibility of +putting supplementary questions gives this method a particularly great +usefulness where there is so little parliamentary criticism as in +Germany.</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Reichstag Meeting, Aug. 20, 1915</span>, 2 P. M.</p> + +<p>At the table of the Federal Government are present: Ministers Delbrück, +Helfferich, and Lisco.</p> + +<p>The first order of business is a question by Dr. Karl Liebknecht.</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. Karl Liebknecht</span>: (reads his question amid great commotion in the +House) "Is the Government, in case of corresponding readiness of the +other belligerents, ready, on the basis of the renunciation of +annexations of every kind, to enter into immediate peace negotiations?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Secretary of State v. Jagow</span>: "I believe I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span> shall meet the wishes of the +great majority of the House if I decline to answer the question of the +member, Dr. Liebknecht, at the present time as inopportune." (Great +applause, especially at the right side of the House.)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. K. Liebknecht</span>: "That is concealing the capitalistic policy of +conquest (great uproar). The answer of the Secretary of State is a +confession of a policy of annexation (repeated great uproar). The people +want peace" (continual uproar and laughter).</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Reichstag Meeting, Dec. 15, 1915</span></p> + +<p>The energy which Liebknecht displayed at this meeting was remarkable +considering that he had not completely recovered from the injury which +he had received in October, 1915, at the front.</p> + +<p>Twenty-third meeting of the Reichstag, Dec. 14,1915, 2 P. M.</p> + +<p>Present at the Federal Council table: Ministers v. Jagow and Helfferich.</p> + +<p>The first point on the order of the day—Questions by Dr. K. Liebknecht +(Soc.-Dem.).</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. K. Liebknecht</span>:</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">First Question</span></p> + +<p>(I-a) Is the Government prepared, if the other belligerents are also +ready and prepared, to enter<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> peace negotiations on the basis of the +renunciation of annexations? This question I withdraw since on Thursday, +Dec. 9, 1915 (Liebknecht refers here to Bethman-Hollweg's speech in the +Reichstag on Dec. 9, 1915, in which the Imperial Chancellor answered the +majority Socialist's peace interpellation. <i>S. Z.</i>), the Imperial +Chancellor answered this question in the negative. The Government wants +a war of conquest, not peace!</p> + +<p>(I-b) On what other basis is the Government ready to enter immediately +upon peace negotiations?</p> + +<p>(Foreign Minister von Jagow by mistake begins to read the answer to +another question (laughter).) Then the following answer is given to +question I-b:</p> + +<p>In view of the debate of the 9th of December I decline to answer this +question.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. K. Liebknecht</span> asks the floor for a supplementary question: What will +be the attitude of the Government towards peace proposals from neutral +countries as asked now by the Social-Democrats of Switzerland through +the Swiss Government.... (Great commotion.)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">President Dr. Kaempf</span>: This is not a supplementary question. It is ruled +out of order.</p> + +<p>Dr. K. Liebknecht reads his</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Second Question</span></p> + +<p>II. Is the Government ready to lay before the nation the official +documents and semi-official <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span>documents relating to the secret +negotiations which preceded the declaration of war, especially</p> + +<p>(a) The diplomatic history of the Austrian Ultimatum to Serbia of July +23, 1914, including the official and semi-official negotiations between +the German and Austrian Governments after the crime of Sarajevo?</p> + +<p>(b) The history of the German entry into Luxemburg and Belgium?</p> + +<p>(c) Is the Government ready to create as soon as possible a +parliamentary commission for the examination of these documents and +reveal the responsible parties?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Foreign Minister von Jagow</span>: The available material about the origin of +the war has been published already. The Government intends to publish +other important documents relating to diplomatic negotiation, <i>in so far +as they appear to be necessary for the enlightenment of public opinion</i> +(my italics, <i>S. Z.</i>), but refuses to set up a parliamentary committee +dealing with the examination of these documents. The parties responsible +are our enemies.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. K. Liebknecht</span> asks the floor for a supplementary question (great +merriment): Is the Government ready to lay immediately before us the +entire official documentary material dealing with the war?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Foreign Minister von Jagow</span>: I have nothing to add to my answer.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span></p><p><span class="smcap">Dr. K. Liebknecht</span>: A supplementary question (great merriment). Is it +known to the Imperial Chancellor that according to a remark made on Dec. +5, 1914, by the <i>former neutral Italian Prime Minister Giolitti</i>, +<i>Austria planned as early as 1913 an attack against Serbia</i> (<i>Italics S. +Z.</i>) (Great indignation and shouts.)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">President Dr. Kaempf</span>: This is a new question. We will proceed to your +next question.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. K. Liebknecht</span>: According to paragraph 31 of our order of business I +have asked the floor to supplement my former question.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">President Dr. Kaempf</span>: You have already asked two supplementary +questions.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. K. Liebknecht</span>: The order of business does not limit me to any +definite number. Amid great commotion in the House Dr. Liebknecht reads +another supplementary question: "Why did the Imperial Chancellor conceal +from the Reichstag earlier and at the meeting of August 4, 1914, the +Belgium Ultimatum?"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">President Dr. Kaempf</span>: This also is not a supplementary question, but a +new question. Do you have another supplementary question? Now we come to +your next question.</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Third Question</span></p> + +<p>III (a) Is it known to the Government that the mass of German people +demand for themselves the right to decide about the external policy of +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span>Germany, that they demand <i>abolition of secret diplomacy in favor of +permanent public control of foreign policy and its general +democratization</i>? (<i>Italics, S. Z.</i>)</p> + +<p>(b) Is the Government prepared to bring in the course of the present +session of the Reichstag a bill which will fulfill the demand above +mentioned and submit the decisions on questions of war and peace to the +people's representatives?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Minister of Exterior v. Jagow</span>: The Government is <i>not willing</i> +(<i>Italics, S. Z.</i>) to correspond with the wishes of Dr. Liebknecht and +to propose such a change in the Constitution. With this answer the rest +of the question is also answered.</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Fourth Question</span></p> + +<p>Does the Government know in what economic distress the masses of the +German people labor on account of the war and on account of the desire +in capitalistic circles for profits and the impotence of the Government +in dealing with the situation? Is the Government now ready to check this +economic distress by improving the general welfare without further delay +and by putting aside all special interests, and taking the necessary +steps to provide for the population the necessary means of living (food, +clothing, shelter, heat and light); especially by regulating production +according to the general welfare? And by commandeering products and by +the uniform distribution of foodstuffs in such a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> way that the needy may +get sufficient food free or at low cost?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Minister Director Dr. Lewald</span>: The Imperial Chancellor declines to answer +the question.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. K. Liebknecht</span>: A supplementary question (great merriment). Does the +Government recognize that according to experiments up to this time +general commandeering of products....</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">President Dr. Kaempf</span>: This is not a supplementary question but a new +question.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. K. Liebknecht</span>: I ask the floor for another supplementary question +(great commotion and merriment). Will the Government put into operation +as soon as possible the decisions of the Budget Commission in line with +these demands?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Minister Director Lewald</span>: In the name of the Imperial Chancellor I +refuse to answer this supplementary question.</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Fifth Question</span></p> + +<p>(a) What meaning does the Government ascribe to the expression "new +internal political orientation?" (<i>Neuorientierung der inneren +Politik.</i>)</p> + +<p>(b) Does the Government have a concrete program concerning this new +internal political orientation?</p> + +<p>(c) What is this program in detail?</p> + +<p>(d) When does the Government intend to effect this program?</p> + +<p>(e) Does the Government intend during the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> present session or later to +introduce the reforms necessary to the democratization of the +constitution, democratization of the legislative powers and +democratization of the administration of the German Empire and the +states which compose the Empire? Particularly will the Government reform +the franchise laws governing the legislative and administrative bodies +and democratization of the constitution of the army?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Minister Director Lewald</span>: The Imperial Chancellor refuses to answer this +question also.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. K. Liebknecht</span>: A supplementary question. (Great commotion.) What is +the stand of the Government on the Prussian Franchise Reform? (Great +merriment at the right side of the House.) This is a question which is +of importance to the entire German people. That is the way Government +and Reichstag treat with the life and death problems of the German +people. The people will know now where they stand! (Continued +commotion.)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">President Dr. Kaempf</span>: This is not a supplementary question, but a new +question. With that we are finished with the short questions.</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p>Reichstag meeting January 11, 1916, 2 P. M. At the table of the +Federal Council are present: Ministers Helfferich and Delbrück.</p> + +<p>The first order of business: <i>Questions</i> by Member <span class="smcap">Dr. K. +Liebknecht</span>.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. K. Liebknecht</span> reads his first question:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p><p>"Is it known to the Imperial Chancellor that during the present war in +the United Turkish Empire the Armenian people were driven from their +homes and slaughtered by the hundred thousands? What negotiations has +the Imperial Chancellor undertaken with the United Turkish Government in +order to bring about the necessary punishment, to alleviate the +situation of the rest of the Armenian population in Turkey and to make +the repetition of such horrors impossible?</p> + +<p>To answer this question the floor is given to:</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Privy Council Frhr. v. Stumm</span>: It is known to the Imperial Chancellor +that inflammatory demonstrations took place in Armenia on account of +which the Turkish Government was forced to deport the Armenian +population of certain districts and to assign them new living places. +About the reaction on the population taking place on account of these +measures an exchange of ideas between us and the Turkish Government is +now occurring. More details cannot be communicated.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. K. Liebknecht</span>: A supplementary question. Is it known to the Imperial +Chancellor that Professor Lepsius spoke of an absolute extermination of +the Armenians and that for these horrors the Christian population of +Turkey considers the German Government responsible?</p> + +<p>At this point great uproar broke out in the House and made it impossible +for Dr. Liebknecht to finish his questions.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span></p><p>Shouts from the House: This is a new question! Finish!</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">President Dr. Kaempf</span>: This is a new question for which I cannot give the +floor.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. K. Liebknecht</span>: Mr. President, before you have heard the whole +question, you are not in a position to judge (laughter in the House) if +it is a new question or not. At any rate I wish to assert that the +President reached this conclusion that it is a new question not from his +own impulses (shouts in the House: <i>Oho!</i>) but because from parts of the +House it was called to his attention.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">President Dr. Kaempf</span>: I ask you not to criticize the way I preside +(applause). We come now to the following question:</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. K. Liebknecht</span>: Will the Government be ready very soon to place +before the Reichstag for action data concerning the situation of the +population in the territory occupied by Germany? Further data concerning +the measures taken for the people in the occupied territory, concerning +the means of living, (food, clothing, shelter), concerning their health +condition, their rights, their numbers? Then data concerning the kind +and reason of the punishments decreed and reprisal measures taken +against the people in this territory by the German authorities, the +number of people executed, military requisitions of property and methods +followed in such operations? And the extent of the contributions levied +upon them, especially on the Belgian people?"</p> + +<p>To answer these questions the floor is given to:</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p><p><span class="smcap">Minister Director Lewald</span>: The Imperial Chancellor declines to put +before the Reichstag the material desired by Dr. Liebknecht. But he will +give information about the activities of the civil authorities in the +occupied territory on the request of the committee of the Reichstag.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. K. Liebknecht</span>: A supplementary question. How many places and +buildings were destroyed by the German authorities since the beginning +of the war for the purpose of reprisal—how many persons were arrested +and killed for the same purpose?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">President Dr. Kaempf</span>: This is a new question. It is ruled out of order.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. K. Liebknecht</span> reads the <i>third question</i>: Is the Government ready to +lay before the Reichstag without delay material concerning</p> + +<p>(a) Measures taken by the German military and civic authorities on the +basis of the <i>state of martial law</i> for the suppression of the right of +assemblage and of personal liberty (prohibiting meetings, dissolving +societies, interference in private correspondence, arrests, searching of +homes, etc.), particularly the number of those put in military and +police (<i>cachot</i>) arrest without trial, during the war? Also the reason +for and length of these arrests?</p> + +<p>(b) The number, extent and causes of punishments inflicted during the +war upon members of the army and also the number of convicts in the +military prisons since the beginning of the war?</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Minister Director Lewald</span>: The Imperial Chancellor declines to put before +the Reichstag the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span> material asked by Dr. Liebknecht. (Dr. Liebknecht +shouts: That also is very characteristic.)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">President Dr. Kaempf</span>: This word of Dr. Liebknecht is ruled out of order +as not permissible.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. K. Liebknecht</span>: A supplementary question. Does the Imperial +Chancellor know that in Germany the Military Authorities and Police +Authorities have established nearly everywhere dark chambers (laughter), +in which places the correspondence of people who are politically +disagreeable, among whom are Deputies of the Reichstag or Assembly, is +opened secretly?... (Great uproar. The bell of the President!)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. K. Liebknecht</span>: I wish to protest against this autocratic suppression +of the order of business by the President and Reichstag.</p> + +<p>This finishes Liebknecht's questions.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>LIEBKNECHT EXPELLED FROM THE SOCIAL-DEMOCRATIC PARTY</span></h2> + +<p>On January 13, 1916, by a vote of sixty to twenty-five, the Socialist +Central Committee expelled Dr. Karl Liebknecht from membership in the +Socialist Party for continuous "gross infractions of party discipline." +The majority Social-Democrats took that measure against Liebknecht for +having greatly embarrassed the Government with his questions two days +before in the Reichstag.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>REICHSTAG DISCUSSION ABOUT THE CENSORSHIP</span></h2> + +<p class="center"><i>January 19, 1916</i></p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Liebknecht</span> was unable to obtain the floor at the general discussion. In +a personal remark after the discussion was closed he made the following +characteristic remarks:</p> + +<p>"Repeatedly members of this House told me that I work in the service of +the enemy, that I am a traitor. ("Very true," from the left side of the +House.) I wish to answer this by saying that I prefer being insulted by +you as a traitor or anything else, to being praised for speaking +according to your taste, as some members of the Social-Democratic group +of this House have done lately (merriment). Gentlemen, by your attitude +you show me that you wish to suppress truth and right."</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>JUSTICE IN GERMANY IN WAR TIME</span></h2> + +<blockquote><p>Twentieth Meeting of the Assembly, Friday, March 3, 1916, 11 +o'clock morning session.</p> + +<p>On the Ministerial Bench: Freiherr v. Schorlemer, v. Loebell and +Beseler.</p></blockquote> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p>The order of the day: Continuation of the discussion on second reading +of the budget of the Department of Justice.</p> + +<p>Taking part in the discussion: Assemblymen: Delbrück (Conservative), +Reinhard (Centrum), Minister of Justice Beseler, Assemblymen Liepmann +(National Liberal), Kanzow (Progressive Peoples Party), Nissen (Dane), +v. Trampczynski (Pole) and Dr. K. Liebknecht.</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. K. Liebknecht</span>: It must be regretted that we have no statistics +concerning certain social phenomena which mirror justice under war +conditions of to-day. Thus there are lacking statistics of the number of +bankrupts, whose places of business could not be opened on account of +lack of actual supplies; statistics concerning evictions; concerning +suits against stores which sell on credit; statistics concerning firms +which have gone out of business and statistics concerning business +events and corporations <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span>registrations, from which it might have been +possible to see to what colossal degree small concerns have been ruined +by the war. There is no information concerning the shiftings on the +real-estate market; concerning new societies formed specially for the +purpose of exacting high interest from the people. Again, we have no +accurate information as to what proportion of existing societies +increased their capital,—some of whose increases went high into the +millions. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Statistics of the war +measures would show that they are nothing but patchwork, and that +economic war-damages can be prevented only when we strike at the root of +capitalism. The war-necessity measures are sufficient only to prevent +the population from resorting, as best they can, against frightful +economic injuries. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Such statistics +would give us an X-ray of the terrific injury and destruction which the +war has caused and continually causes the economic body of capitalism; +an X-ray picture of the capitalistic elephantiasis which the war has +brought into being (laughter from the right side of the House) in most +branches of big business, and a picture of the tearing apart of the +middle class and the accelerated proletarization of the masses. ("Very +true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Such a picture would show us the truth of the +well-known phrase: "Socialism whither we are tending." The extent of +crime is not indicated, only by cases brought to court. There exists +to-day surely a greater divergence than ever before between<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span> real +criminality and that brought before justice. With reference to the +crimes which come to justice statistics are lacking, and apart from +that, the accused is kept secretly hidden from the population, first by +the tendency, increasing more and more, to exclude the public from +trials and then by the censor,—which makes it impossible for the public +to get a clear picture of criminal justice. Thus the <i>Vorwärts</i> is +forbidden to report without permission of the censor anything concerning +arrests made ("Hear, hear!" by the Soc.-Dem.). To report political +matters which could cause excitement is absolutely forbidden to the +<i>Vorwärts</i>. Thus a while ago the <i>Vorwärts</i> could not write a syllable +of the imminent discharge from prison of Madame Dr. Rosa Luxemburg +("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.), and could only, later on, report the +resulting discharge. It seems that the authorities were conscious of the +fact that the announcement of her imminent discharge would bring out a +great mass of the population to express their sympathies for Madame Dr. +Luxemburg. In spite of the prohibiting order of the censor there were, +as is known, a great number of men and women who received and welcomed +Madame Luxemburg. Further it was reported that March 22nd was the date +fixed for the trial against the <i>Internationale</i> magazine (Rosa +Luxemburg and Franz Mehring endeavored to publish in Germany a Socialist +monthly under the title of <i>The International</i>, to voice the views of +the Anti-War section of the German Social-Democratic Party. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> +magazine was suppressed and the editors jailed. <i>S. Z.</i>), in which Rosa +Luxemburg, Clara Zetkin and Franz Mehring were accused. Of that also the +<i>Vorwärts</i> could not mention a single syllable. ("Hear, hear!" from the +Soc.-Dem.)</p> + +<p>Furthermore, it has become a rule of the censor that no report is +permitted of trials which refer in any way to peace demonstrations and +to riots on account of lack of food, so that the population shall not +get an idea in what numbers such trials are taking place. Statistics in +regard to sentences imposed on account of frauds involving military +supplies would be important,—which are happening very often; statistics +in regard to sentences on account of bribery in order to obtain +contracts for military supplies, offenses which flourished especially at +the beginning of the war. Of great value would be statistics in regard +to cases in which the state interfered on account of furnishing war +material to enemy states. As you know, in the period of the war, a +semi-official warning was issued against the inclination in big business +circles even during the war to furnish the enemy war material in a +roundabout way through the neutral states. ("Hear, hear!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) The official notification accentuated the fact that this +roundabout subterfuge through neutral countries is so plain that there +cannot be any doubt that the capitalistic circles concerned were +entirely conscious of the far-reaching effect of their action. ("Hear, +hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) A very noted senator in Lübeck (Lübeck is one +of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span> three German Republics, <i>S. Z.</i>), for instance, has been for a long +time under arrest for treason, because he put his Swedish copper mines +at the disposition of the Russians. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) +These cases must have increased, otherwise the official warning would be +unexplainable. You know how international business is related, +especially Big Business. The kinship exists, even if in changed form, +and naturally continues even now. You know that this kinship, especially +in the field of the armament industry,—(bell of the President).</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Assemblyman Adolf Hoffman</span>: "Now comes the holy of holies!"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Vice-President Dr. Krause</span>: "I cannot see what that has to do with the +administration of justice and its responsibilities. We cannot now go +into a discussion of the censor and the capitalistic mischief, as you +call it."</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. K. Liebknecht</span>: I demand statistics which will show in how many cases +indictments were brought on account of such offenses. When in this +connection I point out the international kinship of capitalism, in war +contracts supplying German cannons to foreign countries, I believe I am +speaking to the point which is now open for discussion. In reality +German soldiers were shot by Krupp cannon which were furnished to +foreign countries. (Most of the Belgium cannons were Krupp cannons. <i>S. +Z.</i>) (Lively "Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Vice-President Dr. Krause</span>: "The connection of this with the Department +of Justice is difficult for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> any logically-thinking man to find. I call +you to the question." ("Bravo!" at the right side of the House.)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Assemblyman Dr. Liebknecht</span>: We are also without comprehensive statistics +in regard to the inmates of our prisons. We obtained in Committee only a +few communications, according to which the number of inmates of the +prisons of the Department of Justice had diminished, in so far as the +men are concerned, but the number of sentences imposed on women +increased. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Later it was communicated +to us that in the prisons of our Department of Justice there are an +extraordinary number of sentenced soldiers, whom the authorities had to +take there, because the military and fort prisons are entirely +overfilled. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) In the Prisons of the +Prussian Department of Justice there are at present 5000 prisoners. And +prisons which are under the control of the Minister of the Interior are +certainly being strongly demanded by military prisoners. It is a fact, +however, in very many cases, that sentenced soldiers are not entering +upon their sentences immediately, but are serving in the army. The +decrease in the number of prison inmates can also for the greatest part +be attributed to the pardons granted. In many cases it was decided, that +even without granting a pardon there should be a postponement in the +execution of the sentence, even an interruption in the fulfillment of +the sentence, in order that the soldiers concerned could be brought to +the barracks or into the trenches.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span> ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) +Referring to the question of the release of prisoners, the ex-convict in +the army was discussed in Committee. According to my experience, it is +in war that the ex-convicts, those who were ostracized in civil life, +have particularly shown, in the most excellent way, the qualities of +human fellowship. But the danger must not be overlooked. It consists in +this—that people of criminal inclination, whose temptations are greater +in the dangers which are facing them, are in the army in great numbers. +("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Our great responsibility towards the +defenseless population in the occupied territories must therefore give +us special concern. German papers commented bitterly when prisons were +opened in foreign countries in order that the inhabitants could enter +the army. But to a certain degree that happened also here in Germany. I +do not want to assert that the majority of excesses which happened in +the occupied territories against the civil population, the cruelties +which carry a special personal stamp, and which surpass the real war +cruelties, are committed particularly by discharged convicts—at all +events the question deserves special attention. It is important to note, +further, that our civil justice takes in to-day only a very small part +of the male population, as those who are called to the colors are under +the jurisdiction of the courts martial. There are courts martial also +for the civil population, as you know, especially in the provinces of +the frontier. Statistics are also lacking as to the doings<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> of these +military courts. From the decrease of prisoners we cannot draw a +favorable conclusion as to the criminality of to-day. The source of +crime flows without interruption. The entire activity of justice is a +circulus vitiosus, a faulty short conclusion. Neglect leads to crime, +penalty to the increase of social weakness, to demoralization, to new +crime, new sentence and so on. Crime is a constitutional disease of +bourgeois society. (Laughter at the right side of the House.) What is +the condition at the roots of crimes during war? The first root is the +strengthening of the social causes of crime, the distress of the +population, the increase in the cost of living, the ruin of the family. +In order to examine the social roots of war criminality, the report of +the Trade Council Inspectors would be important—which unfortunately we +do not receive during the war. But by banishing these facts in a dark +chamber, they are not kept from the world. When the material in regard +to the secret social history of the war will finally be presented, +humanity will be terrified at the horrors which have shown themselves. +("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.)</p> + +<p>I come now to the second root of war criminality. Mr. Kanzow +(Assemblyman of the Progressive People's Party) called Right one of the +holiest gods of the people. To-day Right is in a state of siege. How is +the principle of Right compatible with the principle of Might; how can +the idea of Right live in the atmosphere of war psychology, which means +a destruction of the fundamentals of all that is right?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> The conception: +"Might goes before Right," "Necessity Knows no Law," must pull down all +safeguards of law. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) The question as to +how the Ten Commandments stand to-day we hardly need to open. ("Very +true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) To-day it is not: "Love thy neighbor," but +kill thy neighbor! (The bell of the President.)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Vice-President Dr. Krause</span>: By such method you could throw the entire +world into the circle of your examination. ("Very true," and laughter at +the right side of the House.)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Assemblyman Adolf Hoffman</span> (Soc.-Dem.): "Justice has nothing to do with +right!"</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Assemblyman Dr. Liebknecht</span>: How would it be possible to speak about +criminology without considering it as a social phenomenon? ("Very true!" +from the Soc.-Dem.) When we wish to speak about criminality during war +we certainly must consider the special social phenomena of the war which +lead to crime! Justice is indeed not only the concern of the employees +of the Department of Justice, but the affair of the entire people. +("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) It is generally recognized to-day that +crime is to be considered a social disease. That war psychology is +responsible for preliminaries for the increase of crime is clear. Many a +sharp word could be said on this point, many a lash with the whip could +be given to the bourgeoisie society, but because the President does not +wish it, I will have to be silent about that which should also be said. +When <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span>Assemblyman Schenk von Schweinsburg said recently that the war +should not end very soon, lest after the war we shall again face such +conditions as in 1870—then I say, that from the present war no moral +regeneration can grow; from blood no innocence can grow; from might no +right can grow. The Apocalyptic rider rides even over righteousness and +tramples the seed of righteousness.</p> + +<p>The crime among the young is an especially serious phenomenon which can +be recognized in its entire importance only in connection with the +increased death rates of the young and the death rates of children, and +with the increased commitments to the reformatory. According to the +investigation of the <i>Zentrale für Jugendfürsorge</i> (Headquarters of the +Welfare Society for the Youth), criminality among youths between twelve +and fourteen years has increased almost twice. ("Hear, hear!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) This increase touches also the youth of fourteen to sixteen +and naturally increases with the duration of the war. Offenses on +account of need and offenses on account of neglect of youth play an +important rôle. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Statistics would be +important which would show the relation between criminality and the +increase in the cost of living and the increase of the calls to the +army. The ruin of the family, insufficient education, need of better +housing, the partial abolition of laws protecting youth, all help to +increase criminality among the youth. To-day the youth of the +proletariat is in the position <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span>described in the melancholy song: +<i>Maiköfer fliege, dein Vater ist im Kriege</i>. (May-bug fly, your father +is in the war.) ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) The state took its +protecting hand away from the children; it is replaced by the +reformatory and criminal justice, in order to meet these phenomena of +human misery. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Added to that are the +moral causes, the contradiction of the entire present state of affairs +of Christian morality as preached in peace time; the entire morale of +bourgeoisie society is overturned. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) How +the old are singing, the young are twittering! The neglect of the youth +is a natural result of neglect of the entire human race in this war, the +neglect of our entire culture. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.)</p> + +<p>Now commissioned officers are put into the schools to drum morality into +the youth; outside of the schools also a strong militarization of the +youth will take place. All kinds of demands for extreme reaction shoot +luxuriantly into blossom. In fact there was recently demanded the +restriction of free emigration of the youth from place to place. ("Hear, +hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Vice-President Dr. Krause</span>: All your last reproaches are not referring to +the administration of the Department of Justice. I call you for the +second time to the question, and call your attention to the resulting +consequences, according to the order of business.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Assemblyman Dr. K. Liebknecht</span>: In time of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span> peace it was possible to +discuss thoroughly in this connection the causes of criminality. Now +they try to muzzle me. ("Very true!" calls from the Soc.-Dem. "Even in +Parliament!") That is plainly impossible. (The bell of the President.)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Vice-President Dr. Krause</span>: I refuse to permit any criticism of the way I +preside. Certainly the discussion on the budget is the suitable place +for discussing all those social matters, but not in the section on the +Department of Justice's administration. This belongs to the general +discussion.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Assemblyman Dr. K. Liebknecht</span>: I made my remarks in close connection +with the deliberation of the method for decreasing criminality among +youth. It is not possible to discuss criminality without discussing the +complex social conditions on which it grows. The Minister of Justice is +deeply interested in those methods which must be considered in +decreasing crimes. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.)</p> + +<p>Another branch of material and spiritual misery is the increase of crime +among women. The President would not permit me to go into details to +show that just as crimes among the young go together with reform +schools, so criminology among women goes hand in hand with prostitution. +To discuss this matter in great detail is, according to the instructions +of the President, not suitable for this place. In criminality among +women, offenses because of misery and offenses because of neglect play +an important rôle, especially miscarriages. The campaign of our<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span> +Department of Justice against birth control is a particular chapter of +special importance which demands also sharp criticism. Birth control is +fought particularly on account of its danger to the military strength of +the people. We find that our criminal law, especially of late, has taken +sharp measures against abortion, in order to protect our army strength. +The women who are very often in most difficult distress, are forced to +give birth to future defenders of the Fatherland. I must protest against +this kind of procedure from the Department of Justice which defends +bayoneting the womb of the mother. (Great laughter at right side of the +House.) Previously not so much attention was given to the welfare of the +youth, to the remedy for crimes among the young. All these matters +attracted great interest only when they began to be considered from the +point of view of Militarism, in the light of the army strength of the +people. That is how irritability is to be explained when those questions +are touched. Sentences on offenses on account of neglect and offenses on +account of want in their severity present a great contrast to the mild +sentences against the profiteers of the necessities of life, those +vampires on the strength of the people. ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) This justice functioning strongly against the unfortunate +ones, who through social misery fell under the wheels of the law, and +the milder sentences on those dangerous hyenas of the battlefield, +gentlemen of high position, gentlemen from wealthy strata, show most +clearly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> that the class character of the present society is not +abolished during the war, but is aggravated, if that were at all +possible. All this in spite of the party truce and in spite of the +phrase "I know no parties any longer." (Liebknecht refers here to the +phrase of the Kaiser. <i>S. Z.</i>) Also political justice did not cease to +any extent during the war. I wish to remind you of the way the +<i>schutzhaft</i> (That is, confinement in prison till the end of the war. +<i>S. Z.</i>) is treated now as a sentence without trial, without verdict, as +a punishment without any guaranties under the code of criminal +procedure. The relation between the military dictatorship and justice +also needs examination. Upon the searching of houses, which casts on our +justice the deepest shadow, the so-called Schutzhaft follows. Those who +are in the Schutzhaft cannot defend themselves in any way. The word +Schutzhaft taken literally means a "safe place," exactly the contrary of +what it really is. Those in Schutzhaft are not even in a position to get +the advice of counsel. Here in Berlin the authorities having +jurisdiction over the Schutzhaft are treating the lawyers very roughly +and excluding them more and more. An attempt of Attorney Weinberg to +obtain the interference of the Bar Association of Berlin against this +undeserved treatment was unfortunately put down by the Bar Association. +Hundreds and hundreds are or have been in the Schutzhaft for months, +yes, ever since the beginning of the war. A special light is thrown upon +this situation by some political trials also.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> In the criminal trials +against Westkamp and comrades in Düsseldorf the defendants were first +taken under the Schutzhaft, then under preventative arrest. In court the +warrant of arrest was withdrawn, but in spite of that, they were again +taken from the court room to prison, in Schutzhaft. ("Hear, hear!" from +the Soc.-Dem.) The result was that the appeals had to be given up, in +order not to extend their arrest, I do not know how long. My comrade +Caston in Düsseldorf was taken in preventative arrest one month before +trial began. The order for this arrest was rescinded, but he was held in +Schutzhaft until the beginning of the trial, and although he was +acquitted, he was taken back and interned in Schutzhaft again. ("Hear, +hear!" from the Soc.-Dem. Shouts "<i>The Russian Way!</i>") Now look at the +Prussia which was selected in this war to liberate the Russian people +from czarism. (Uproar on the right. "Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem. +Shouts from the Soc.-Dem. "Liberation is necessary here!")</p> + +<p>There is the case of Caston, in which the Imperial Chancellor was asked +for redress, but naturally in vain, because the sword of justice is now +in the hands of the military powers, its scales also, and behind the +figure of Justice grins Militarism. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem. +Laughter from the right.)</p> + +<p>The beginning of political trials under the party truce is as follows: +The military authorities hand over any kind of work, book or other kind +of <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span>material to the prosecuting attorney, with the instruction to +interfere. A very invidious rôle for our Justice! <i>Justitia Fundamentum +Regnorum</i> (Justice is the foundation of states). No,—<i>Militarismus +Fundamentum Regnorum!</i> (Militarism is the foundation of states!) Our +Justice does not know parties any longer, wherever there are not any +parties, where they capitulated before the military dictatorship. But +she knows very well parties when they have remained in opposition. There +is a very fine distinction in recognizing and considering only a certain +wing in the Social Democracy as a party, which for this wing is +considered a great honor. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem. Laughter on +the right.) This was expressed practically in the trial against my +comrade Walcher for distributing leaflets, of which the District +Attorney of District Court I in Berlin said in the indictment that the +leaflets were directed particularly against the majority wing of the +Social-Democratic representation in the Reichstag. The majority wing and +their policy are for the Department of Justice a particularly holy +object, and on different occasions expressing doubt as to this policy or +hindering the same was worked up in trials by the District Attorney as a +kind of new crime. The indictment against the said Walcher reads: "At +the same time the leaflet contains at the end an appeal to those workmen +who are not in accord with the policy accepted by the majority wing of +the Social-Democratic representation in the Reichstag, by violence to +alienate supporters of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span>majority Social-Democratic Party. To say +that the public peace is endangered by such action; I need not explain." +("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) We can be only very thankful to you +when by such methods you clarify over and over again the "Party truce" +(<i>Burgfrieden</i>), and in that way admit the correctness of our policy; in +that way you naturally attain only the contrary of what you wish to +attain.</p> + +<p>The editor of the <i>Vorwärts</i> (Dr. Meyer) was indicted on account of his +book against the actions of responsible and irresponsible inciters to +annexation and on account of another work, "<span class="smaller">WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE +WAR</span>," where he says what every one could say in Germany until July 29, +1914, and what was also said by your parties. In this pamphlet those who +are responsible for the kindling of the world war were pointed out. Dr. +Meyer, it is true, was acquitted, against the motion of the District +Attorney.</p> + +<p>The paragraphs about agitation, disturbance of the peace, high treason, +etc., are interpreted more and more loosely. Placing one class in a less +favorable light than another is now considered as inciting to +discontent. Every energetic peace move is prosecuted according to the +criminal code. At the Police Headquarters in Berlin a special commission +was appointed to try those who are arrested on account of peace +propaganda. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) This, surely enough, is +not only a German but an international phenomenon. Like Comrade Castor, +a number of Social-Democrats<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> in Italy were also indicted on account of +distributing the Zimmerwald peace manifesto. In Italy the Zimmerwald +peace manifesto was declared not punishable, but in Düsseldorf it was +punishable.</p> + +<p>Furthermore, a number of persons were prosecuted on account of +distributing the peace manifesto adopted in Bern at the International +Women's Conference. Among others Clara Zetkin was arrested for the +distribution of the manifesto mentioned. She was arrested for treason +because she engaged in peace propaganda. The French Socialist Louise +Soumonneau was arrested for that also, but acquitted. In Germany the +proceedings are still pending, and so far as I can judge, there does not +exist any inclination to follow the good example of France. But the fact +that an Internationale of enemies of peace get together, with the help +of the Department of Justice, to fight the peace propaganda shows the +condition of the Christian foundation of our present culture. ("Very +true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) If defending the peace idea, if the +proclamation of the international proletariat class struggle against +war, is treason, then it is an honor to be reproached as a traitor. +("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) For us, who see our country in the +Internationale of the proletariat, it is impossible thus to be deceived +by the Department of Justice. But the administration of the Department +of Justice should consider if it is not the highest insult to our +present order of society to consider work for peace and against the +murdering of the people as treason! The <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span>Administration of the +Department of Justice, it seems, felt no breath of this Christian +spirit. Equal rights for all in our time? Peace propagandists are +prosecuted, war instigators not. War propaganda is considered as a +special political duty. Why are not capitalists prosecuted and +authorities who, under the threat of sending the working people to the +trenches, prevent them from putting forward demands to improve their +condition, prevent them in that way from going on strike? Why are not +those prosecuted for provocation who withhold from the people the rights +promised to them at the outbreak of the war, and who are accusing the +women of waste and gluttony? Why are not food profiteers prosecuted?</p> + +<p>They who conspire to violate an agreement are committing treason. ("Very +true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) High treason has come to be, in a certain +sense, a noble crime. There are certain places in Germany to-day, +especially in prison camps, where high treason is conceived, high +treason other than that just mentioned by me. (Liebknecht refers here to +plots about the Irish Revolution in the German prison camps. <i>S. Z.</i>) In +1904 German citizens were indicted for high treason against czarism. +To-day those who breed revolutions are high traitors. (Great +disturbance. Shouts—"That's the limit!")</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Vice-President Dr. Krause</span>: For the unworthy expression that the +Government breeds high treason, I call you to order. According to our +rules I could ask the House if you should speak any further. (Cries of +dissent from the Soc.-Dem.) I shall not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span> do so yet, but if you continue +in that way I will have to do it.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Assemblyman Dr. Liebknecht</span>: On account of writing and publishing a poem, +death sentence was pronounced, which later on was commuted to five +years' imprisonment. There exists a country, where conditions are even +worse than in Germany, and that is not Russia, but Austria. Only here +and there a cry of distress comes through to the civilized countries. +(Continual disturbance.) If in capitalistic society justice is the veil +of force, the war has torn aside this veil and the legend of the +Christian state, just like the legend of the constitutional state, +vanished over the entire world. One of the most important and proudest +philosophies of bourgeois society is crushed under the blows of the +world war; that can be said also about international law. Even a member +of this House (presumably he means Prof. Liszt, teacher of Law in the +University of Berlin. <i>S. Z.</i>) revised his handbook on international +law, in order to defend as not contrary to international law all German +methods used in carrying on this war. Just as science, art, religion and +humanity, broke down in this volcanic eruption, so justice broke down +too. In the Budget Committee the Minister of Justice promised to +prohibit German law students from studying law in cities of the neutral +countries where there is a strong sentiment against the German. If that +system were applied to all higher institutions of learning, in which an +unfriendly view against Germany is manifested,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> then the whole world +would be closed to German students. We protest against drawing such +chauvinistic conclusions from the occurrences at Geneva and Lausanne, +and we protest that the extent of race hatred, under which the whole +world is suffering at present, is exaggerated. ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) The clemency decrees were so much praised here that we must +think that to-day even clemency itself is used for war purposes. (Great +disturbance.) On account of these considerations the clemency decrees +must be examined very critically.</p> + +<p>What future prospects has our Justice? The source of war criminality +will flourish more and more, the longer the war lasts; and will not the +lowering of the entire standard of living through enormous pressure, +lead to this—that the whip of need should be even after the war one of +the long-remaining acquisitions of our great time? ("Very true!" from +the Soc.-Dem.) Will not the war ethics, the stirred-up inclinations to +acts of violence, that "Necessity knows no law" and "Might goes before +right," produce effects of which we shall be afraid? The passions which +were unshackled by our present order of society cannot be gotten rid of +so quickly. Sodom and Gomorrha are not yet destroyed and with the +sharpening of the class struggle political justice and reaction will +also grow sharper. Those are the prospects for the future. There is in +prospect for the future of humanity in Europe a morale, physical and +economic, bled white. For us<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> it follows inevitably from this side of +our social life that we should put all our strength into the +international class struggle against the war, in order to enforce peace +by the will of the people. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) The cries +of distress from the prisons and penitentiaries and places of misery +which cannot reach the public will sound one fine day more clearly in +the ears of those who now stop their ears and will help to wake up +humanity to the only holy struggle known by us Social-Democrats,—for +peace against war, against the capitalistic order of society, for +Socialism! (Lively applause from the Soc.-Dem. Great disturbance.)</p> + +<p>(After this masterful exposition by Liebknecht of the condition of +justice in Germany, the Minister of Justice of Prussia, Beseler, took +the floor for some general statements, ending by saying: "I refuse to +give an answer to Dr. Liebknecht.")</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>THE SITUATION IN AUSTRIA</span></h2> + +<p>(At the same meeting Assemblymen Nissen (Dane) and v. Trampcynski (Pole) +protested against the prosecution of their nationalities by the +authorities of the Department of Justice. To them the Minister of +Justice gave no definite reply. This situation gave Liebknecht another +chance and he took the floor again to add his protest and by a few +remarks to show the conditions existing in Austria, Germany's ally.)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. Liebknecht</span>: The disciplining of a nationality living in Prussia fits +exactly into the general picture which I just sketched. Such a +"liberation" of our Danish compatriots I took as certain. The Minister +of Justice limited himself to general remarks about my speech, saying +that I resorted to insults. In that way he thought to provide himself a +comfortable retreat. I have no desire, after such words, to concern +myself any longer with the Minister of Justice. Only at one point I +shall have to add something, and that is in relation to his denial of my +remarks about the conditions in Austria. The Minister of Justice +represented that my facts had been invented. But in Austria +courts-martial are carrying out a true régime of terror, such as was not +carried on in the worst days in <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span>Russia. (Lively "Hear, hear!" from the +Soc.-Dem.—continued noise from the majority parties.) I have the +material in my hands. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) In Austria +there is no possibility of discussing those things from the tribune of a +Parliament. (Continued noise and shouts from the majority parties to +finish the debate.)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Assemblyman Ströbel</span> (Soc.-Dem.): You make yourselves accomplices of +those bloody sentences. (Again continued noise.)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. Liebknecht</span>, continuing: In a few months hundreds of years of hard +labor were decreed and also the death sentence which I mentioned before, +and which was pronounced by a military court on account of the poem I +spoke of before. (Lively "Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem. Commotion +among the majority.) One of my party comrades was sentenced to death on +account of a so-called seditious speech.</p> + +<p>(A few other sentences of the speech remain unheard on account of the +noise among the majority parties in the House. That closes the debate. +The Budget is approved.)</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>EDUCATION IN GERMANY DURING WAR</span></h2> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Meeting of the Prussian Assembly</span></p> + +<blockquote><p>March 16th, 1916, 11 o'Clock Morning Session</p> + +<p>On the Ministerial Bench: V. Trott zu Solz (Minister of Religion +and Education).</p> + +<p>The subject of discussion was: The Education and Religion Budget, +and as a special topic: The Higher Schools of Prussia.</p> + +<p>Taking part in the discussion: Dr. Karl Liebknecht (Social +Democrat), Wilderman (Centrum), Frhr. v. Zedlitz (Free +Conservative), Minister (Progressive People's Party).</p></blockquote> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p>In this discussion Liebknecht exposes the method and system of teaching +in the higher schools of Germany and gives full play to his great +courage. "The ideal <i>classical education lies in the spirit of +independence and humanity</i>," he exclaimed. And, addressing himself to +this reactionary parliament, he added: "Your ideal of classical +education is '<i>the ideal of the bayonet, of the bombshell, of poison gas +and grenades, which are hurled down on peaceful cities, and the ideal of +submarine warfare</i>.'"</p> + +<p>He also proves that an educational system cannot be separated from +social conditions and demands, along with a reform of the entire school +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span>system, particularly that promotion from the primary school to the high +school shall not be considered any longer an act of charity but a right +to be demanded for every able pupil.</p> + +<p>His remarks brought out a cyclone of protest. Liebknecht was twice +recalled to the subject and thrice to order, and as the President +inquired of the House after the third call to order if it wished to +listen to the speaker any longer, the entire house, with the exception +of the small group of Social-Democrats, voted that he be denied the +floor. In this way they avoided listening to Liebknecht's indictments.</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. Liebknecht</span>: The real character of capitalistic society is shown in +inequality of education, especially the inequality of the Prussian state +with its three-class system of voting, in the three-class system of +education: primary schools, higher schools, universities. The +educational system cannot be separated from social conditions. In order +to acquire education, time and economic opportunities are necessary. +Education in the capitalistic order of society is not an aim in itself. +Utilitarianism dominates our education. The higher schools serve as +preparatory institutes for higher official positions, whereas the +primary schools teach the fundamentals which serve to make tools for +capitalistic society. Social misfortunes come to the surface now more +than ever before: overcrowding of the classes, insufficient rooms, +scarcity of teachers, frequent change of teachers, <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span>undernourishment and +overfatigue of the children, and child labor. Especially does +undernourishment weaken the health of the proletariat and thus hinder +even the limited educational work of the primary school. But more than +ever before the primary school is used to-day in order to make firm the +position of the ruling classes, to capture the souls of the young +proletariat for the ruling class, for Militarism. When we think of all +that, we recognize how urgently the proletariat must work for a +fundamental reform of the entire school system.</p> + +<p>Neglect of youth through the war cannot be denied, exists in spite of +all camouflage. There is not enough rain in the heavens to wash away +this sin from the bourgeois form of society. Improvement of this +condition can be obtained only by sharp criticism. When one sees +that,—as happened to people at the Berlin Police Headquarters,—young +working girls 16 and 17 years old, who were arrested for some reason, +are told: "<i>You should be put against the wall and shot down</i>" ("Hear, +hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.)—then it must be recognized that we really do +not live in an age where class differences do not exist and where the +entire people stands united, but that, on the contrary, dissimilarities +are intensified now in the most inciting way. Where is, in face of this +fact, the sensitive German nature about which there is so much +discussion here?</p> + +<p>Very desirable would be statistics as to how few children of the +proletariat on account of existing institutions have obtained +opportunity to reach a higher<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> school education; then the unimportance +of these few will be recognized, when compared with the millions and +millions to whom the road to all the splendor and magnificence which the +human spirit can receive, is closed. The amendments proposed (he refers +to amendments which will make it easier for able pupils of the primary +school to attend the higher schools in larger numbers than had been the +case; another amendment introduced by Dr. Porsch (Centrum) proposed that +the so-called Rektorat-Schools, which are for procuring a higher +education for moneyless pupils, should be supported—<i>S. Z.</i>), are +merely patchwork experiment, because what is proposed will be to the +advantage only of the poor bourgeoisie, but not of the proletariat. +Don't you really sense what it means, when they try to make the pathway +to higher education an act of grace, whereas in reality it is an +original human right? The mass of the people will feel that instead of +their rights there is given to them <i>Bettelsuppen</i> (coarse soup made of +black bread). Certainly only to such proletarian children will those +privileges be accorded, whose souls, which make them independent, are +already broken, who are robbed of their class consciousness and who +become accessories of capitalist society. And at the same time these +laughable experiments are presented to the people with a +self-sufficiency which makes it possible for them to recognize very well +the insincerity of the ruling classes. In closing educational +opportunities we see a brutal waste of spiritual energies, a waste of +human strength in the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span> treadmill of mechanical labor, the denial of +human economy. It is as plain as law that the children of the +proletariat are held down by darkness of the soul. Touching is the +description of Dante who walks with Virgil through the forest of the +spirits which have not sinned, but have suffered because they did not +receive baptism; to-day it is because they are deprived of money! ("Very +true!" from the Soc.-Dem.)</p> + +<p>Considering the magnitude of the World War you and also the Christian +parties do not think of saving these starving ones, damned by +Capitalism. You try to give an impression that something is being done.</p> + +<p>By these Amendments you try to give an impression of wishing to throw +open the road to education to the people also, but that is because +Capitalism requires educated soldiers. You similarly replace the human +losses in the war by giving commissions to non-commissioned officers +because the dregs of the proletariat are required for service. The +tendencies of the amendment show how necessary it is to destroy the +demagogism and the deceit which took form in them. (President Graf +Schwerin-Löwitz calls the speaker to order.) After their experiences in +war time the proletariat will not allow itself to be duped.</p> + +<p>Assemblyman v. d. Osten said, that the uniform system of education leads +towards differentiation. But the truth is that capitalism makes the +great mass of the people uniform in the most brutal way and +differentiates the people only in classes, and makes impossible the real +differentiation among the classes<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span> of the people and through the whole +people. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.)</p> + +<p>Assemblyman Oelze spoke here yesterday in glowing terms of education, +science and ideals. But instruction in history has been for a long time +systematically used to inculcate certain political sentiments in the +pupils. The higher schools especially have been for years places to +exercise this practice and in these higher schools hatred against +England was systematically developed, which seed has now sprouted in +such glorious fashion. The propaganda of the <i>Navy Society</i> in the +higher schools demonstrates strikingly the whole spirit of the system of +teaching. The world's history has been <i>ad usum delphim</i> turned into a +political fiction. Not political truth, not objective knowledge, but the +opposite are the main features of what you teach. In German teaching the +soul of youth should have a chance to develop freely. But what are the +themes put to our children? They are set to write patriotic editorials, +and certain phases of war patriotism are taught them. In that way we sow +the seeds of falsehood. This procedure following advice from above is a +cancerous disease for the entire school system. You will not obtain any +advantages, even among the students of the higher schools who come from +the bourgeois class. This most awkward method of strengthening your +class rule will work against you.</p> + +<p>And instruction in religion? By means of the most skillful dialect and +by pedagogical methods was bridged over the chasm between religion and +war,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span> between Christianity and mass-murder. ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) The curtain of the temple is torn. But what spiritual +embarrassment comes to our children, when they hear of the Lord, who is +the Lord of all people, that is,—if I may use this word in this +connection,—an international God, a God of the entire humanity, when +this God of charity is claimed by each nation for itself and for the +war! I asked my child, who had to learn the catechism by heart +(instruction in religion is obligatory in Prussia. <i>S. Z.</i>), if the +teacher always said: "Love thy neighbor as thyself!" The child answered: +"No, we should not love the Russians, Frenchmen and Englishmen!" ("Hear, +hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) How is that reconcilable? The most beautiful +pedagogy is that which reacts not through words, but through vision and +good example. But what shall children who are instructed in religion say +to the occurrences of the present? Here religion naturally cannot +become, as Christianity demands, an element penetrating the entire life +and determining each action, but something entirely different. From this +contrast you cannot escape and least of all when not the religion of +brotherly love but that of Baal is the religion of the world and when +even the children understand that in this war the main point is the +interest of capitalist society.</p> + +<p>One can pray again and again and still remain an inciter of war. To-day +an attempt is made to influence the children of the working people +toward the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> conception of life of the ruling class, of the capitalist +class, of the class of exploiters (shouts from the right part of the +House) toward the conception of life of war and mass killing. And how is +higher education inculcated in the occupied territories? When the first +school was reopened in Belgrade, a paper published there by the +Austrians stated that Servia committed a great sin when it fought +against Austria. (He could not go any further.)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">President Graf Schwerin-Löwitz</span>: The Servian schools have nothing to do +with the Budget. I recall you to the subject.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Liebknecht</span> (continuing): The higher schools are also used as practical +helpers in the service of the present war. A systematic propaganda is +conducted in them for the war loans, and gold is collected in them. This +militarization of the schools has been characterized even by some parts +of the bourgeoisie as a questionable act. In the schools they have +already started to educate the human beings up to being war machines. +The schools are converted into training stables for the war. The +physical upbuilding of the youth is encouraged now to attract new +material for the Moloch, Militarism. Strengthening especially human +health has thus as its aim the destruction of human life. I do not want +to examine here how war psychology can reconcile itself to the +foundations of our entire education.</p> + +<p>Now I can speak only about the higher schools. Mr. Oelze demanded +yesterday that Militarism should be introduced to greater extent in the +higher<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span> schools, that Militarism should be the all-prevailing spirit. He +(Mr. Oelze) defined Militarism as complete subordination to discipline. +According to our conception Militarism means the opposite of imposed +discipline. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Moreover, the military +spirit has penetrated the school system to such a high degree that I +don't know what else is left for Mr. Oelze to ask for. In committee it +was said also in the bourgeois section that unilateral military +education leads to brutalizing the youth. But that does not frighten +you, when your holy of holies, Militarism, is helped. You want liberty +only for the ruling classes and oppression for the great masses. ("Very +true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) You abhor the free mind because it will mean +the twilight of the gods of the ruling classes. Classical education of +to-day is only a parody on real classic education. Classics surely do +not consist in driving home languages and some other knowledge of facts, +but their essence is the spirit of humanism, the spirit of independence, +of clear vision, of criticism, of everything which is felt to be +harmful. This is the real freedom of the spirit. The ideal of the +bayonet, of the bombshell, of poison gas and grenades which are hurled +down on peaceful cities, the ideal of submarine warfare, that is +something quite different. (Uneasiness and laughter from the Right +parties of the House.) This is the truth which I oppose to your +endeavors to mask the reality of things. According to an edict of +Governor von Schwerin of Frankfort-a-O., it was ordered that the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> +feeling for general fraternization, for the brotherhood of the people, +for the international peace enthusiasm should be stamped out. ("Hear, +hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Our enemies' deeds of shame against the +Germans must not be excused, but only hatred and revolt must be aroused +from those acts. We declare that to be a misuse of the schools of the +worst kind. That is your spirit of humanism. Mr. V. Canyre spoke about +softening the bones of ideas (<i>osteomalacia</i>), against which such a +propaganda must work in the school. But if it is true that the duty to +tell the truth is the aim of all education, then something entirely +different must be taught. In school must be taught, how this war arose, +not only that the abominable murder of Sarajevo was an incident to +inspire horror, but also the fact that the crime of Sarajevo was looked +upon in many circles as a gift from Heaven, serving them as a war +pretext. (He could not continue. The parties of the Right side of the +House broke out in cat-calls which became louder and louder. The +Assemblymen had raised themselves from their seats in great excitement +and left the room with continual shouts: "Put him out, put him out." +Assemblyman Liebknecht shouts to them: "Go out! You flee before the +truth, you can't hear the truth!")</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">President Graf Schwerin-Löwitz</span> (who has rung the bell for a long time in +vain): I call you to order for the second time, and I call your +attention to the fact that in case you are called to order for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span> a third +time I shall ask the House if it wishes to listen to you further.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Assemblyman Liebknecht</span>: I have told you only what I heard with my own +ears.</p> + +<p>The aim of humanistic education is that of complete freedom, a high, +ideal aim. Out of this spirit, great pedagogues such as Pestalozzi +demanded the unity of the school system. The school of to-day serves +only purposes of expediency. This is true also of the universities. The +spirit of Militarism corrodes the foundation of our entire educational +system. Art and science also are restrained. (President Graf +Schwerin-Löwitz: Please speak about the higher institutions of +learning.) The same phenomenon can be noticed also in the higher school +system. While it is the task of primary schools to make the youth of the +proletariat tools for the capitalistic order of society, it is the task +of the higher schools to prepare the youth of the ruling classes for the +great work which they have to perform in present society. In the +discussion of the question of the admission of foreigners to the +schools, Mr. v. Savigny declared in the committee meeting that the +admission of foreigners to German schools before (this war) was in order +to gain sympathy in foreign countries and in that way to obtain +indirectly political and economic advantages. This is true German +idealism which comes to light here.</p> + +<p>On the same level can be placed the present instruction about the +conditions in the Orient in the higher schools. It is being taught to +greater effect<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> than before. Thus the higher schools also are converted +into an instrument of propaganda for economic purposes, which are back +of this war.</p> + +<p>This war, which has destroyed so much, has also destroyed the last +vestige of the bourgeois ideal of education, and to the surface came the +viewpoint of the pure utilitarianism in education. The technical quality +of teaching is also very much damaged by the war. Just as the Thirty +Years' War acted in ravaging and destroying in the educational field, +the present war is acting. (Assemblyman Hoffman, Soc.-Dem.: "Very +true!") The new method in teaching history is a sign of barbarism, a +sign of the fight to death being fought by the educational ideal of the +bourgeoisie. I spoke before about the poem of Schiller in which it is +said: "Only a miracle can carry you into the beautiful wonderland." To +the proletariat, for the unsaved souls, this word cannot be applied. No +miracle and no blessing from above can bring the proletariat into the +wonderland, in which all the treasures and magnificence of the human +soul are to be found. And when Dante's world-epic speaks about those +unsaved souls who live without hope and longing, that is also not true +of the proletariat. It does not live without hopes, but full of +confidence. But the liberation of the working class cannot come from +such motions as put by you to-day.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">President Schwerin-Löwitz</span>: I call you to the question for the second +time and call your attention to the consequences which may occur +according to the rule of business.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p><p><span class="smcap">Assemblyman Liebknecht</span>: I speak about the motion, about the chance of +those who are well off to attend high schools and colleges. This +spiritual liberation can also be the deed of the working class and it is +our duty to say to the working class also on this occasion: <i>To action! +Those in the trenches, as well as those here at home, should put down +their arms and turn against the common enemy</i>, which takes from them +light and air (great disturbance on the right side of the House).</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">President Graf Schwerin-Löwitz</span>: I call you to order for the third time +and ask herewith whether the House wishes to hear the speaker any +further. (Stormy applause at the right. The Assemblymen are rushing with +great speed into the House. Only the Social-Democrats vote to listen +further to the speaker. Assemblyman Liebknecht leaves the speaker's desk +amid stormy shouts from the Assemblymen of the Right. Assemblyman Adolf +Hoffman (addressing himself to the right side of the House): "<i>When it +comes to yelling, you are the masters.</i>")</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>LIEBKNECHT PROTESTS AT BEING PREVENTED FROM DISCUSSING THE SUBMARINE WARFARE</span></h2> + +<p class="center"><i>Reichstag, March 22, 1916</i></p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p><span class="smcap">President Kaempf</span> presides.</p> + +<p>For discussion: First reading of the Budget in connection with the +taxation bill.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">President Kaempf</span>: In accordance with an understanding between the +representatives of the different parties in the Reichstag the submarine +warfare will be excluded from this discussion until further decisions of +the <i>Seniorenconvent</i>. (Committee composed of the Party Leaders to +discuss the business of the Reichstag before it is discussed in open +session. <i>S. Z.</i>) The discussion of this question will take place in the +meetings of the Budget Committee in the first days of next week.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Member Dr. K. Liebknecht</span> (not belonging to any party in the Reichstag, +questions the order of business): I consider it my duty to dispute the +decision (laughter). This is a question which concerns most vitally the +present public interests. Everything is done under cover and we are +brought to discuss only accomplished facts. (Great commotion and shouts +so that the following words of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> speaker can't be understood very +clearly.) Very soon it will be <i>Tirpitz redivivus</i>. The people have a +right to hear the Parliament on this important question immediately. The +people have a right to demand that nothing shall be hidden from them.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">President Kaempf</span>: Please make your remarks in a parliamentary fashion, +and don't present general political considerations when you speak to the +question of the order of business.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. K. Liebknecht</span>: In the Prussian Assembly everything is done under +cover. The same methods of concealing matters obtain as here. (Stormy +interruptions and calls: "This does not belong to the discussion about +the order of business.") I wish to protest against such a policy +injurious to the people, against the continuation of secret diplomacy in +Parliament.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>REICHSTAG MEETING, MARCH 23, 1916</span></h2> + +<p>Discussion of the Budget and taxation bill.</p> + +<p>Different persons spoke.</p> + +<p>Dr. Liebknecht asks to be recognized on the motion of closing the +discussion.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. Liebknecht</span> (speaks to the question): I am sorry that under this +motion, which was directed in the first place against me, I will be +unable to say that I certainly refuse all taxes to the Government of +martial law, the government of <i>War über Alles</i>. (Excitement at the +right side of the House.)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">President Kaempf</span>: I must ask you to confine yourself to this discussion +of the order of business.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Member Dr. Liebknecht</span>: I assert that even in the Prussian Assembly there +exists more freedom of speech than in this House. (Laughter and +excitement.)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">President Kaempf</span>: If you don't obey my orders I will be forced not to +let you talk any further to the question.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Member Dr. Liebknecht</span>: It is also made impossible for me to look into +the dark chamber of our German war policies and military dictatorship.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">President Kaempf</span>: I can't give you the floor for this question any +longer.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>LIEBKNECHT'S COMMENTS ON THE IMPERIAL CHANCELLOR'S SPEECH</span></h2> + +<p class="center">Reichstag Meeting, April 5, 1916</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p>On April 5, 1916, Karl Liebknecht made some sharp comments on certain +passages of the Imperial Chancellor's speech. Asserting that Germany's +aims were peaceful, the Chancellor said that Germany wanted the +"strength of quiet development" before the war. "We could have had all +we wanted by peaceful labor. Our enemies chose war." Liebknecht +retorted: "Lies, it was you who chose war." (Uproar followed, with cries +of "Scoundrel!" "Blackguard!" "Out with him!" The President at once +called Liebknecht to order.)</p> + +<p>Later Bethman-Hollweg made reference to the necessity of guarantees +against Belgium becoming again a vassal of France and England. "Here +also Germany cannot give over to Latinization the long-oppressed Flemish +race." Liebknecht interjected, "Hypocrisy!" "We desire to have neighbors +who will not again unite against us in order to throttle us, but with +whom we can work to our mutual advantage," said the Chancellor. +"Whereupon you suddenly fall upon them and strangle them—the invasion +of Belgium," said Liebknecht coolly. This<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span> sally caused another uproar, +Liebknecht shouting out "Invasion" whenever he got the chance.</p> + +<p>Towards the close of his speech the Imperial Chancellor declared that +the peace which ends this war must be a lasting peace. It must not +contain in it the seeds of new wars, but the seeds of a final peaceful +regulation of European affairs. "<i>Begin by making the German people +free!</i>" shouted Liebknecht. "Germany is only fighting in self-defense," +remarked the Chancellor. "Can any one believe that Germany is thirsting +for territory?" "Yes, certainly," roared Liebknecht as loudly as +possible. Thereupon the uproar redoubled. The President had to call the +Reichstag to order to prevent personal violence to Liebknecht.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>REICHSTAG MEETING, APRIL 7, 1916</span></h2> + +<p><span class="smcap">Vice-President Paasche</span> in the chair.</p> + +<p>On April 7, 1916, Liebknecht declared—in the Reichstag during the +discussion of the military estimates—that he had documents showing an +agreement between Herr Zimmerman, the Under Foreign Secretary, and Sir +Roger Casement, by which British prisoners were to be drilled to fight +against England. After some further remarks about Mohammedan prisoners +of war being pressed into service for Germany, Liebknecht was prevented +from speaking amid shouts of "Traitor!" from all parts of the Chamber.</p> + +<p>Liebknecht was able to speak later about the resignation of Von Tirpitz, +but was prevented from discussing the submarine campaign. Here is what +he said about the resignation of Von Tirpitz:</p> + +<p>"After the War had begun with the cry 'Against Czarism' the aim was soon +shifted westward." (Vice-President Paasche: "To say that the war began +with one or the other object is to insult the Government. I call you to +order and ask you not to dwell at any length on our war policy.")</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. Liebknecht</span>: "After the war aims had been shifted westward—(the +Vice-President: "I repeat my request"). I must touch on this question if +I am<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> to discuss the opposing currents in the Government which brought +about the change in the Admiralty. The manner in which the conflict was +taken up in the Prussian Diet, the way in which the sharpening of the +war against England was demanded in the Reichstag on account of the +Baralong affair, and the scenes in the Prussian Diet before the change +of office, throw an interesting light on the differences within the +Government and in capitalist circles. A memorandum was to be published +on the subject of armed British merchantmen. It was kept back for some +length of time. In this one saw an acknowledgment by the Government of +the demand for a sharper submarine warfare. The attack in the Prussian +Diet was made premeditatedly, in order to show the strong opposition to +certain members of the Government (the Vice-President interrupted the +speaker) on pressure from the Prussian Diet. (The Vice-President again +requested the speaker to keep to the point.) You must not suppress a +most important political question." (General commotion. The +Vice-President again requested the speaker to keep to the point.)</p> + +<p>"I did keep to the point. I shall now discuss the memorandum on the +question of armed merchantmen, for which the Admiralty is responsible. +It is so composed that those who do not read it carefully with all the +supplements must be misled. The memorandum attempts to prove that +British merchantmen are armed in order to attack German submarines. (The +Vice-President again forbade a <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span>discussion of the submarine question, +and called Dr. Liebknecht to order.) With such a ruling I am +unable—(The Vice-President: "I ask the member not to criticise me.") So +I am obliged to say nothing on what politically is most material!"</p> + +<p>A few days after this scene in the Reichstag Herr Däumig, the editor of +the Socialist organ <i>Vorwärts</i>, sent a Hungarian journalist with a +letter of introduction to Dr. Liebknecht for an interview. The censor +condensed the interview, and it only reached Budapest by messenger. The +following extracts are from the suppressed portion printed in a Budapest +(paper) pamphlet:</p> + +<p>Dr. Liebknecht was greatly surprised at the visit, as he had been "quite +neglected by reporters nowadays because what I say is generally +considered 'dead copy' by the censor."</p> + +<p>The correspondent explains that it is a mistake to suppose that Herr +Liebknecht is as unpopular in Germany as he appears to be inside the +Reichstag. He showed him correspondence from parts of Germany, a pile +received in two days amounting to hundreds and hundreds of letters, +ninety per cent of which are of an encouraging and congratulatory +character. The remaining ten per cent are scurrilous anonymous attacks, +and these he puts in a separate bundle, which he compares with great +pride and satisfaction with the heap of more flattering epistles.</p> + +<p>He is overjoyed at the idea that he is, after all, not alone, as he +appears to be, and that although he is persecuted by his fellow-members +of the <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span>Reichstag, he is recompensed by the hearty congratulations of +the people. What he wanted to say in the Reichstag when he was muzzled +and expelled was said by two members, and he is quite satisfied on that +point.</p> + +<p>"Herr Davidson," said Liebknecht, "referred to the two cases I wanted to +mention, and he drew just as vivid a picture of the spirit prevailing in +the army and of the illegal persecutions as I should have done if I had +been allowed.</p> + +<p>"I wanted to call attention to the case of Dr. Nicolai, the world-famous +professor at the University of Berlin, who attended the Empress before +the war, and who was persecuted some time ago by the military +authorities for what were termed indiscreet utterances. He was appointed +to the directorship of two military hospitals at the beginning of the +war at Graudentz, but some one reported him to the military authorities +and he was discharged. On March 1st he was again sent away from Berlin, +this time to Danzig, and was ordered to be sworn in as a soldier. He +refused to obey, and as a consequence the world-famous professor was +degraded to the status of a private. Orders were given that he was not +to be allowed to provide his own food, and he was ordered to submit all +his scientific literary work to the military authorities for approval.</p> + +<p>"The same thing happened to another scientist, who wrote in a letter: 'I +am sorry for and disapprove of the cruelties committed in Belgium, and,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span> +as a good Christian, I regret and disapprove of the terrors of this +war.'</p> + +<p>"I know for a fact that the higher command uses German soldiers to spy +on other German soldiers, a system which brands soldiers and commanders +alike."</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>LIEBKNECHT'S REMARKS ON THE GERMAN WAR LOAN</span></h2> + +<p class="center">(<i>Reichstag Meeting, April 8, 1916</i>)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. Liebknecht</span>: "Gentlemen, the principal work of the Secretary of the +Treasury, whose salary we are asked to vote for, was his activity for +the war loan during the last year. I intend to examine critically those +activities (great merriment). The new loan has brought 1,400,000,000 +marks less than the preceding one, but still a grand total of +10,000,000,000 marks. We should investigate carefully from what funds +the money invested in the war loan comes. Does this money invested in +the war loan come from private or public funds." (Cries of protest from +all sides of the House. Many Deputies rise from their seats in +excitement. Continued cries: "This is the limit! Shall we allow him to +go so far?" Cries of "Treason." "The fellow belongs in an insane +asylum.")</p> + +<p>Dr. K. Liebknecht clenches his fists and shouts a few words which cannot +be understood. Great uproar again. Shouts of "Finish! Finish!" A few +members of the Reichstag call out loudly: "Mr. President, you must +preserve our rights!" "Down,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> from the platform! The Secretary of the +Treasury tries to calm a few members of the House.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">President Dr. Kaempf</span>: According to the order of business the floor +cannot be taken from a member of the House until he is called to order +three times.</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Member Dr. Müller Meiningen</span> (Progressive Party): "Then he will betray us +three times." (Stormy applause in the House in which the galleries +join.)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Dr. K. Liebknecht</span>: In regard to our loans, it has been said that our +system of inbreeding—that the practice of obtaining loans on a former +loan in order to invest the capital thus obtained in another new war +loan is a sort of "<i>perpetuum mobile</i>." In a certain sense the loans may +be compared to a merry-go-round. To a large extent it means simply the +centralization of public wealth in the Treasury. (Great uproar and cries +of "Finish" and "Treason.") I have the right to criticise. The truth +must be spoken and you shall not hinder me. (Great uproar. Member +Hubrich goes to Dr. Liebknecht and snatches Liebknecht's notes from his +hands, and throws them on the floor. Stormy applause in the House in +which the galleries join. Liebknecht raises his clenched fists and +shouts. He then addresses himself to the President in an agitated tone. +He is twice called to order by the President. Around the speakers' +tribune are small and excited groups gesticulating. Member Dr. Müller +Meiningen goes to the tribune and in a violent tone hurls indignant +reproaches at Liebknecht. The minority <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span>Social-Democrats of the +Reichstag—Henke, Dittmann and Zubeil—rush to the tribune and put +themselves in front of Liebknecht, other members of the House try to +calm down the excited ones. The majority Social-Democrat Keil shouts: +"Put the fellow out and then all will be finished." The whole House is +in great excitement and uproar, notwithstanding the continual clang of +the presidential bell. Finally the President is able to restore order, +and declares that the chair finds that there is no quorum. The meeting +is adjourned.)</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>LIEBKNECHT'S MAY DAY MANIFESTO</span></h2> + +<p>This May Day Manifesto called the people of Berlin to the May Day +Demonstration of 1916. He was sentenced to jail for expressions in this +May Day Speech.</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p>"Poverty and misery, need and starvation, are ruling in Germany, +Belgium, Poland and Servia, whose blood the vampire of imperialism is +sucking and which resemble vast cemeteries. The entire world, the +much-praised European civilization, is falling into ruins through the +anarchy which has been let loose by the world war.</p> + +<p>"Those who profit from the war want war with the United States. +To-morrow, perhaps, they may order us to aim lethal weapons against new +groups of brethren, against our fellow-workers in the United States, and +fight America, too. Consider well this fact: As long as the German +people does not arise and use force directed by its own will, the +assassination of the people will continue. Let thousands of voices shout +'Down with the shameless extermination of nations! Down with those +responsible for these crimes!' Our enemy is not the English, French, nor +Russian people, but the great German landed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span> proprietors, the German +capitalists and their executive committee.</p> + +<p>"Forward, let us fight the government; let us fight these mortal enemies +of all freedom. Let us fight for everything which means the future +triumph of the working-classes, the future of humanity and civilization.</p> + +<p>"Workers, comrades, and you, women of the people, let not this festival +of May, the second during the war, pass without protest against the +Imperialist Slaughter. On the first of May let millions of voices cry, +'Down with the shameful crime of the extermination of peoples!' 'Down +with those responsible for the War!'"</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>LIEBKNECHT'S MAY DAY, 1916, SPEECH</span></h2> + +<p class="center"><i>Delivered at the Potsdamerplatz, Berlin, May 1, 1916</i></p> + +<p class="center">(Report by one present at the demonstration)</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Berlin</span>, May 1. Very early in the morning, with three other comrades, I +reached Hortensienstrasse, where Comrade Liebknecht lives. We enter No. +14, climb up the stairs, ring his bell. Comrade Liebknecht opens the +door himself. He is thin, his hair looks unusually black and his face is +deathly pale. He walks like a dead man, walking with grim steps. He +leaves us and soon returns with his wife; she is a Russian. She nods +welcome to us all. Suddenly a terrible fear comes to me. No one has +spoken a word, yet we all feel that we are in the presence of a supreme +moment. From Comrade Liebknecht's grim silence we judge that he is about +to hurl prudence to the four winds and defy the Government.</p> + +<p>He hands out, one to each of us, a copy of the speech which he will +deliver. So far not one word has been spoken. While we are hurriedly +reading his speech, which is to be delivered within a few hours, he +remarks, "I have several thousand of these printed."</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p><p>We have finished reading the prospectus which will make history and +send him to prison. Then we go into conference. We have been with him +just an hour. We leave him.</p> + +<p>Shortly after 2 P. M. of the same May day, I have taken a hasty lunch at +the Central Hotel. As I near the door I hear the footsteps of the great +multitudes. As far as I can see, all the streets and side streets are +full of surging, silently moving human beings; all moving in the +direction where the May Day demonstration is to take place. These are +men and women, mostly women. The men among them are mostly over fifty. +Suddenly it becomes apparent to me that there are more children in the +crowds than men and women together. As they march I notice that I cannot +see one in the crowd who has a smile on her or his face. Along the route +no one is cheering them. I had never seen such immense crowds in the +streets of Berlin. Not even during the Agadir crisis had the streets of +Berlin held such multitudes. The crowds move as though they are part of +a funeral procession. They are all sad, very sad. I recognize a group of +comrades in the crowd. I rush in and join them. <i>Mund halten</i> (keep your +mouth shut) is the unwritten rule, and every one seems to observe it +strictly.</p> + +<p>Some one has turned the head of the procession into Unter den Linden. We +do not know why; very few of us have noticed it, anyhow. We suddenly see +a platoon of mounted guards dashing through the crowd, but they are +riding on the sidewalk. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> part of the procession that had been +marching on the sidewalk rushes to the middle of the street in order to +escape being trampled upon by the mounted guards. Another group of +mounted guards rides past hurriedly, and still another follows. The +people in the procession all about me do not seem to notice them. Not +even a whisper one hears. Their footsteps have a strange sound to my +ears. On reaching the palace grounds I see in the distance five persons. +From their elbows up they tower over the heads of the multitude +surrounding them. I leave my friends and elbow my way through the thick +crowd. I explain my impolite advance on the ground that I am a reporter +on a party (Socialist) paper. I finally reach the spot where Comrade +Liebknecht and other comrades are standing. The crowds are close where +they are standing, and I cannot make out whether they are standing on a +raised platform or in a motor car. I am about twenty or twenty-five feet +from the doctor.</p> + +<p>Suddenly one of the comrades near Dr. Liebknecht raises his hand and at +once proceeds to speak. The multitude is anxious to hear him. Every one +is sounding "Hush" in order to obtain silence and thus making more +noise. Dr. Liebknecht uncovers his head; some one near by offers to +relieve him of his hat. Deathly silence reigns all about the grounds. +The interior of a cathedral cannot be more silent. The doctor begins: +"Comrades and friends." They start to cheer him. He holds up his hand +forbiddingly, then he resumes: "Some years ago a witty<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> Socialist +observed that in Prussia we Germans have three cardinal rights, which +are: we can be soldiers, we can pay taxes and we can keep our tongues +between our teeth. The Socialist who made this observation made it with +a grim humor, but to-day the humor of it must be disconnected from +it—it is all too grim. Especially in these days this observation is too +true. To-day we are sharing these three great Prussian State privileges +in full. Every German citizen is given the full privilege to carry a +rifle in any manner. Even the Boy Scout has been incited to play the +ridiculous rôle of a soldier. They have thus planted the spirit of hate +deep in his youthful soul. Meanwhile the old Landsturmer is forced to +perform forced labor in invaded countries, in spite of the fact that +under the laws of the Imperial Constitution he cannot be called out for +any other purpose than for the defense of the Fatherland.</p> + +<p>"As for his second privilege—his right to pay taxes—in this respect +the German citizen is, up to the present time, far ahead of his brothers +in foreign lands whom he is engaged in exterminating. And yet more +privileges of this kind are awaiting him in the days to come—after the +end of the war. The high taxes which the German people have so far paid +are insignificant compared to the great burdens which they must carry +after the war, and for which their masters are daily preparing them with +such touching delicacy of patriotic sentiment through the medium of the +official press.</p> + +<p>"The new Germany has the unquestionable right<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span> to hold its tongue +between its teeth. Recently our official press has been flooded by +authoritative and pharisaic exhortations to soldiers' wives that they +must, for God's sake, not complain so much about the scarcity of food. +Keep your mouth shut tight when hungry. Keep your mouth shut tight when +your children are hungry, keep your mouth shut when your children want +milk, keep your mouth shut when your children cry for bread, keep your +mouth shut and write no letters to the front."</p> + +<p>Outside of Germany these phrases might sound like the stock phrases of a +professional agitator, but not so in Germany, at least not in those +days. I carefully watched for the effect of these remarks all about me, +and I saw no dry eyes.</p> + +<p>Amid tense silence the doctor continued: "In a recent issue the +mouthpiece of the Pharisees, the "<i>Muenchener Neueste Nachrichten</i>," +complains thus (reading from a clipping):</p> + +<p>"'Our soldiers do not always receive from their dear ones at home the +best encouragement to hold on. A soldier on furlough who, before +obtaining leave, had performed for his Fatherland unflinchingly, went +through many hardships with good humor, but after a visit home returned +to the front with a sad face, worrying day and night about his dear ones +and the pretended scarcity at home.'</p> + +<p>"'Pretended' scarcity certainly is palatable, especially when one is +reminded of the fact that our police is weighing the bread, that butter +is out of the market, that fat, meat and margarine have<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span> reached a price +that is beyond the probable reach of the workingman!</p> + +<p>"Another well-nourished Pharisee exhorts in the columns of the +<i>Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung</i> by asking, 'Where is scarcity to be +found?' and no doubt after having partaken of a good dinner he preaches +with these words: 'We must teach ourselves at home how to manage to get +along in our homes with as little as possible. But of course in large +families with children the small earnings of the breadwinner being now +totally absent, this sum must be replaced by the creation of a relief +fund so that there may not be any serious want.' Exactly, but under no +circumstances must the people complain of hunger. It annoys the soldier +terribly and cripples his fighting power. Therefore do not write +complaining letters to the front. In other words, you wives of soldiers, +hide the truth from your husbands; in fact, lie to them.</p> + +<p>"The old proverb says, 'The mouth speaketh out of the fullness of the +heart,' and if her children's stomach is empty it is hard for the wife +not to mention to her far-away soldier husband that it is hard to +provide for his children with food while he is offering his life for his +country. But if it is not found possible for your masters to prevail +upon you to 'keep your tongue between your teeth,' then they resort to a +more practical means. They have a very simple means of stopping these +annoying complaints. The Prussian censor is now supervising these +letters of wives at home to their husbands at the front.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> They simply do +not allow this objectionable correspondence to go through. Poor and +unfortunate German soldier! He deserves pity! At the command of the +militarist Government he has gone into the enemy country, and at the +command of the Government he must steal from other nations. He is +required to perform difficult services. The sufferings that he endures +are past description. About him everywhere shells and bombs sow death +and destruction. His wife and children at home are suffering want and +hardship; she looks about her and finds her children crying for bread. +She is desperate, but she must not appeal or complain to any one. She +must hold her tongue and suffer inwardly. But how can she silence her +children? She must not even share the sympathy of her husband at the +front, because that cripples her soldier husband's fighting powers. Her +soldier husband must 'hold on' and 'steal' in the land of her neighbors. +He must hold on and 'suffer' because the capitalists, the hurrah +patriots and the armor-plate kings have willed it so. Every one must +keep his or her tongue between the teeth, for the war profiteers must +make money out of the want and misery of the wives and their husband +soldiers at the front.</p> + +<p>"By a lie the German workingman was forced into the war, and by like +lies they expect to induce him to go on with war!" A mighty shout went +up from a thousand throats—"Hurrah for Liebknecht." Liebknecht raised +his hand for silence. Then steadily, though knowing the cost, he said: +"Do not shout<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span> for me, shout rather 'We will have no more war. We will +have peace—now!'"</p> + +<p>Scarcely had he finished speaking when, as if by magic, a tremendous +tumult arose. Near the spot where the doctor and his friends had been +standing the crowds surged back and forth. The great multitudes in the +palace grounds had the appearance of an immense sea whose surface was +every inch covered with human heads, those of men and women. The +children became terrified. The shouts of the grown-ups and the terrified +shrieks of the children added vehemence to the scene. The next moment I +see Comrade Liebknecht pulled down from the stand. His friends also +follow. Then I see fists raised. I suddenly discover that the jostling +of the crowds about me has carried me further away from the spot where a +riot is in progress. I again elbow my way toward where the doctor and +his companions have been pulled down from the stand. I had made some +progress when suddenly I find myself being swept backward by a huge +human wave.</p> + +<p>In spite of my wish to see what is going on behind me I am being carried +away further and further. Several hundred thousand panic-stricken souls +are rushing towards the streets and avenues that lead to the grounds. +The scene is frightful. Every one is shouting. I steal a glimpse of the +spot which is now the center of the sudden panic. I gasp with fright. I +see numberless mounted soldiers with large black whips in their hands +lashing the crowds. Their mounts are so close to the struggling and +frightened<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> men and women, yea, even children, that it is a miracle that +thousands are not pinned to the ground. I cannot tell whether they are +killed or whether they fainted. But there are many of them. I myself was +forced to step over several persons. I tried to lift up a body, but in +the next moment I was carried away....</p> + +<p>May Day evening. Twenty-five or thirty meet secretly at the home of a +comrade in —— street. We all know what the report is. Herr Doctor is +arrested. We are all sad, very sad. We have met to exchange views as to +what step to take next. Every one is laboring with heavy thoughts within +himself. The silence is sickening. With the exception of four the men +who come together to exchange views are all soldiers in the active army. +Not all of them are privates. We have spent the entire night, sometimes +in heavy silence and again in deliberation. It is decided that we +—— —— ——. Are the German workingmen thinking? Their present +thoughts are tragic. They hurt.</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>LIEBKNECHT'S REPLY TO HIS JUDGES</span></h2> + +<p>While in prison Dr. Liebknecht sent two letters to the military court +handling his case, in which he explained his position. It was Dr. +Liebknecht's hope that these letters would be read to the Reichstag and +in that way reach the German people. But this was not the case. The +letters were put before the Parliamentary Committee, which investigated +Liebknecht's case and on whose recommendation the Reichstag, by a vote +of 229 to 111, refused to ask for his release. A copy of one of these +letters was smuggled out of prison and sent out of Germany.</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="right">Berlin, May 3rd, 1916.</p> + +<p><i>To the Royal Military Court, Berlin:</i></p> + +<p>In the investigation of the case against me, the records of remarks need +the following elucidation:</p> + +<p>I. The German Government is in its social and historical character an +instrument for the crushing down and exploitation of the laboring +classes; at home and abroad it serves the interests of junkerism, of +capitalism, and of imperialism.</p> + +<p>The German Government is a reckless champion of expansion in world +politics, the most ardent promoter in the competition of armaments, and +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span>accordingly one of the most powerful influences in developing the +causes of the present war.</p> + +<p>In partnership with the Austrian Government the German Government +contrived to bring about this war and so burdened itself with the +greatest responsibility for the immediate outbreak of the war.</p> + +<p>The German Government started the war under cover of deception practiced +upon the common people and even upon the Reichstag (compare, among other +things, the concealment of the ultimatum to Belgium, the make-up of the +German White Book, the elimination of the Czar's dispatch of July 29, +1914), and it tries by reprehensible means to keep up the war spirit +among the people.</p> + +<p>It carries on the war with methods that, judged even by standards +hitherto conventional, are monstrous. The invasion of Belgium and +Luxemburg, poisonous gases, which in the meantime have become of common +use by all the belligerents, and then look at the Zeppelin bombs, which +outdo everything and which are intended to kill all that live, +combatants or non-combatants, within a wide region; submarine commerce +warfare; the torpedoing of the <i>Lusitania</i>, etc.; the system of hostages +and forced contributions at the beginning, especially in Belgium; the +systematic entrapping of Ukrainian, Georgian, Baltic Provincials, +Polish, Irish, Mohammedan, and other prisoners of war in the German +prison camps for the purpose of having them do treasonable war service +and treasonable spying for the Central Powers; Under-Secretary +Zimmerman's agreement with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> Sir Roger Casement in December, 1914, +regarding the organization, equipment, and training in the German prison +camps of the "Irish Brigade," composed of captured British soldiers; the +attempts by means of threats of forcible interment to compel Christians +of a hostile nationality found in Germany to do treasonable war service +against their countries, and so forth. (Necessity knows no law!)</p> + +<p>The German Government has, through the establishment of martial law, +enormously increased the political lawlessness and economic +exploitations of the people; it refuses all serious political and social +reforms, while at the same time it tries to hold the people docile for +the imperialistic war policy, by means of rhetorical phrases about equal +rights accorded to all parties, about alleged discontinuation of +discriminations in social and political matters, about an alleged +readjustment and new direction of political matters, and so on.</p> + +<p>The German Government because of its consideration for agrarian and +capitalists' interests has completely failed to care for the economic +welfare of the people during the war, to guard against misery and the +practice of revolting extortion upon the people.</p> + +<p>The German Government is still holding fast to its war aims and so +constitutes the chief obstacle in the way of immediate peace +negotiations upon the basis of renunciation of annexations and +oppressions of all sorts: Through the maintenance—in itself illegal—of +martial law (censorship, etc.) it <span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span>prevents the public from learning +unpleasant facts and prevents Socialist criticism of its measures. The +German Government thereby reveals its system of seeming legality and +sham popularity as a system of actual force, of genuine hostility to the +people and bad faith as regards the masses.</p> + +<p>The cry of "Down with the Government!" is meant to brand this entire +policy of the Government as fatal to the masses of the people.</p> + +<p>This cry also indicates that it is the duty of every representative of +the welfare of the proletariat to wage a struggle of the most strenuous +character—the class struggle—against the Government.</p> + +<p>II. The present war is not a war for the defense of the national +integrity, not for the liberation of oppressed peoples, not for the +welfare of the masses.</p> + +<p>From the standpoint of the proletariat this war only signifies the most +extreme concentration and extension of political suppression, of +economic exploitation, and of military slaughtering of the working-class +body and soul for the benefit of capitalism and of absolutism.</p> + +<p>To all this the working-class of all countries can give but one answer: +a harder struggle, the international class struggle against the +capitalist Governments and the ruling classes of all countries for the +abolition of all oppression and exploitation by the institution of a +peace conceived in the Socialist spirit. In this class struggle the +Socialist, whose Fatherland is the International, finds included the +defense of everything that he, as a Socialist, is bound to defend.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> The +cry of "Down with war" signifies that I thoroughly condemn and oppose +the present war because of its historical nature, because of its general +social causes and specific way in which it originated (developed), and +because of the way it is being carried on and the objects for which it +is being waged. That cry signifies that it is the duty of every +representative of proletarian interests to take part in the +international class struggle for the purpose of ending the war.</p> + +<p>III. As a Socialist I am fundamentally opposed to the existing military +system as well as of this war, and I always supported with all my power +the fight against Militarism as an especially important task and a +matter of life and death for the working-class of all countries. +(Compare my book "Militarism" and my reports to the International Young +People's Conferences at Stuttgart, 1907, and Copenhagen, 1910.) The war +demands that we carry on the struggle against Militarism with redoubled +energy.</p> + +<p>IV. Since 1889 May 1st has been consecrated to manifestations and +propaganda in favor of the great basic principles of Socialism, against +all exploitation, oppression, and violence; dedicated to propaganda for +the solidarity of workers of all countries—a solidarity which the war +has not abolished, but strengthened—against the workers' fratricidal +strife, for peace and against war.</p> + +<p>During the war the manifestation and propaganda of these principles is a +doubly sacred duty imposed upon every Socialist.</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p><p>V. The policy advocated by me was outlined in the resolution adopted by +the International Socialist Congress held in Stuttgart (1907), which +pledged Socialists of all countries—after they should have failed to +prevent a war—to work with all their energies towards its quick ending, +and to take advantage of the conditions created by the war for hastening +the abolition of the capitalist order of society.</p> + +<p>This Socialist policy is meant to be international, even in its ultimate +consequences. It imposes upon the Socialists of other countries the same +obligation with reference to their Governments and ruling classes that I +with others in Germany followed against the Government and ruling +classes of Germany.</p> + +<p>This Socialist policy has an international effect, by spreading +reciprocal encouragement from nation to nation; it promotes the +international class struggle against war.</p> + +<p>Since the beginning of the war I, together with others, have defended in +every possible way and upheld in the most public manner this Socialist +policy, and besides, so far as possible, have entered into connections +with those who shared my sentiments in other countries.</p> + +<p>(I may mention, for example, my journey to Belgium and Holland in +September, 1914; my Christmas letter in 1914 to the Labor Leader; the +International Socialist Meetings in Switzerland, in which, I regret to +say, I was unable to participate personally, being prevented by superior +powers, etc.)</p> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span></p><p>VI. This policy to which, cost it what it may, I shall hold fast, is +not mine alone, but it is also the policy of an ever-increasing +proportion of the people in Germany and of the other belligerent and +neutral States. It will soon become, as I hope—and to this end I am +resolved to toil on—the policy of the working-class of all countries, +which will then possess the power to break the imperialistic will of the +ruling classes, and to shape as may seem best the mutual relations and +conditions of the people for the benefit of all mankind.</p> + +<p class="right"><span class="smcap">Karl Liebknecht</span>, <br /> +<i>Armierungssoldat</i>.</p> + +<hr /> + +<h2><span>LIEBKNECHT'S TRIAL AND RELEASE</span></h2> + +<p>On June 28th, 1916, Karl Liebknecht was sentenced at secret trial to +thirty months' penal servitude. When the public prosecutor asked for +this secrecy, Liebknecht exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"It is cowardice on your part, gentlemen. Yes, I repeat, that you are +cowards if you close these doors."</p> + +<p>Nevertheless, the court decided to exclude the public, upon which +Liebknecht cried to his wife and Rosa Luxemburg, in the audience, "Leave +this comedy, where everything, including even the decision, has been +prepared beforehand."</p> + +<p>Following the announcement of the sentence given<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> Liebknecht, the +Potsdamerplatz in Berlin was the scene of a serious outbreak.</p> + +<p>The next day (according to reports from Switzerland) strikes of protest +against the Liebknecht case took place in Berlin and some 55,000 persons +were involved in them. In other cities strikes and demonstrations of +protest also took place.</p> + +<p>An appeal was taken but resulted only in an increase in the sentence to +four years' and one month's imprisonment at hard labor. Furthermore, he +was deprived of all his civil rights for a period of six years after he +should have served his term.</p> + +<p class="center">[Associated Press Dispatch]</p> + +<p><span class="smcap">Paris</span>, October 25.—An enormous crowd assembled before the Reichstag +building in Berlin yesterday, calling for the abdication of Emperor +William and the formation of a republic, according to a special dispatch +from Zurich to <i>L'Information</i>.</p> + +<p>Dr. Karl Liebknecht, the Socialist leader who has just been released +from prison, was applauded frantically. He was compelled to enter a +carriage filled with flowers from which he made a speech declaring that +the time of the people had arrived.</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="center"><i>Printed in the United States of America.</i></p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> + +<h2><span>The following pages contain advertisements of a few of the Macmillan books on kindred subjects.</span></h2> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span></p> + +<p class="bold">The End of the War</p> + +<p class="center">BY WALTER E. WEYL<br /> +<i>Author of "American World Policies," "The New Democracy,"</i> etc.</p> + +<p class="right"><i>$2.00</i></p> + +<p>"The most courageous book on politics published in America since the war +began."—<i>The Dial.</i></p> + +<p>"An absorbingly interesting book ... the clearest statement yet +presented of a most difficult problem."—<i>Philadelphia Ledger.</i></p> + +<p>"Mr. Weyl says sobering and important things.... His plea is strong and +clear for America to begin to establish her leadership of the democratic +forces of the world ... to insure that the settlement of the war is made +on lines that will produce international amity everywhere."—<i>N. Y. +Times.</i></p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="bold">The New Democracy</p> + +<p class="center">AN ESSAY ON CERTAIN POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC TENDENCIES IN THE UNITED +STATES</p> + +<p class="right"><i>Cloth, $2.00</i></p> + +<p>"A masterly, scathing, and absolutely fearless arraignment of things +that ought not to be in a republic, and of tendencies that no democracy +ought to tolerate."—<i>Boston Herald.</i></p> + +<p>"A thoughtful volume ... a big synthesis of the whole social problem in +this country. A keen survey."—<i>Chicago Evening Post.</i></p> + +<p>"A searching and suggestive study of American life.... A book to make +people think.... Notable for its scholarship and brilliant in execution, +it is not merely for the theorist, but for the citizen."—<i>Newark +Evening News.</i></p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="bold">American World Policies</p> + +<p class="right"><i>12mo, $2.25</i></p> + +<p>"It is refreshing to read Dr. Weyl ... his approach to the problem is +absolutely sound and right."—<i>The Dial.</i></p> + +<p>"An economic philosophy neatly balanced, suavely expressed, and of +finely elastic fibre."—<i>New York Sun.</i></p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="center">THE MACMILLAN COMPANY</p> + +<p class="center">Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p> + +<p class="center"><i>THE WORKS OF H. H. POWERS, Ph.D.</i></p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="bold">The Great Peace</p> + +<p>"A clear, frank statement of the problems confronting the nations of the +world and how those problems must be faced to insure a lasting peace." +(Ready Shortly.)</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="bold">America among the Nations</p> + +<p class="right"><i>Cloth, $1.50</i></p> + +<p>"For an understanding of this new crisis that we are facing in 1918 we +know of no book more useful or more searching or clearer or more +readable than H. H. Powers' 'America among the Nations.' It is really a +biography, or rather, a biographical study. Its hero, however, is not a +man but an imperial people."—<i>Outlook, New York.</i></p> + +<p>"Mr. Powers takes unusually broad views and they are enforced by a +historical knowledge and a logical development of ideas that carry +conviction.... An excellent book."—<i>Philadelphia Public Ledger.</i></p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="bold">The Things Men Fight For</p> + +<p class="right"><i>Cloth, $1.50</i></p> + +<p>"An able, unprejudiced and illuminating treatment of a burning +question."—<i>Philadelphia North American.</i></p> + +<p>"Probably no other book dealing with the war and its sources has made so +dispassionate and unbiased a study of conditions and causes as does this +volume."—<i>New York Times.</i></p> + +<p>"Out of the unusual knowledge born of wide observation and experience +came this unusual book. We may not altogether agree with its +conclusions, but we must admire the breadth of it, and feel better +informed when we have perused it. The liberal spirit of it cannot fail +to impress the careful reader."—<i>Literary Digest.</i></p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="center">THE MACMILLAN COMPANY</p> + +<p class="center">Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span></p> + +<p class="center"><i>ERNEST POOLE'S NEW BOOK</i></p> + +<p class="bold">The Village: Russian Impressions</p> + +<p class="center">BY ERNEST POOLE</p> + +<p class="right"><i>Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50</i></p> + +<p>This volume describes in personal and narrative form Mr. Poole's visit +to the small estate of an old Russian friend, whose home was a rough log +cabin in the North of Russia. From there he ranged the neighborhood in +company with his friend, talking with peasants in their huts; with the +vagabonds camped at night on the riverside; with the man who kept the +village store; with the priest, the doctor and the school teacher, as +well as with the saw-mill owner.</p> + +<p>Their views of the war, the revolution and American friendship are all +of great significance now, for the peasants form nearly ninety per cent. +of the Russian people.</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="bold">"The Dark People": Russia's Crisis</p> + +<p class="center">BY ERNEST POOLE<br /><i>Author of "His Family," "The Harbor," etc.</i></p> + +<p class="right"><i>Cloth, 12mo, $1.50</i></p> + +<p>"Too strange, too romantic, too imaginative, to be anything but sober +truth.... We have read no book which got closer to the heart ... of the +Russian people."—<i>N. Y. Tribune.</i></p> + +<p>"A valuable book, ... sane and informative, ... shows close study by an +impartial mind."—<i>N. Y. Herald.</i></p> + +<p>"We have never read a book more deeply thrilling. It is not the book of +a dreamer, but of one whose vision is far because his heart beats for +his fellowmen...."—<i>Book Review.</i></p> + +<p>"A sincere, unpretentious, and strikingly successful attempt to get at +the mind and heart of these people in the midst of revolution."—<i>N. Y. +Evening Post.</i></p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="bold">Inside the Russian Revolution</p> + +<p class="center">BY RHETA CHILDE DORR</p> + +<p class="right"><i>Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50</i></p> + +<p>"Mrs. Dorr's book is an excellent piece of reporting. It will be the +exceptional reader who will not find here what he would most like to get +from an American visitor who has had exceptional opportunities to learn +the truth. Her book will have to be consulted by the future historian of +anarchy's reign in Russia."—<i>Springfield Republican.</i></p> + +<p>"As a distinctively first-hand study of a world event of illimitable +influence and implications, this volume is a milestone along the pathway +of history."—<i>Philadelphia North American.</i></p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="center">THE MACMILLAN COMPANY</p> + +<p class="center">Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York</p> + +<hr /> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span></p> + +<p class="bold">The Flaming Crucible</p> + +<p class="center">BY ANDRE FRIBOURG</p> + +<p class="center"><span class="smcap">Translated by A. B. Maurice</span></p> + +<p class="right"><i>$1.50</i></p> + +<p>Under the title <i>Croire</i>, this autobiography of a French infantryman was +published in Paris in 1917. It is a revelation of the French spirit. It +is rather a biography of the spirit, than an account of the amazing +experiences M. Fribourg encountered, from 1911 at Agadir, through the +fighting on the Meuse, and part of the campaign in Flanders. The +descriptions are memorable for their beautiful style, their pathos or +their elevation. There is a definite climax toward the end where M. +Fribourg returns to a hospital in Paris, broken and dulled, his faith +momentarily befogged. Gradually he readapts himself, regains and +confirms his faith in the human spirit that was so vivid when he lived +with his fellow soldiers.</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="bold">Behind the Battle Line</p> + +<p class="center">BY MADELINE Z. DOTY</p> + +<p class="right"><i>Cloth, $1.25</i></p> + +<p>What are the women of the world planning for the future? To find that +out, Miss Doty made a trip around the world. She takes you into the +heart of each nation she visited—Japan, China, Russia, Norway, Sweden, +England and France. The differences in civilization are vividly shown, +mainly through the daily thought and life of the women. <i>Behind the +Battle Line: Around the World in 1918,</i> depicts the great spiritual +struggle that, beside the physical battle, engulfs the world.</p> + +<p class="tbrk"> </p> + +<p class="bold">The War and the Future</p> + +<p class="center">BY JOHN MASEFIELD<br /><i>Author of "Gallipoli," "The Old Front Line," etc.</i></p> + +<p class="right"><i>Cloth, $1.25</i></p> + +<p>"It was well to reprint these lectures, and it will be well for the book +to have the widest possible reading and permanent preservation for +rereading.... No man in the world to-day has a more searching, accurate, +and divinely just spiritual vision of the war and of the issues involved +in it.... If ever a book was inspired, this was."—<i>N. Y. Tribune.</i></p> + +<hr class="smler" /> + +<p class="center">THE MACMILLAN COMPANY</p> + +<p class="center">Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York</p> + +<hr /> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Future Belongs to the People, by +Karl Liebknecht + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE *** + +***** This file should be named 39023-h.htm or 39023-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/0/2/39023/ + +Produced by Odessa Paige Turner, Martin Pettit and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This book was produced from scanned images of public +domain material from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + + +</pre> + +</body> +</html> diff --git a/39023-h/images/logo.jpg b/39023-h/images/logo.jpg Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..04625fd --- /dev/null +++ b/39023-h/images/logo.jpg diff --git a/39023.txt b/39023.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..48bf283 --- /dev/null +++ b/39023.txt @@ -0,0 +1,3995 @@ +Project Gutenberg's The Future Belongs to the People, by Karl Liebknecht + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Future Belongs to the People + +Author: Karl Liebknecht + +Translator: S. Zimand + +Release Date: March 1, 2012 [EBook #39023] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE *** + + + + +Produced by Odessa Paige Turner, Martin Pettit and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This book was produced from scanned images of public +domain material from the Google Print project.) + + + + + + +"THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE" + + +[Illustration: Logo] + + +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY +NEW YORK . BOSTON . CHICAGO +DALLAS . ATLANTA . SAN FRANCISCO + +MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED +LONDON . BOMBAY . CALCUTTA +MELBOURNE + +THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD. +TORONTO + + + + +"The Future Belongs to the People" + +BY + +KARL LIEBKNECHT + +(Speeches made since the beginning of the War) + +EDITED AND TRANSLATED BY S. ZIMAND + +WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY WALTER WEYL + +New York + +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY +1918 + +_All rights reserved_ + + +Copyright 1918 + +BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + +Set up and Electrotyped. Published, November 16, 1918 + +Press of J. J. Little & Ives Co., New York + + + + +CONTENTS + + PAGE +PREFACE BY WALTER E. WEYL 9 + +INTRODUCTION 14 + +THE MAN LIEBKNECHT 21 + +THE FIRST DAYS 25 + +LIEBKNECHT'S VISIT TO BELGIUM 27 + +DID NOT CHEER THE KAISER 29 + +LIEBKNECHT DISAPPROVES OF THE MAJORITY SOCIALISTS OF + GERMANY 30 + +THE REICHSTAG MEETING OF DEC. 2, 1914 31 + +LIEBKNECHT CONDEMNED BY HIS PARTY 34 + +A NEW YEAR'S GREETING TO ENGLAND 36 + +SPEECH DELIVERED AT THE WAR MEETING OF THE PRUSSIAN + ASSEMBLY, MAR. 2, 1915 40 + +IN DEFENCE OF ROSA LUXEMBURG 53 + +LIEBKNECHT CALLED TO ARMY SERVICE 61 + +LIEBKNECHT QUESTIONS THE GOVERNMENT 62 + +LIEBKNECHT EXPELLED FROM SOCIAL DEMOCRATIC PARTY 74 + +REICHSTAG DISCUSSION ABOUT THE CENSORSHIP 75 + +JUSTICE IN GERMANY IN WAR TIME 76 + +THE SITUATION IN AUSTRIA 98 + +EDUCATION IN GERMANY IN WAR TIME 100 + +LIEBKNECHT PROTESTS AT BEING PREVENTED FROM DISCUSSING + THE SUBMARINE WARFARE 113 + +REICHSTAG MEETING OF MARCH 23, 1916 115 + +LIEBKNECHT'S COMMENTS ON THE IMPERIAL CHANCELLOR'S + SPEECH, APRIL 5, 1916 116 + +REICHSTAG MEETING, APRIL 7, 1916 118 + +LIEBKNECHT'S REMARKS ON THE GERMAN WAR LOAN, + REICHSTAG MEETING, APRIL 8, 1916 123 + +LIEBKNECHT'S MAY DAY MANIFESTO 126 + +LIEBKNECHT'S MAY DAY 1916 SPEECH 128 + +LIEBKNECHT'S REPLY TO HIS JUDGES 137 + +LIEBKNECHT'S TRIAL AND RELEASE 143 + + +"The aim of my life is the overthrow of monarchy. As my father, who +appeared before this court exactly thirty-five years ago to defend +himself against the charge of treason, was ultimately pronounced victor, +so I believe the day is not far distant when the principles which I +represent will be recognized as patriotic, as honorable, as true." + +KARL LIEBKNECHT. + + + + +PREFACE + + +The philosophy of Karl Liebknecht as revealed in these pages leaves but +a narrow ledge for heroes to stand on. To him the significant thing in +history is, and has always been, the stirring of the masses of men at +the bottom, their unconscious writhings, their awakenings, their +conscious struggles and finally their gigantic, fearsome upthrust, which +overturns all the little groups of clever men who have lived by holding +these masses down. In these conflicts, kings, priests, leaders, heroes +count for no more than flags or flying pennants. All great leaders, +Caesar, Mahomet, Luther, Napoleon, are instruments of popular movements, +or at best manuscripts upon which the messages of their class and age +have been written. + +To Liebknecht all that Carlyle has said about heroes is contrary to +ideology and inversion of the truth. "As I take it," writes Carlyle, +"Universal History, the history of what man has accomplished in this +world, is at bottom the History of the Great Men who have worked there. +They were the leaders of men, these great ones; the modellers, patterns, +and in a wide sense creators, of whatsoever the general mass of men +contrived to do or to attain; all things that we see standing and +accomplished in the world are properly the outward material result, the +practical realization and embodiment of Thoughts that dwelt in the +Great Men sent into the world: the soul of the whole world's history, it +may justly be considered, were the history of these." + +Look at what is happening in Germany to-day and test, as best we may, +these two confronting theories concerning the influence of great men +upon history. As I write Germany is in the throes of revolution. The +immensely powerful Hohenzollern monarchy has fallen, the brave, +stubborn, modern-witted, money-bolstered aristocracy is shattered, and a +proscribed poor man, Karl Liebknecht, is loudly acclaimed. Was it one +man, a Foch, a Wilson, a Lenin or a Liebknecht that overturned this +mighty structure, or was it the movement of a hundred million men and +women, armed and unarmed, on the battle-field and in the factory, in +France and England and Russia and Germany? What could Liebknecht alone +have done with all his ringing eloquence and all his superb, I almost +said, sublime heroism? Clearly we must rule Carlyle out of the +controversy and agree with Liebknecht, the Socialist, that Liebknecht, +the hero, had little to do with this vast subversion. + +Yet, as Carlyle says, "One comfort is, that Great Men, taken up in any +way, are profitable company. We cannot look, however imperfectly, upon +any great man, without gaining something by him." + +At this safe distance no one could be more "profitable company" than +Karl Liebknecht as he stands up boldly against all that is powerful, +respectable and formidable in Germany and challenges it at the utter +risk of life and reputation. Such courage as his is almost +inconceivable; for us poor conforming or at best feebly protesting +little people it is quite impossible. To die among thousands, even to +die alone, if you think you hear the plaudits of your nation or your +class, is a thing many of us have learned to do, but to stand up against +a vindictive irrational war spirit, such as ruled Germany, to stand up +alone, to be contemned not only by your enemies but by those who called +themselves your comrades and friends, to be met by polite derision and +by actual threats of violence, to be called a madman, to be called a +traitor, to be misunderstood and doubted; to be met in occasional +moments of dejection even by doubts in your own mind, and still to hold +your own bravely and with cool passion, day after day and day after day, +in circumstances growing daily more difficult, and finally to go to +prison gladly, triumphantly--that is courage surpassing the courage of +the rest of us. It is easier to die even by torture than to persist in +this opposition to forces physical and mental not only confronting but +surrounding and even permeating us. + +We have agreed with Liebknecht that great events are not the doings of +great men but merely the large theater in which these great men play +their little parts. And yet, does not the hero, subordinate as he is to +the wider movement of the play, exert a somewhat stronger influence than +many followers of Marx seem willing to admit? Masses of men are moved +to vital historic decisions in part by economic motives, but these +motives must first be converted into emotion, and the hero, however his +own actions are motived, is one of the vital factors producing that +emotion. We shall perhaps never know to what extent the present rising +of the German people against their once invincible rulers was +occasioned, though not caused, by their vision of Karl Liebknecht, +standing there alone against all the judges, rulers, legislators and +respectables of Germany, and even against his fellow socialists. The +heroism of Liebknecht was at least a point and center of coalescence. + +The course of events has vindicated Karl Liebknecht. But it might well +have been otherwise. Had Germany won the war and established a clanging +_pax Germanica_ through the ruin of Europe, Liebknecht's heroism might +never have been recognized. He might have rusted in prison and been +released to obscurity and thereafter lived a futile life derided as a +blind fanatic. The force of circumstances, the obscure action of the +hundreds of millions, rescued Liebknecht and raised him to the highest +pinnacle of heroism. It stamped upon our minds for all time the picture +of this brave man standing alone surrounded by cruel, confidently +smiling foes. + +I said "alone." Yet this is not fair to a very small group of German +minority socialists, who stood by Liebknecht and by whom Liebknecht +stood. Among them were Rosa Luxemburg, Franz Mehring, Hugo Haase, George +Ledebour, and others, to whom, were real heroism always decorated, +would be given a higher order of "Pour le Merite." But among all these +Karl Liebknecht stands preeminent. + +"And for all that mind you," concludes the French soldier Bertrand, in +"Under Fire," "there is one figure that has risen above the war and will +blaze with the beauty and strength of his courage." + +Barbusse continues: "I listened leaning on a stick towards him, drinking +in the voice that came in the twilight silence from the lips that so +rarely spoke. He cried with a clear voice, 'Liebknecht.'" + +WALTER WEYL. + + + + +TRANSLATOR'S PREFACE + + +"_The future belongs to the people._" The time was October 24, 1918; the +place, Berlin, the center of Germany; the speaker, Doctor Karl +Liebknecht. A remarkable change had indeed come over the Empire. As far +as the eye could reach, a great shouting, surging crowd had gathered +before the Reichstag buildings, a crowd such as might have foregathered +in times past on almost any day of national festivity, to do honor to +his Imperial Majesty, Kaiser Wilhelm. They were indeed shouting +frantically on this occasion, but with other sentiments, shouting not +for the Kaiser, but for abdication, while applauding frantically for +another, a bitter foe of the Kaiser, a man who had been sent to jail for +high treason, had been deprived of his seat in the Reichstag, had been +dubbed, even by those in his own party, an enemy of his kind--Karl +Liebknecht. And who, witnessing the flower-laden carriage of the great +popular hero, but would admit that a new day was at last dawning in that +land of autocracy, a day ushered in by the guns and men of Foch? + +The events leading to that ovation of the twenty-fourth of October are +of interest. + +From the earliest days of its organization, soon after the middle of the +nineteenth century, the German Social Democracy had taken a stand +against militarism. During the Franco-Prussian War, two of its chief +representatives, Wilhelm Liebknecht (the father of Karl Liebknecht) and +August Bebel, had refused to vote for the war budget. In 1912, during +the Balkan crisis, the German Socialists had attended in force the great +gathering of the International Socialist Conference at Basle, protesting +in vigorous tones against the war, and many there were on that occasion +who declared that even if danger of world war had not been entirely +eliminated, the Social Democrats of Germany, the strongest of the +International movement, were prepared to meet any emergency that might +arise. In the Reichstag elections, these Social Democrats had cast four +and a quarter millions of votes, while the labor unions, which in +Germany worked hand and hand with the Social-Democratic Party, numbered +no less than two and a half millions. The Socialist movement had the +support of hundreds of newspapers, possessed a strong and +well-disciplined organization and large financial resources, and was +remarkably rich in political experience. In efficiency of organization +it ranked second only to the Catholic Church. + +It was true that the German Social Democrats as yet had gained little +real influence on the international policy of the Empire, and despite +their powerful organization and their influence, they were in a position +before the war to use only moral pressure on the government. Yet to many +it seemed extremely unlikely that the German government would dare +instigate a world conflagration when opposed at home by this powerful +"internal enemy." + +The war came. Immediately after war's declaration, the Imperial +Chancellor called a meeting of the Reichstag on August 5, 1914, for the +purpose of approving the war budget. The day before this gathering was +held, he called together the leaders of the various parties, so the +story runs, among them the Social Democrats, and transmitted to them a +confidential communication. He had from a reliable source, he declared, +information that a secret understanding existed between the French and +the Belgian governments whereby the latter government had agreed, in +case of emergency, that it would give the French army passage through +Belgium for the purpose of invading Germany. It was because of this +agreement, the Chancellor declared, that the neutrality of Belgium had +to be violated. In addition to this information, the Chancellor told the +assembled legislators that the Russian army had invaded German soil and +had even then overrun two of the Prussian provinces. + +These statements produced the desired effect, convincing the majority of +the Social Democratic leaders that their only course was to support the +Kaiser and his government. The government knew how to fool them, knew +what to use in order to get their support, and the Kaiser and his +government were victorious. + +Every cable message during those days that reached America from Germany +emphasized the thought that there were no longer any parties in +Germany, that the Social Democrats had decided to give up their +agitation and work only for victory. To many radicals in America who had +pinned their faith to the internationalism of the German Social +Democracy, these reports seemed well-nigh unbelievable. The Socialist +leaders must have been put in jail, some argued. + +Then more news came to confirm the reports, and the papers came, +Socialist papers, and Socialist papers even of Germany, and all +contained the same unbelievable truth. Some said then, "Well, the +Government has taken over their papers and that is how this news can be +explained." But fact after fact came out which made even the most +doubtful admit that the cables had been based on truth. The strong and +great structure built by a generation lay prostrate on the ground. + +In those days of disillusion, I remember well a conversation among a few +of us concerning the plight of the Social Democracy. "The German +government knew their Socialists well, and knew how best to reach them," +declared one of our group. "There is one man in Germany, however, whom +we shouldn't despair of, even now. If he is still alive, I cannot but +believe that he will soon raise his voice against the course pursued by +the German government and by his own party, and show the world that even +in the land of utter darkness there still shines one light." + +Liebknecht's record was open. For a score of years he had fought +militarism tooth and nail. Could he now embrace it? Temporarily, it +seemed that he had. He opposed the majority of his fellow-Socialists in +the early days of August when they voted to support the war budget. But +his efforts were unsuccessful. The majority decreed that the Social +Democrats must support the war, and party discipline demanded that the +minority abide by the decision of the majority. Party discipline was +strong, at first too strong for Liebknecht. He yielded. Against his +better judgment he voted, on August 5, for the budget. He voted, but he +rebelled in spirit, and the next month, both at the home of a Socialist +Alderman, F. M. Wibaut, of Amsterdam, and at the residence of Lieutenant +Henry DeMan, in Brussels, he declared that he could not himself +understand what had possessed him when he gave his vote in the Reichstag +to the war budget. + +He soon extricated himself from his former allegiances, however, and the +noble spirit of courage which he afterwards displayed has but few +precedents in modern history. In order to portray to the reader the real +picture of the seemingly insurpassable obstacles against which he +fought, and the courage and idealism which he displayed, I have +collected and translated his speeches and his important utterances since +the beginning of the war and here present them in detail for the first +time to American readers. + +Liebknecht had many opportunities for making himself heard. He was a +Deputy of the Reichstag from Potsdam-Osthavelland, an assemblyman to +the Prussian _Landtag_ from Berlin and Councilman to the +_Stadverordneten Versammlung_ of Berlin. Within and without these +assemblies he used his pen and his voice alike. It was in the Prussian +Assembly, where from the very beginning he had four companions who +shared his point of view, that he delivered his longer addresses. + +His tactics in the Reichstag, where for some time he stood almost alone, +were somewhat different. Here, instead of delivering speeches, he used +the question with telling effect, as a means of bringing out the truth +on his side and of showing the emptiness of his opponents' claims. The +government resorted to every conceivable means to silence him, but +without success. Failing, they called him to military service, and put +him in the uniform of a German soldier. This act put a temporary end to +his outside public addresses, but he could still deliver his scathing +indictments in the Reichstag and in the Prussian Assembly. + +On May 1, 1916, he appeared at a public gathering in Berlin in civilian +dress, and delivered the speech which sent him to jail. Why did he +deliver that May Day address? Why did he not continue to reach the +public over the heads of the legislators from his seats in the two +Parliaments? It is indeed possible that he thought that the moment for +the Revolution had struck. For it is an address of revolution, and +seemed calculated to bring about an uprising of the workers. Perhaps he +was under the impression that his addresses and the terrible pressure +outside Germany had sufficiently awakened the German people, and that +they needed but a word to bring them into action. Whatever the reason, +the speech was a magnificent one; it required a courage which only a +Liebknecht possessed. + +When Ralph Waldo Emerson visited Henry Thoreau in his prison cell and +asked, "What are you doing here, Henry?" Thoreau replied, "What are you +doing outside when all people with ideals are inside?" That sentence +well describes the Germany of yesterday. Liebknecht was in prison, but +even in his lonesome cell he still inspired the "gathering hosts and +helped to make men free." + +I wish to express my sincerest gratitude to my friends, Bertram Benedict +and Dr. Wm. E. Bohn, for help and criticism. + +S. ZIMAND. + +_November 3, 1918_ + + + + +THE MAN LIEBKNECHT + + +Karl Liebknecht is a worthy son of a great sire. His father, Wilhelm +Liebknecht, for years a member of the Reichstag, was the author of +numerous pamphlets on Socialism and economics and was one of the first +founders of the Socialist Party in Germany. Karl Liebknecht was born in +Leipzig on August 13th, 1871, the same year in which his father was +arrested on the charge of high treason. His mother was wont to say that +she bequeathed to her son all the sorrow that was hers during that +period, all the courage and all the strength which she had to summon to +her aid to live through those days; and with her bequest went all the +sorrow for the sufferings of humanity, and all the courage and the +strength to battle for the cause of the people, which were back of the +father's trial. + +And thirty-five years later, Karl Liebknecht underwent the same ordeal +as his father--himself faced the accusation of high treason in the +highest courts of his native land. + +Liebknecht studied first at Leipzig and then in Berlin, attending the +university in each city. As a student he began his career of social +enlightenment by organizing literary societies for the study of social +problems. Liebknecht got his doctor's degree in Political Economy and +Law at the University of Wuerzburg. From 1889 he practised law in Berlin. +Later he became active in the Socialist movement in Berlin. In 1902 he +was elected Councilman to the Stadverordneten Versammlung (Common +Council) of Berlin. In October, 1907, he was tried for high treason +before the Imperial Court of Germany at Leipzig for his book on +"Militarism." The substance of this book which aroused the ire of the +German authorities was first set forth in a lecture before a group of +young people in 1906, for it is Liebknecht's belief that in the hands of +the younger generation of Germany lies the hope of salvation; let them +be impregnated, he would say, with the right social ideals before +militaristic training has an opportunity to do its work, and there will +be little danger of domination by the war lords, or of the fruition of +the war lords' aims. + +His trial was most interesting. It was said upon excellent authority +that the Kaiser himself was connected by secret wire with the court +room. Liebknecht bore himself triumphantly throughout; there was never a +moment of wavering, never any evidence of any quality contrary to the +gigantic and fearless strength which characterizes the man. Liebknecht +is himself a very able lawyer, and though he had noted lawyers to +represent him (including Hugo Haase, at present a leader of the Minority +Socialist Party in the Reichstag), he supplemented their speeches with +additional analyses of his own. + +Liebknecht took up the question, "What is high treason?" He turned the +tables upon Olshausen, who was conducting the trial against him, by a +quotation from a work of Olshausen himself which contradicted the stand +the latter was taking in the Liebknecht trial. The Socialist leader's +address to the judges was one of the boldest attacks ever made, either +up to that time or up to the present, against German militarism. "The +aim of my life," he declared, "is the overthrow of monarchy. As my +father, who appeared before this court exactly thirty-five years ago to +defend himself against the charge of treason, was ultimately pronounced +victor, so I believe the day is not far distant when the principles +which I represent will be recognized as patriotic, as honorable, as +true." + +Liebknecht's brave stand on this occasion was rewarded by a sentence of +a year and a half in a military prison. While serving his sentence he +was elected by the people of Berlin to represent them in the assembly of +Prussia. In the Landtag Liebknecht recommenced his fight against +militarism. It was there that he prophetically pronounced the word +"Republic" for the first time. On one occasion there was a debate upon +the building of a new opera house. "The opera house for which we are +asked to vote the necessary funds," he exclaimed, "should last for many +generations. We trust that it will last long after it has lost its +character as a Royal Opera House." + +In 1910 Liebknecht visited America to give a series of lectures, and the +United States made a strong impression upon him. He used to tell me +that he felt truly homesick for America and had a genuine desire to +repeat the visit. + +In 1912 he was elected representative to the Reichstag by the people of +Potsdam-Osthavelland, under the very window of the Kaiser. The +announcement of his success was met with wild demonstrations of delight. +The sentiments of the surging crowds before the office of the Berlin +_Vorwaerts_ when the result of the election was made public were voiced +by a young workingman, when he exclaimed, "The new voice of freedom will +be heard from now on in the Reichstag." In the Reichstag Liebknecht +hurled with renewed zeal his invectives against the huge armaments and +militarism of Germany. + +Liebknecht the man is of the kindest nature and frankest personality. +There is to be seen in his make-up no grain of pretentiousness, of false +pride--indeed, he usually lunches quite happily upon a sandwich in the +train, too busy to find any other time for his meal. His home life is +ideal. His present wife--his first died in 1912--is a Russian by birth, +a graduate of the University of Heidelberg, and an ideal companion and +helpmate. + + + + +THE FIRST DAYS + + +On August 3rd and 4th, 1914, the Social-Democratic members of the +Reichstag called a special meeting in order to decide what stand the +party should take on the War. + +At the first vote taken, ninety-four members were for voting for the +budget and only fourteen against. At the last there were only three who +held out to the end--Liebknecht, Ledebour, and Haase. + +The officials of the party tried to give the impression that there were +no differences of opinion in the party, but Liebknecht wrote the +following letter, which was published in the _Buerger Zeitung_, Bremen, +September 18, 1914. + +"I understand that several members of the Socialist Party have written +all manner of statements to the press with regard to the deliberations +of the Socialist Party in the Reichstag on August 3rd and 4th. + +"According to these reports, there were no serious differences of +opinion in our party in regard to the political situation and our own +position, and decisions to assent to war credits are alleged to have +been arrived at unanimously. In order to prevent the dissemination of an +inadmissible fiction I feel it to be my duty to put on record the fact +that the issues involved gave rise to diametrically opposite views +within our party parliament, and these opposing views found expression +with a violence hitherto unknown in our deliberations. + +"It is also entirely untrue to say that assent to the war credits was +given unanimously." + + + + +LIEBKNECHT'S VISIT TO BELGIUM + + +On September 16th, 1914, Liebknecht went to Belgium to inform himself +about the situation, and here is what Camille Huysmans, the secretary of +the International Socialist Bureau, writes about Liebknecht's visit to +Belgium: + + +To P. Renaudel, Editor of _L'Humanite_. + +"MY DEAR RENAUDEL,--Liebknecht came to Belgium on September 16th, 1914. +He met several friends, and he came to see me at Brussels, at the Maison +du Peuple, in the afternoon. I asked him into my office and we had a +conversation which lasted more than two hours. I took him to dinner at a +restaurant in the town, and we again talked at length. I invited other +friends to meet him, among them our comrade Vandersmirsen. The next +morning we went out in two motor cars. We passed through several +districts. We tried to see Louvain, but the military authorities would +not allow us to do so. + +"At Tirlemont, through the mistake of an officer, we were caught in some +shrapnel fire, and we had to remain through the engagement. I showed +Liebknecht what actually took place. He questioned the Belgians. He +talked with the German soldiers. He was thus able to form his own +opinion on the spot. + +"To sum up: Liebknecht, when he came, knew nothing of what had happened +in Belgium. He went away convinced that the Belgians had not been sold +to Great Britain, that they had not organized bands of _francs-tireurs_, +that they had not assassinated the German wounded, and that the German +executions in Belgium were unjustifiable. + +"He came to Belgium honorably and honestly to gain information. Anything +else is calumny. Those Belgians who regarded the reception by me of a +German as an act of treason grasped him effusively by the hand when they +learned that he came to find out and to speak the truth. + +"Yours, + +"CAMILLE HUYSMANS." + + + + +DID NOT CHEER THE KAISER + + +BERLIN, _October_ 24, 1914. + +Editor, _Berliner Tageblatt_. + +Berlin. + +DEAR SIR: + +In your report of the meeting of the Prussian Assembly on the 22nd of +the month you say that during the reading by Dr. Delbrueck of the +greetings of the Kaiser the whole house stood (that means, the +Social-Democrats also). That does not correspond with the truth. The +Social-Democratic members of the Assembly, who were in their places, +remained seated. + +With reference to the closing speech of the President your report reads +that the whole House applauded and took part in the cheers for the +Kaiser. That also is not true. Five members (Hofer, Adolf Hoffmann, Paul +Hoffmann, Liebknecht and Stroebel,--_S. Z._) of the Social-Democratic +representation in the _Landtag_ (that means half) left the room when +this speech of the President was delivered. + +I would ask you to print the above correction according to paragraph II +of the Press Law. + +Respectfully, + +KARL LIEBKNECHT. + + + + +LIEBKNECHT DISAPPROVES OF MAJORITY SOCIALISTS OF GERMANY + + +The Swiss Socialist paper _Volksrecht_ published in November, 1914, the +following statement, signed by Karl Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg, Franz +Mehring and Clara Zetkin. + +"In the Socialist press of the neutral countries of Sweden, Italy and +Switzerland, Comrades Dr. Suedekum and Richard Fischer have attempted to +portray the attitude of the German Social-Democrats towards the present +War in the light of their own ideas. We feel ourselves forced therefore +to explain through the same mediums that we, and certainly many other +German Social-Democrats, look on the War, its causes and its character, +as well as on the role of the Social-Democrats at the present time, from +a standpoint which in no way corresponds to that of Dr. Suedekum and +Herr Fischer. At the present time the state of martial law makes it +impossible for us to give public expression to our views." + + + + +REICHSTAG MEETING, DECEMBER 2, 1914, AND LIEBKNECHT'S DOCUMENT +EXPLAINING WHY HE VOTED "NO" + + +At the second War Session of the Reichstag, Dec. 2, 1914, Karl +Liebknecht not only voted against the War Budget--the only member of the +Reichstag so to vote--but also handed in an explanation of his vote, +which the President of the Reichstag refused to allow to be read, nor +was it printed in the Parliamentary report. The President banned it on +the pretext that it would entail calls to order. The document was sent +to the German Press, but not one paper published it. + +The full text of the protest was received by way of Switzerland. It runs +as follows: + +"My vote against the War Credit Bill of to-day is based on the following +considerations. This War, desired by none of the people concerned, has +not broken out in behalf of the welfare of the German people or any +other. It is an Imperialist War, a war over important territories of +exploitation for capitalists and financiers. From the point of view of +rivalry in armaments, it is a war provoked by the German and Austrian +war parties together, in the obscurity of semi-feudalism and of secret +diplomacy, to gain an advantage over their opponents. At the same time +the war is a Bonapartist effort to disrupt and split the growing +movement of the working class. + +"The German cry: 'Against Czarism!' is invented for the occasion--just +as the present British and French watchwords are invented--to exploit +the noblest inclinations and the revolutionary traditions and ideals of +the people in stirring up hatred of other peoples. + +"Germany, the accomplice of Czarism, the model of reaction until this +very day, has no standing as the liberator of the peoples. The +liberation of both the Russian and the German people must be their own +work. + +"The war is no war of German defense. Its historical basis and its +course at the start make unacceptable the pretense of the capitalist +government that the purpose for which it demands credits is the defense +of the Fatherland. + +"A speedy peace, a peace without conquests, this is what we must demand. +Every effort in this direction must be supported. Only by strengthening +jointly and continuously the currents in all the belligerent countries +which have such a peace as their object can this bloody slaughter be +brought to an end. + +"Only a peace based upon the international solidarity of the working +class and on the liberty of all the peoples can be a lasting peace. +Therefore, it is the duty of the proletariats of all countries to carry +on during the war a common Socialistic work in favor of peace. + +"I support the relief credits with this reservation: I vote willingly +for everything which may relieve the hard fate of our brothers on the +battlefield as well as that of the wounded and sick, for whom I feel the +deepest compassion. But as a protest against the war, against those who +are responsible for it and who have caused it, against those who direct +it, against the capitalist purposes for which it is being used, against +plans of annexation, against the violation of the neutrality of Belgium +and Luxemburg, against unlimited rule of martial law, against the total +oblivion of social and political duties of which the Government and +classes are still guilty, I vote against the war credits demanded. + +KARL LIEBKNECHT. + +BERLIN, _December 2, 1914._" + + + + +KARL LIEBKNECHT CONDEMNED BY HIS PARTY FOR VOTING "NO" ON DECEMBER 2, +1914, AND HIS ANSWER + + +In December, 1914, the Social-Democratic representation of the Reichstag +censured Karl Liebknecht for voting "No" in the open meeting of the +Reichstag. + +At a meeting on February 2, 1915, the Reichstag Socialists adopted a +resolution condemning his stand and repudiating alleged misleading +information he had spread about the Party. To this Liebknecht answered +in the _Vorwaerts_ of February 5, 1915, as follows: + +BERLIN, _February_ 5, 1915. + +Editor _Vorwaerts_, + +BERLIN. + +DEAR COMRADE:-- + +Concerning the resolution adopted by the Social-Democratic Deputies of +the Reichstag I wish to remark: (1) I voted against the war credits +because the vote for the war credits is in my opinion in sharp +contradiction not only to the interests of the proletariat, but also to +the resolutions of the Social-Democratic Party and of the International +Socialist Convention. And the Social-Democratic Deputies in the +Reichstag are not justified in recommending a violation of the Program +and party decisions. + +In a letter of Dec. 3, 1914, addressed to the Chairman of the +Social-Democratic Deputies of the Reichstag I made my stand clear. + +(2) Misleading information about the Party I have not given out. The +Social-Democratic Deputies in the Reichstag, who are not the proper +authorities for such decisions, voted down my motion to postpone making +any decision on this point until a thorough discussion had taken place. + +KARL LIEBKNECHT. + + + + +A NEW YEAR'S GREETING TO ENGLAND + + +I am pleased to be able to write a message of brotherhood to British +Socialists at a time when the ruling classes of Germany and Great +Britain are trying by all means in their power to incite bloodthirsty +hatred between the two peoples. But it is painful for me to write these +lines at a time when our radiant hope of previous days--the Socialist +International--lies destroyed on the ground with a thousand +expectations, when even many Socialists in the belligerent +countries--for Germany is not an exception--have in this most rapacious +of all wars of robbery willingly put on the yoke of the chariot of +Imperialism, just when the evils of capitalism were becoming more +apparent than ever. I am, however, particularly proud and happy to send +my greetings to you, to the British Independent Labour Party, who, with +our Russian and Servian comrades, have saved the honor of Socialism +amidst the madness of national slaughter. + +Confusion reigns among the rank and file of the Socialist Army and many +blame Socialist principles for our present failure. It is not our +principles which have failed, however, but the representatives of those +principles. It is not a question of changing our principles, it is a +question of applying them to life, of carrying them into action. + +All the phrases of "national defense" and the "liberation of the +people" with which Imperialism decorates its instruments of murder are +but deceiving tinsel. Each Socialist Party has its enemy, the common +enemy of the International, in its own country. There it has to fight +it. The liberation of each nation must be its own work. + +Only blindness can order the continuation of the slaughter until the +"enemy" is crushed. The well-being of all nations is inseparably +connected; the struggle of the organized working class can only be +carried out internationally. + +Those who are seven times wise and whose weak souls are easily carried +away by the whirls of diplomatic winds and lost in the gulfs of +jingoism, say that the labor movement will no longer be international. + +The world war which has smashed the International must, however, be +realized as a powerful sermon making clear the need for a new +International, an International of another kind, with a different force +from that which the capitalist powers so easily scattered on August 4, +1914. + +Only in the cooeperation of the working masses of all countries, in times +of war as in times of peace, does the salvation of humanity lie. Nowhere +have the masses desired this war. Nowhere do they desire it. Why should +they, then, with a loathing for war in their hearts, murder each other +to the finish? It would be a sign of weakness, it is said, for any one +people to suggest peace; well, let all the people suggest it together. +The nation which speaks first will not show weakness but strength. It +will win the glory and gratitude of posterity. It is the duty of every +Socialist at the present time to be a prophet of international +brotherhood, realizing that every word he speaks in favor of socialism +and peace, every action he performs for these ideals enflame similar +words and actions in other countries, until the flames of the desire for +peace shall flare high over all Europe. The example which you and our +Russian and Servian comrades have given to the world will have an +emulating effect wherever Socialists have been ensnared by the designs +of the ruling classes, and I am sure the mass of the British workers +will soon rally to the International Labor Party. Already among the +German workers there is far greater opposition to the war than is +generally supposed, and the louder the echo of the cry for peace in +other countries the more vehemently and energetically will they work for +peace here. Thus shall the working classes of all the belligerent +countries become conscious of the necessity to fight for a peace +consistent with the principles of Socialism, a peace without conquest +and without humiliation, a peace based not on hatred but on fraternity, +not on force but on freedom, a peace which, because of its justice, may +be everlasting. In this way, even during the war, the International can +be revived and can atone for its previous mistakes. Thus it must revive, +a different International, increased not only in numerical strength but +in revolutionary fervor, in clearness of vision and in preparedness to +overcome the danger of absolutism, of secret diplomacy, and of +capitalist conspiracies against peace. + +Workers of the World, unite! + +Unite in a war against war! + +With Socialist greetings, + +KARL LIEBKNECHT. + +BERLIN, _December, 1914_. + + + + +SPEECH DELIVERED AT THE WAR MEETING OF THE PRUSSIAN ASSEMBLY, TUESDAY, +MARCH 2, 1915 + + +The Censor forbade the printing of the following speech in Germany. It +is a clear analysis of the franchise question. Dr. Liebknecht also +blames the personal regime and rule of Bureaucracy for the War. +According to the _Vorwaerts_ reports, when Liebknecht began to speak the +Free Conservatives, most of the National Liberals and the Centrum left +the chamber in a demonstrative manner. + +_Present_: The Minister of the Interior: Discussion about the Prussian +electoral reform, care for those disabled by war, and democratization of +external politics. + +Taking part in the discussion: Dr. Busse (Cons.), V. Papenheim (Cons.), +Dr. v. Zedlitz and Neukirch (Free Cons.), v. Loebell (Secretary of +Interior), Dr. Friedberg (Natl. Lib.), Cassel (Progressive People's +Party), Dr. Liebknecht (Soc.-Dem.). + + +_Dr. Liebknecht_ (Social-Democrat): Gentlemen, first I wish to protest +against the fact that Russian workingmen are treated differently from +the civilians of other enemy countries. Such differential treatment +cannot be justified--indeed, must be condemned as sharply as possible. + +As to the care to be taken of those disabled by war, I can only support +the heart-felt words which came from all parts of this house on this +question and echoed in our hearts, that we demand action on this matter +without delay and do everything possible to keep these unfortunate +people from all need and misery. But I do not wish to mistake what +experience teaches us--that we have every right to take words uttered in +days such as we are passing through with a great deal of criticism and +suspicion. On that account I would not like to throw all the words +uttered to-day in the scales as solid weight. We will see if, in the +future, deeds will follow. + +The great zeal with which this all-important question, which arouses all +human emotions, was discussed, has for me a special significance because +these debates serve to hide the complete silence of the bourgeois +parties on the decisive and important suffrage question. ("Very true" +from the Soc.-Dem.) + +Gentlemen, you can be assured that those who are in the field and the +unfortunate invalids in the hospitals will be convinced that everything +necessary is done in this important question only when we make it +possible for them at the settlement of the question to be guaranteed +necessary influence in legislation and administration. (Approval from +the Soc.-Dem.) They will not rely on the good will of the ruling +parties, and if the good words which were spoken with relation to the +care to be taken of the war invalids do not go hand in hand with +willingness to give to the mass of the people more rights, to make +possible a democratization of Prussia, then they preach to deaf ears +even if the words sound so very friendly. ("Very true" from Soc.-Dem.) + +Gentlemen, the 27th of February of this year will become a historical +day for Prussia. It was a critical day. In the Budget Committee the +Minister refused to give any assurance, even of a general nature, about +a future suffrage reform; and to-day also we heard nothing about it. The +Progressive Party expects, according to the speech delivered by +Assemblyman Pachnicke, suffrage reform after the war; they expect at +least the secret and the direct vote. The Centrum appeals to its "clear +and unmovable" position on the suffrage question, which no one knows +(Assemblyman Stroebel, Soc.-Dem., "Very good!"), and explains its present +silence by the party truce. The National Liberals put the question of +suffrage reform behind the task of winning the war. The Free +Conservatives, through Frhr. v. Zedlitz, give a straightforward refusal, +which Frhr. v. Zedlitz underlined three times last night in the _Post_. +("Very true" from the Free Conservatives.) I hear again a "Very true" +from the midst of the Free Conservatives, and emphasize it again +thus--according to them the war has brought out strong counter-reaction +against any democratization and Frhr. v. Zedlitz must surely know it, +because he warms himself behind the political stove. He considers the +discussion of the election reform as superfluous, a discussion which +endangers the party truce and which over-balances the discussions about +the Budget; and he scoffs at the idea about a general fraternization on +the foundation of the introduction of the suffrage law for the Reichstag +in Prussia. ("Hear! hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) The German Conservative +Party was silent and by its silence showed that it approved the +provoking refusal of Frhr. v. Zedlitz. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) +To-day also was this approval repeated in an unmistakable sense. + +_That clears the situation_, gentlemen,--clears it delightfully. +Clearness is especially necessary at this time. ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) It never was so necessary as to-day, when the word "party +truce" and the false conceptions of class harmonies, of unity and +unanimity of the people and other beautiful descriptive words about a +free German people of the future becloud many a mind. Gentlemen, we are +glad that this fog was blown away. The naked truth is: In Prussia +everything remains as it was before. Gentlemen, on October 22nd of last +year our warning with reference to the election reform was received by +this house partly with cold silence and partly with indignant murmur. It +was astounding to the gentlemen that the representatives of the third +class of Prussian helot voters dared, at this time, to raise the demand +of the people. The government was silent then. On February 9th the same +performance, and now the Committee's deliberations and the debates of +to-day which clarify the situation so well! Everything remains as it was +before--that is the significance of the day for Prussia. From the papers +we already knew that, gentlemen. Already in September, 1914, upon the +victory of the German troops, so many swelled up as "German friends of +the people." An apotheosis of Militarism, an apotheosis of Monarchism, +an apotheosis of the three-class system of voting and of all "Prussian +egotism" we found in the reactionary papers,--in the papers not only of +the Conservative Parties but even in those of the so-called Liberal +Parties. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +Gentlemen, in 1866 it was said: The schoolmaster, the Prussian +schoolmaster was victorious. To-day it is said: the Prussian system of +voting is victorious in this war or will be victorious in this war. +("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +What progress! It will be said, as it was said: The Prussian three-class +system of voting was victorious over democracy,--by which Russia is +naturally left out of consideration as a good friend of the past and +surely as a good friend of the future. The conclusion will be drawn +which was drawn in such an open way by Frhr. v. Zedlitz. But I should +like to advise you in your own interests not to forget that if this war, +especially in the first months, awakened a strong enthusiasm in the +German people, you must thank above all the fact that it was to be +against Czarism--against the Russian reaction,--("Very true!" from +Soc.-Dem.), against barbarism, unrighteousness; that it was thought to +be a struggle for the freedom of Europe. ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) + +And, gentlemen, do not forget the disastrous influence the backward +conditions in Prussia and in Germany, which conditions were combated by +us, had on the attitude of the Neutrals against Germany in this war! +("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +Gentlemen, in spite of all the characteristic and true Prussian +manifestations since the first months of the war, about which I just +spoke, we had even up to now political dreamers. Gentlemen, those will +now be enlightened about the situation, wherever they are, and that is +of great value. _The darkest pessimists were right in their prophecies._ +These debates have furnished water for our mills. The Conservative +parties of this house stand with their old animosity against any +democratization. From the Centrum nothing is to be hoped. The National +Liberals provide a special chapter. Their ideal with respect to the +electoral reform has been long similar to that of Frhr. v. Zedlitz, +namely, not democratization, but future plutocratization of the +electoral reform. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +So everything is as it was before! The National Liberals put out of +their present thoughts the struggle for peoples' rights, because success +is to them, as they say, more important. Gentlemen, that is explainable. +These gentlemen know, in fact, for what this war is fought. For their +electorate this war is such a tremendously important political and +economic business that the people's rights, bad or good, have to be +retarded. Gentlemen, the mine fields of Briey and Longwy, the mine +fields of West Poland, the colonies which promise important profits and +some other nice things are really no bad investments for German capital. +The people can wait. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) And Mr. +Pachnicke, the boldest representative of democracy in the bourgeois +parties of this house, is already satisfied in advance--sure enough, +only for the present, as he says--with the secret and direct vote! But +even the moderate optimism of Mr. Pachnicke and Mr. Cassel that a +majority is available in this house with reference to that patch-work +reform, was very roughly stripped of its mask in the Budget Commission +by a conservative interruption. Even here everything shall be as it was +before! And even for this patch-work reform Mr. Pachnicke wants to wait +until after the war. Gentlemen, we are not so modest. ("Very true!" from +the Soc.-Dem.) We see all other classes in the war, and especially +through the war, pursue unrestrained and without any compunction their +class interests. We know that this war serves or will serve, if it will +go according to the desire of the ruling class--the great capitalistic +interests--the interest of the ruling classes in a particular way. Shall +only the masses of the people wait until after the war? The technical +restoration of the law is a trifle. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +Gentlemen, do we have any cause to postpone our demand for +democratization in a time of martial law, the press censorship, the +suspension of the miserable right of assembly, in a time of the darkest +reaction, including the spy system in Prussia under the name of +_Burgfrieden_ (civic truce) in a form of military dictatorship, +celebrates its triumph, in a time when the people are more than ever +without any rights, in a time when by the war not only the danger to all +of the capitalistic economic order is made more striking than ever, but +when political pressure lies harder than ever on the people. In such a +time, there is no occasion for us to postpone our demands for +democratization. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Never did the class +character of the present society of the Prussian state reveal itself so +rude and unmasked as right now. Nor do we have any occasion to postpone +our demands for democratization at a time when the dangerous reaction of +the inner autocracy upon the external policy shows itself so awful and +dangerous, at a time which is really clamoring for the democratization +of exterior politics. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +Gentlemen, Mr. Assemblyman Dr. Pachnicke said the war has given new +support to the demand for electoral reform. Frhr. v. Zedlitz shouted a +shrill denial of these words. ("Hear! Hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) A word +which lighted up the situation as a lightning flash, a word for which I +and my friends thank him, a word of redemption which can be _a call of +alarm_ for the further interior Prussian-German development. In fact, +the war has given new support, not to a patch-work reform in the sense +of which Mr. Pachnicke speaks, but to a reform of the Prussian state in +body and soul. I mean in equal franchise and administration from below +up to the highest ranks. And that not only on account of the warlike +attitude of the German people, as Mr. Pachnicke thought. From entirely +different grounds. There never before appeared so clearly on the surface +the glaring contrast between the heavy duties of the majority of the +people and the privileged character of the state and the Administration, +as in these days; the contrast between the equal duties as cannon fodder +and the political inequalities in the state. ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) + +And further, gentlemen, in half-absolutism, in secret diplomacy, in +personal regime and all that, we see one of the most important immediate +causes for the breaking out of this war, which of course is conditioned +and made possible by international capitalism. ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) + +Gentlemen, if the imperialistic endeavors of high capitalism brought +about severe dangers to peace, there is needed more than ever control of +the exterior politics by the masses of the people ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.), a control which is denied by the constitution and +administration prevailing in Prussia and Germany to-day. I know that the +democratization of the exterior policy in other states also, where the +democratization of the interior policy has progressed, is much to be +desired and our friends in England, our friends in France, _to whom we +stand as near as ever before_, as far as they are conducting +Socialistic propaganda ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.), have raised +the demand before and also now for greater democratization of +international politics. Gentlemen, only democratization can erect a wall +against imperialistic and adventurous politics. Gentlemen, the millions +of victims who are butchered in this war, are butchered especially +because the mass of the people were deprived of any rights in the +countries concerned! ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) All of us, no +matter how many differences of opinion may exist now in our small +circle, are all agreed that the mass of the people did not want the war +in any of the countries concerned. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) And +if that is true, it follows that a democratic control of exterior +politics carried out in all states would have prevented the war. ("Very +true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) From that follows the right and duty, +especially now when Europe is buried in blood and murder, and sets on +fire its culture and the flower of its humanity, to raise the demand for +democratization of external politics, which can come only from +democratic internal politics which can be nourished in the soil of a +state democratic from head to foot. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +Gentlemen, I welcome the destruction of illusions which existed in large +circles of the people about the willingness of the ruling classes and +the government to grant an equal franchise law. A clear outlook is +especially necessary; the mist is now blown away, and this clearness is +not preached only--and you should not forget it--to those who are +guarding and supporting the Fatherland in their civilian clothes and +have experienced the need of these days, but also to those who are +standing in the battlefield and who are expecting to hear different news +from home, and who, when they read the papers about the debates of the +Budget Commission of Saturday and debates of to-day--I am absolutely +convinced on this point--will clinch their fists furiously in their +pockets and hurl curses at those who awakened in them hopes and +illusions, who deceived them about the truth,--namely that this war is +not carried on for the mass of the German people; about the truth, that +the mass of the people will be left after the war without rights, as +they were before the war, _unless they look out for their rights +themselves._ + +Gentlemen, the war preaches with a brazen tongue the necessity for +Democracy; and to you all, who think that you can rebuke in such a sharp +way the demands of the people, the idea must emerge, through the shell +of your careless hostility and provoking and people-betraying +demonstrations, that the interior political conditions of Germany will +form themselves even now during the war. + +Gentlemen, the proletariat is in exactly the same position as the poor +starving wretch of the old tragi-comedy, who, dressed in distinguished +garments, for one day of illusions, pretended to be a prince. After the +present revelations, the dream, the hero dream that every one is to be +recognized as a free German citizen, as an equal German citizen, this +dream will vanish even to the last illusionist,--he will awaken from the +illusion of this monstrous three-fourths of a year. He will get sober, +and full of bitterness, draw conclusions for his political attitude even +during the war. + +Gentlemen, the only salvation for the mass of the people is the struggle +that has not changed to-day from yesterday. Not by yielding and not by +adapting itself to conditions, and not by submissiveness, but only in +struggle will the people find its right. (Assemblyman Hoffman, +Soc.-Dem., "Very true!") + +The class struggle alone is the salvation of the proletariat and we hope +that we will carry on very soon the class struggle in open international +intercourse with the proletariat of all countries, even with those with +whom we are at war. In this international class struggle rests not only +hope for the democratization, for the political and economic +emancipation, of the working class, but also the one hope for the mass +of the people concerned even during the war. Their one prospect and hope +for the termination of the horrible killing of peoples is in the +struggle for a peace in a socialistic sense. + +Gentlemen, the equal franchise you rudely denied for the duration of the +war. Even after the war you don't want to grant such franchise. +Laughable patch-work reform is all that one of you, the representative +of the influential Progressive Party (_Fortschritlichen Volkspartei_), +expects at the most; the majority says even here "No." Gentlemen, that +means to the mass of the people the fist! ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) Against that I place the cry: away with the hypocrisy of the +_Burgfrieden_ (civil truce)! Forward to the class struggle! Forward to +the international class struggle for the emancipation of the working +class and against the war! ("Bravo!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + + + + +IN DEFENCE OF ROSA LUXEMBURG + + +Dr. Rosa Luxemburg, with whom the following speech of Dr. Liebknecht +deals, was tried in 1914 because at a public meeting she attacked +militarism and the tragedies which were happening in the German +barracks: brutal treatments, abuses and suicides of German soldiers. At +her trial nine hundred and twenty-two men from all parts of Germany were +ready to testify to something like thirty thousand separate instances of +brutal treatment of soldiers. + +Dr. Rosa Luxemburg was born in Russian Poland, of Jewish parents, and +studied in Switzerland. She went later to Germany in order to become +active in Social-Democratic propaganda. Being a foreigner, she would +have been immediately exiled by the authorities, had she not married a +Mr. Luxemburg--with whom she never lived--and in that way became a +German citizen. + +Dr. Rosa Luxemburg, or "Die Rote Rosa" (The Red Rose) as the Junkers +call her, is one of the very brilliant speakers of the Social-Democratic +Party of Germany and very few in the party equal her in debate. She has +written various books on scientific socialism. + +_Assembly Session, March 9, 1915._ + +Third reading of the Budget for the fiscal year 1915, with the proposed +law regarding the determination of the budget, with a special chapter in +reference to the administration of justice. Taking part in the +discussion of this special chapter, Dr. K. Liebknecht, Minister of +Justice Dr. Beseler and v. Pappenheim (Conservative), who by his motion +that the discussion on this chapter should be closed, made it impossible +for Liebknecht to answer the Secretary of Justice. + + +DR. LIEBKNECHT: Gentlemen, a few days ago, continuing an old tradition +of this house, which remained true to itself, even in this respect, you +deprived me of the floor; to-day you will have to endure what I shall +tell you,--what I really think. + +As is known to you, my party friend, Rosa Luxemburg, was condemned to +one year in prison for an alleged appeal to the soldiers for +insubordination. This decision was approved a few months ago by the +Supreme Court. In January of this year the execution of the sentence was +postponed until March 31st on account of her illness. She spent a few +weeks in a hospital at Schoeneberg and was dismissed from it not cured, +on condition that she follow a certain course of treatment. On February +18th she was suddenly arrested at Suedende by two officers of the +Criminal Department, brought to the Berlin Police Department, and then +to Division 7, that is, to the political division, and not to the +criminal division. Thence she was transported in the green wagon, +together with common criminals, to the women's prison in the +Barminstrasse, for the fulfillment of her one year's prison sentence. + +This incident unmasks with the precision of physical experiment the real +nature of the so-called _Burgfrieden_ (civil truce). ("Very true.") +Because this fundamentally political, this party political sentence is +executed now, we do not complain. Let those complain who believe in the +civil truce. (Stroebel, "Very true.") I know that my friend Luxemburg +will see in the execution of this sentence a proof that she has +fulfilled her duty, even in these times, of working for the interest of +the people in the socialistic way. But gentlemen, this is remarkable, +and this fact I wish most to emphasize--she was arrested for the +execution of the sentence, in spite of the fact that the execution of +the sentence was postponed until March 31, without giving her an +opportunity voluntarily to begin her term after the authorities thought +that the reasons for the postponement of the execution of the sentence +did not exist any longer. She was taken away without being given an +opportunity voluntarily to begin her sentence. The method of this +execution is open to much criticism. This transportation in the green +wagon and the details which I have just mentioned deserve the severest +reproach against those officials who are responsible for this action. +("Very true" by the Soc.-Dem.) + +Of special political significance is the reason for this execution. The +_Deutsche Tageszeitung_ brought out a notice, even before there appeared +any communication in our party press, of the arrest of my party friend, +which was surely inspired, and probably originated from a well-informed +source, and in which it was said in unmistakable language, that this +trial was started because Madame Dr. Luxemburg arranged political +meetings ("Hear, hear!" from the Socialists), because she was active +politically ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.). Surely the arrest was +not really a military measure, surely it was an execution of a sentence; +but the means described were used, and put in execution from motives +which put on it the seal of partisan political persecution in the most +objectionable form. Very remarkable it is, as I know, that this happened +after the Berlin secret police told the Commander of the Province of the +appearance of Madame Luxemburg at a few meetings. ("Hear, hear!" from +the Soc.-Dem.) The Commander in the Province, as the highest military +authority in the province of Brandenburg, advised the District Attorney, +who is in these days subordinate to him, to begin action against Madame +Luxemburg, to begin action against her on account of holding meetings, +on account of her political activity. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +Now let me give an illustration of how promptly the espionage system, +which was in this case at the service of the Justice officials and so in +confidential cooeperation with the military dictatorship, functions. On +February 10th, Madame Luxemburg spoke at a party meeting in +Charlottenburg. On the 13th of February the order was given at +Frankfort-on-the-Main to arrest her. During this interval of three days, +or rather of two days, because the meeting took place on the evening of +February 10th, the spy who must have been present at the meeting (and in +whose behalf, as an officer of the Department of Justice, you will now +approve the Budget), reported the meeting to the Police Headquarters, +which reported to the Supreme Command, and from the Supreme Command the +report was forwarded to Frankfort-on-the-Main, from which the order for +arrest was given. So promptly does the machinery of the Prussian State +function for the political suppression of the people, even in these days +of the party truce. In this field the mechanism of the Prussian State +did prove itself remarkable. + +It should not be said that Madame Dr. Luxemburg was arrested because +after she held meetings she could not be located. Gentlemen, I know that +only by using all her strength, ill as she was, could she fulfill her +duty to the interests of the German people, to the interests of the +entire international proletariat. But, gentlemen, who wants to make us +believe that this action was taken without any connection with what she +did? ("Very true," from the Soc.-Dem.) The political aspect of what she +said was the determining factor for the authorities which "do not +recognize parties any longer." If she had only joined in buying the +usual market commodity labeled "Patriotism," then not only would she +have been spared from this remarkable attack but probably amnesty would +have been forced upon her. ("Very true," from the Soc.-Dem.) But, +gentlemen, she tried by summoning all her strength, to act in the +proletarian and socialistic cause against the frenzied slaughter of +peoples. This does not suit the dominant power, and that is why the +arrest took place. + +But the worst feature is that it was not sufficient to arrest my friend +Luxemburg in this way, but that they also tried to stigmatize her honor +by stating that she had shown intentions of flight. + +Gentlemen, Madame Dr. Luxemburg wanted to travel to a friend in Holland, +and for this purpose she asked for a foreign passport from the police in +her district, who were naturally informed about her sentence, and then +she addressed herself to the Berlin police headquarters, also well +informed about her sentence, before the permission for a passport could +be had; as suspicion was aroused at the Berlin police headquarters, she +addressed herself, one day before she was arrested, with my help, to the +District Attorney of Frankfort-on-the-Main,--the official who was to +have executed the sentence, and had asked from him permission to take +the trip to Holland. The order to make this motion to the District +Attorney was given to her lawyer in Frankfort on the afternoon of +February 17th. Gentlemen, I do not need to tell you that a woman such as +Madame Dr. Luxemburg does not belong to the class who try to escape +from a sentence,--that a woman such as Madame Dr. Luxemburg is brave +enough to look her enemies in the eye and would not think of leaving +Germany in times like these, where there is being waged such an +important part of the struggle against international reaction,--against +imperialism. It is necessary to be a real Prussian police spirit in +order not to understand that. + +Considering the facts of which I just spoke, considering the +possibilities of passing the frontier in these times without the will of +the authorities, the talk about escaping can be characterized only as an +attempt to stigmatize the honor of this really persecuted woman, exactly +after the Russian method, which is not satisfied to punish politically +disagreeable subjects, but tries also to insult their honor as much as +possible. In fact, it happened that the military authorities arranged +that Madame Luxemburg should not be able to be active outside of Germany +in a manner not to the liking of the German ruling powers. Why don't you +say so openly and honestly, instead of hiding behind such obscure +phrases? Just as we have only one counterpart for your denial of the +suffrage reform, for the continuance of the exceptional laws, for your +refusal of any interior reform, namely the political ignorance and +animosity against the people of the Government of the Czar, so this +action against my friend Luxemburg is a counterpart to the arrest of the +Russian Duma Deputies, our admired and excellent friends in the struggle +for the freedom of the people and for the restoration of the peoples' +peace, trying in common with us to serve,--each in his own country,--in +universal opposition against its own government, for the benefit of its +own people and the good of the other people, the good of the +international proletariat, the good of humanity. And so sure as it is +that the arrest of the Duma deputies in Russia opened the eyes of +hundreds of thousands of blind ones, so sure are we that the action +against our comrade Luxemburg will awaken many a dreamer ("Very true" +from Soc.-Dem.), and that they will demand a struggle for a free Prussia +and a struggle for the ending of the mass murder of the people. +("Bravo!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + + + + +LIEBKNECHT CALLED TO ARMY SERVICE + + +On March 23, 1915, Liebknecht was ordered to place himself at the +disposal of the German military authorities. + +From this day on he was under military law as a member of a Landsturm +regiment. + + + + +LIEBKNECHT QUESTIONS THE GOVERNMENT + + +Beginning with August 20, 1915, Liebknecht began putting his questions +in the Reichstag which so much embarrassed the German Government. + +In England this form of parliamentary control of the Government is very +common. In Germany this form is very seldom used. The possibility of +putting supplementary questions gives this method a particularly great +usefulness where there is so little parliamentary criticism as in +Germany. + + +REICHSTAG MEETING, AUG. 20, 1915, 2 P. M. + +At the table of the Federal Government are present: Ministers Delbrueck, +Helfferich, and Lisco. + +The first order of business is a question by Dr. Karl Liebknecht. + + +DR. KARL LIEBKNECHT: (reads his question amid great commotion in the +House) "Is the Government, in case of corresponding readiness of the +other belligerents, ready, on the basis of the renunciation of +annexations of every kind, to enter into immediate peace negotiations?" + +SECRETARY OF STATE V. JAGOW: "I believe I shall meet the wishes of the +great majority of the House if I decline to answer the question of the +member, Dr. Liebknecht, at the present time as inopportune." (Great +applause, especially at the right side of the House.) + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: "That is concealing the capitalistic policy of +conquest (great uproar). The answer of the Secretary of State is a +confession of a policy of annexation (repeated great uproar). The people +want peace" (continual uproar and laughter). + + +REICHSTAG MEETING, DEC. 15, 1915 + +The energy which Liebknecht displayed at this meeting was remarkable +considering that he had not completely recovered from the injury which +he had received in October, 1915, at the front. + + +Twenty-third meeting of the Reichstag, Dec. 14, 1915, 2 P. M. + +Present at the Federal Council table: Ministers v. Jagow and Helfferich. + +The first point on the order of the day--Questions by Dr. K. Liebknecht +(Soc.-Dem.). + + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: + + +FIRST QUESTION + +(I-a) Is the Government prepared, if the other belligerents are also +ready and prepared, to enter peace negotiations on the basis of the +renunciation of annexations? This question I withdraw since on Thursday, +Dec. 9, 1915 (Liebknecht refers here to Bethman-Hollweg's speech in the +Reichstag on Dec. 9, 1915, in which the Imperial Chancellor answered the +majority Socialist's peace interpellation. _S. Z._), the Imperial +Chancellor answered this question in the negative. The Government wants +a war of conquest, not peace! + +(I-b) On what other basis is the Government ready to enter immediately +upon peace negotiations? + +(Foreign Minister von Jagow by mistake begins to read the answer to +another question (laughter).) Then the following answer is given to +question I-b: + +In view of the debate of the 9th of December I decline to answer this +question. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT asks the floor for a supplementary question: What will +be the attitude of the Government towards peace proposals from neutral +countries as asked now by the Social-Democrats of Switzerland through +the Swiss Government.... (Great commotion.) + +PRESIDENT DR. KAEMPF: This is not a supplementary question. It is ruled +out of order. + +Dr. K. Liebknecht reads his + + +SECOND QUESTION + +II. Is the Government ready to lay before the nation the official +documents and semi-official documents relating to the secret +negotiations which preceded the declaration of war, especially + +(a) The diplomatic history of the Austrian Ultimatum to Serbia of July +23, 1914, including the official and semi-official negotiations between +the German and Austrian Governments after the crime of Sarajevo? + +(b) The history of the German entry into Luxemburg and Belgium? + +(c) Is the Government ready to create as soon as possible a +parliamentary commission for the examination of these documents and +reveal the responsible parties? + +FOREIGN MINISTER VON JAGOW: The available material about the origin of +the war has been published already. The Government intends to publish +other important documents relating to diplomatic negotiation, _in so far +as they appear to be necessary for the enlightenment of public opinion_ +(my italics, _S. Z._), but refuses to set up a parliamentary committee +dealing with the examination of these documents. The parties responsible +are our enemies. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT asks the floor for a supplementary question (great +merriment): Is the Government ready to lay immediately before us the +entire official documentary material dealing with the war? + +FOREIGN MINISTER VON JAGOW: I have nothing to add to my answer. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: A supplementary question (great merriment). Is it +known to the Imperial Chancellor that according to a remark made on Dec. +5, 1914, by the _former neutral Italian Prime Minister Giolitti_, +_Austria planned as early as 1913 an attack against Serbia_ (_Italics S. +Z._) (Great indignation and shouts.) + +PRESIDENT DR. KAEMPF: This is a new question. We will proceed to your +next question. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: According to paragraph 31 of our order of business I +have asked the floor to supplement my former question. + +PRESIDENT DR. KAEMPF: You have already asked two supplementary +questions. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: The order of business does not limit me to any +definite number. Amid great commotion in the House Dr. Liebknecht reads +another supplementary question: "Why did the Imperial Chancellor conceal +from the Reichstag earlier and at the meeting of August 4, 1914, the +Belgium Ultimatum?" + +PRESIDENT DR. KAEMPF: This also is not a supplementary question, but a +new question. Do you have another supplementary question? Now we come to +your next question. + + +THIRD QUESTION + +III (a) Is it known to the Government that the mass of German people +demand for themselves the right to decide about the external policy of +Germany, that they demand _abolition of secret diplomacy in favor of +permanent public control of foreign policy and its general +democratization_? (_Italics, S. Z._) + +(b) Is the Government prepared to bring in the course of the present +session of the Reichstag a bill which will fulfill the demand above +mentioned and submit the decisions on questions of war and peace to the +people's representatives? + +MINISTER OF EXTERIOR V. JAGOW: The Government is _not willing_ +(_Italics, S. Z._) to correspond with the wishes of Dr. Liebknecht and +to propose such a change in the Constitution. With this answer the rest +of the question is also answered. + + +FOURTH QUESTION + +Does the Government know in what economic distress the masses of the +German people labor on account of the war and on account of the desire +in capitalistic circles for profits and the impotence of the Government +in dealing with the situation? Is the Government now ready to check this +economic distress by improving the general welfare without further delay +and by putting aside all special interests, and taking the necessary +steps to provide for the population the necessary means of living (food, +clothing, shelter, heat and light); especially by regulating production +according to the general welfare? And by commandeering products and by +the uniform distribution of foodstuffs in such a way that the needy may +get sufficient food free or at low cost? + +MINISTER DIRECTOR DR. LEWALD: The Imperial Chancellor declines to answer +the question. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: A supplementary question (great merriment). Does the +Government recognize that according to experiments up to this time +general commandeering of products.... + +PRESIDENT DR. KAEMPF: This is not a supplementary question but a new +question. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: I ask the floor for another supplementary question +(great commotion and merriment). Will the Government put into operation +as soon as possible the decisions of the Budget Commission in line with +these demands? + +MINISTER DIRECTOR LEWALD: In the name of the Imperial Chancellor I +refuse to answer this supplementary question. + + +FIFTH QUESTION + +(a) What meaning does the Government ascribe to the expression "new +internal political orientation?" (_Neuorientierung der inneren +Politik._) + +(b) Does the Government have a concrete program concerning this new +internal political orientation? + +(c) What is this program in detail? + +(d) When does the Government intend to effect this program? + +(e) Does the Government intend during the present session or later to +introduce the reforms necessary to the democratization of the +constitution, democratization of the legislative powers and +democratization of the administration of the German Empire and the +states which compose the Empire? Particularly will the Government reform +the franchise laws governing the legislative and administrative bodies +and democratization of the constitution of the army? + +MINISTER DIRECTOR LEWALD: The Imperial Chancellor refuses to answer this +question also. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: A supplementary question. (Great commotion.) What is +the stand of the Government on the Prussian Franchise Reform? (Great +merriment at the right side of the House.) This is a question which is +of importance to the entire German people. That is the way Government +and Reichstag treat with the life and death problems of the German +people. The people will know now where they stand! (Continued +commotion.) + +PRESIDENT DR. KAEMPF: This is not a supplementary question, but a new +question. With that we are finished with the short questions. + + + Reichstag meeting January 11, 1916, 2 P. M. At the table of the + Federal Council are present: Ministers Helfferich and Delbrueck. + + The first order of business: _Questions_ by Member DR. K. + LIEBKNECHT. + + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT reads his first question: + +"Is it known to the Imperial Chancellor that during the present war in +the United Turkish Empire the Armenian people were driven from their +homes and slaughtered by the hundred thousands? What negotiations has +the Imperial Chancellor undertaken with the United Turkish Government in +order to bring about the necessary punishment, to alleviate the +situation of the rest of the Armenian population in Turkey and to make +the repetition of such horrors impossible? + +To answer this question the floor is given to: + +PRIVY COUNCIL FRHR. V. STUMM: It is known to the Imperial Chancellor +that inflammatory demonstrations took place in Armenia on account of +which the Turkish Government was forced to deport the Armenian +population of certain districts and to assign them new living places. +About the reaction on the population taking place on account of these +measures an exchange of ideas between us and the Turkish Government is +now occurring. More details cannot be communicated. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: A supplementary question. Is it known to the Imperial +Chancellor that Professor Lepsius spoke of an absolute extermination of +the Armenians and that for these horrors the Christian population of +Turkey considers the German Government responsible? + +At this point great uproar broke out in the House and made it impossible +for Dr. Liebknecht to finish his questions. + +Shouts from the House: This is a new question! Finish! + +PRESIDENT DR. KAEMPF: This is a new question for which I cannot give the +floor. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: Mr. President, before you have heard the whole +question, you are not in a position to judge (laughter in the House) if +it is a new question or not. At any rate I wish to assert that the +President reached this conclusion that it is a new question not from his +own impulses (shouts in the House: _Oho!_) but because from parts of the +House it was called to his attention. + +PRESIDENT DR. KAEMPF: I ask you not to criticize the way I preside +(applause). We come now to the following question: + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: Will the Government be ready very soon to place +before the Reichstag for action data concerning the situation of the +population in the territory occupied by Germany? Further data concerning +the measures taken for the people in the occupied territory, concerning +the means of living, (food, clothing, shelter), concerning their health +condition, their rights, their numbers? Then data concerning the kind +and reason of the punishments decreed and reprisal measures taken +against the people in this territory by the German authorities, the +number of people executed, military requisitions of property and methods +followed in such operations? And the extent of the contributions levied +upon them, especially on the Belgian people?" + +To answer these questions the floor is given to: + +MINISTER DIRECTOR LEWALD: The Imperial Chancellor declines to put +before the Reichstag the material desired by Dr. Liebknecht. But he will +give information about the activities of the civil authorities in the +occupied territory on the request of the committee of the Reichstag. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: A supplementary question. How many places and +buildings were destroyed by the German authorities since the beginning +of the war for the purpose of reprisal--how many persons were arrested +and killed for the same purpose? + +PRESIDENT DR. KAEMPF: This is a new question. It is ruled out of order. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT reads the _third question_: Is the Government ready to +lay before the Reichstag without delay material concerning + +(a) Measures taken by the German military and civic authorities on the +basis of the _state of martial law_ for the suppression of the right of +assemblage and of personal liberty (prohibiting meetings, dissolving +societies, interference in private correspondence, arrests, searching of +homes, etc.), particularly the number of those put in military and +police (_cachot_) arrest without trial, during the war? Also the reason +for and length of these arrests? + +(b) The number, extent and causes of punishments inflicted during the +war upon members of the army and also the number of convicts in the +military prisons since the beginning of the war? + +MINISTER DIRECTOR LEWALD: The Imperial Chancellor declines to put before +the Reichstag the material asked by Dr. Liebknecht. (Dr. Liebknecht +shouts: That also is very characteristic.) + +PRESIDENT DR. KAEMPF: This word of Dr. Liebknecht is ruled out of order +as not permissible. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: A supplementary question. Does the Imperial +Chancellor know that in Germany the Military Authorities and Police +Authorities have established nearly everywhere dark chambers (laughter), +in which places the correspondence of people who are politically +disagreeable, among whom are Deputies of the Reichstag or Assembly, is +opened secretly?... (Great uproar. The bell of the President!) + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: I wish to protest against this autocratic suppression +of the order of business by the President and Reichstag. + +This finishes Liebknecht's questions. + + + + +LIEBKNECHT EXPELLED FROM THE SOCIAL-DEMOCRATIC PARTY + + +On January 13, 1916, by a vote of sixty to twenty-five, the Socialist +Central Committee expelled Dr. Karl Liebknecht from membership in the +Socialist Party for continuous "gross infractions of party discipline." +The majority Social-Democrats took that measure against Liebknecht for +having greatly embarrassed the Government with his questions two days +before in the Reichstag. + + + + +REICHSTAG DISCUSSION ABOUT THE CENSORSHIP + +_January 19, 1916_ + + +LIEBKNECHT was unable to obtain the floor at the general discussion. In +a personal remark after the discussion was closed he made the following +characteristic remarks: + +"Repeatedly members of this House told me that I work in the service of +the enemy, that I am a traitor. ("Very true," from the left side of the +House.) I wish to answer this by saying that I prefer being insulted by +you as a traitor or anything else, to being praised for speaking +according to your taste, as some members of the Social-Democratic group +of this House have done lately (merriment). Gentlemen, by your attitude +you show me that you wish to suppress truth and right." + + + + +JUSTICE IN GERMANY IN WAR TIME + + Twentieth Meeting of the Assembly, Friday, March 3, 1916, 11 + o'clock morning session. + + On the Ministerial Bench: Freiherr v. Schorlemer, v. Loebell and + Beseler. + + +The order of the day: Continuation of the discussion on second reading +of the budget of the Department of Justice. + +Taking part in the discussion: Assemblymen: Delbrueck (Conservative), +Reinhard (Centrum), Minister of Justice Beseler, Assemblymen Liepmann +(National Liberal), Kanzow (Progressive Peoples Party), Nissen (Dane), +v. Trampczynski (Pole) and Dr. K. Liebknecht. + + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: It must be regretted that we have no statistics +concerning certain social phenomena which mirror justice under war +conditions of to-day. Thus there are lacking statistics of the number of +bankrupts, whose places of business could not be opened on account of +lack of actual supplies; statistics concerning evictions; concerning +suits against stores which sell on credit; statistics concerning firms +which have gone out of business and statistics concerning business +events and corporations registrations, from which it might have been +possible to see to what colossal degree small concerns have been ruined +by the war. There is no information concerning the shiftings on the +real-estate market; concerning new societies formed specially for the +purpose of exacting high interest from the people. Again, we have no +accurate information as to what proportion of existing societies +increased their capital,--some of whose increases went high into the +millions. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Statistics of the war +measures would show that they are nothing but patchwork, and that +economic war-damages can be prevented only when we strike at the root of +capitalism. The war-necessity measures are sufficient only to prevent +the population from resorting, as best they can, against frightful +economic injuries. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Such statistics +would give us an X-ray of the terrific injury and destruction which the +war has caused and continually causes the economic body of capitalism; +an X-ray picture of the capitalistic elephantiasis which the war has +brought into being (laughter from the right side of the House) in most +branches of big business, and a picture of the tearing apart of the +middle class and the accelerated proletarization of the masses. ("Very +true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Such a picture would show us the truth of the +well-known phrase: "Socialism whither we are tending." The extent of +crime is not indicated, only by cases brought to court. There exists +to-day surely a greater divergence than ever before between real +criminality and that brought before justice. With reference to the +crimes which come to justice statistics are lacking, and apart from +that, the accused is kept secretly hidden from the population, first by +the tendency, increasing more and more, to exclude the public from +trials and then by the censor,--which makes it impossible for the public +to get a clear picture of criminal justice. Thus the _Vorwaerts_ is +forbidden to report without permission of the censor anything concerning +arrests made ("Hear, hear!" by the Soc.-Dem.). To report political +matters which could cause excitement is absolutely forbidden to the +_Vorwaerts_. Thus a while ago the _Vorwaerts_ could not write a syllable +of the imminent discharge from prison of Madame Dr. Rosa Luxemburg +("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.), and could only, later on, report the +resulting discharge. It seems that the authorities were conscious of the +fact that the announcement of her imminent discharge would bring out a +great mass of the population to express their sympathies for Madame Dr. +Luxemburg. In spite of the prohibiting order of the censor there were, +as is known, a great number of men and women who received and welcomed +Madame Luxemburg. Further it was reported that March 22nd was the date +fixed for the trial against the _Internationale_ magazine (Rosa +Luxemburg and Franz Mehring endeavored to publish in Germany a Socialist +monthly under the title of _The International_, to voice the views of +the Anti-War section of the German Social-Democratic Party. The +magazine was suppressed and the editors jailed. _S. Z._), in which Rosa +Luxemburg, Clara Zetkin and Franz Mehring were accused. Of that also the +_Vorwaerts_ could not mention a single syllable. ("Hear, hear!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) + +Furthermore, it has become a rule of the censor that no report is +permitted of trials which refer in any way to peace demonstrations and +to riots on account of lack of food, so that the population shall not +get an idea in what numbers such trials are taking place. Statistics in +regard to sentences imposed on account of frauds involving military +supplies would be important,--which are happening very often; statistics +in regard to sentences on account of bribery in order to obtain +contracts for military supplies, offenses which flourished especially at +the beginning of the war. Of great value would be statistics in regard +to cases in which the state interfered on account of furnishing war +material to enemy states. As you know, in the period of the war, a +semi-official warning was issued against the inclination in big business +circles even during the war to furnish the enemy war material in a +roundabout way through the neutral states. ("Hear, hear!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) The official notification accentuated the fact that this +roundabout subterfuge through neutral countries is so plain that there +cannot be any doubt that the capitalistic circles concerned were +entirely conscious of the far-reaching effect of their action. ("Hear, +hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) A very noted senator in Luebeck (Luebeck is one +of three German Republics, _S. Z._), for instance, has been for a long +time under arrest for treason, because he put his Swedish copper mines +at the disposition of the Russians. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) +These cases must have increased, otherwise the official warning would be +unexplainable. You know how international business is related, +especially Big Business. The kinship exists, even if in changed form, +and naturally continues even now. You know that this kinship, especially +in the field of the armament industry,--(bell of the President). + +ASSEMBLYMAN ADOLF HOFFMAN: "Now comes the holy of holies!" + +VICE-PRESIDENT DR. KRAUSE: "I cannot see what that has to do with the +administration of justice and its responsibilities. We cannot now go +into a discussion of the censor and the capitalistic mischief, as you +call it." + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: I demand statistics which will show in how many cases +indictments were brought on account of such offenses. When in this +connection I point out the international kinship of capitalism, in war +contracts supplying German cannons to foreign countries, I believe I am +speaking to the point which is now open for discussion. In reality +German soldiers were shot by Krupp cannon which were furnished to +foreign countries. (Most of the Belgium cannons were Krupp cannons. _S. +Z._) (Lively "Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +VICE-PRESIDENT DR. KRAUSE: "The connection of this with the Department +of Justice is difficult for any logically-thinking man to find. I call +you to the question." ("Bravo!" at the right side of the House.) + +ASSEMBLYMAN DR. LIEBKNECHT: We are also without comprehensive statistics +in regard to the inmates of our prisons. We obtained in Committee only a +few communications, according to which the number of inmates of the +prisons of the Department of Justice had diminished, in so far as the +men are concerned, but the number of sentences imposed on women +increased. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Later it was communicated +to us that in the prisons of our Department of Justice there are an +extraordinary number of sentenced soldiers, whom the authorities had to +take there, because the military and fort prisons are entirely +overfilled. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) In the Prisons of the +Prussian Department of Justice there are at present 5000 prisoners. And +prisons which are under the control of the Minister of the Interior are +certainly being strongly demanded by military prisoners. It is a fact, +however, in very many cases, that sentenced soldiers are not entering +upon their sentences immediately, but are serving in the army. The +decrease in the number of prison inmates can also for the greatest part +be attributed to the pardons granted. In many cases it was decided, that +even without granting a pardon there should be a postponement in the +execution of the sentence, even an interruption in the fulfillment of +the sentence, in order that the soldiers concerned could be brought to +the barracks or into the trenches. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) +Referring to the question of the release of prisoners, the ex-convict in +the army was discussed in Committee. According to my experience, it is +in war that the ex-convicts, those who were ostracized in civil life, +have particularly shown, in the most excellent way, the qualities of +human fellowship. But the danger must not be overlooked. It consists in +this--that people of criminal inclination, whose temptations are greater +in the dangers which are facing them, are in the army in great numbers. +("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Our great responsibility towards the +defenseless population in the occupied territories must therefore give +us special concern. German papers commented bitterly when prisons were +opened in foreign countries in order that the inhabitants could enter +the army. But to a certain degree that happened also here in Germany. I +do not want to assert that the majority of excesses which happened in +the occupied territories against the civil population, the cruelties +which carry a special personal stamp, and which surpass the real war +cruelties, are committed particularly by discharged convicts--at all +events the question deserves special attention. It is important to note, +further, that our civil justice takes in to-day only a very small part +of the male population, as those who are called to the colors are under +the jurisdiction of the courts martial. There are courts martial also +for the civil population, as you know, especially in the provinces of +the frontier. Statistics are also lacking as to the doings of these +military courts. From the decrease of prisoners we cannot draw a +favorable conclusion as to the criminality of to-day. The source of +crime flows without interruption. The entire activity of justice is a +circulus vitiosus, a faulty short conclusion. Neglect leads to crime, +penalty to the increase of social weakness, to demoralization, to new +crime, new sentence and so on. Crime is a constitutional disease of +bourgeois society. (Laughter at the right side of the House.) What is +the condition at the roots of crimes during war? The first root is the +strengthening of the social causes of crime, the distress of the +population, the increase in the cost of living, the ruin of the family. +In order to examine the social roots of war criminality, the report of +the Trade Council Inspectors would be important--which unfortunately we +do not receive during the war. But by banishing these facts in a dark +chamber, they are not kept from the world. When the material in regard +to the secret social history of the war will finally be presented, +humanity will be terrified at the horrors which have shown themselves. +("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +I come now to the second root of war criminality. Mr. Kanzow +(Assemblyman of the Progressive People's Party) called Right one of the +holiest gods of the people. To-day Right is in a state of siege. How is +the principle of Right compatible with the principle of Might; how can +the idea of Right live in the atmosphere of war psychology, which means +a destruction of the fundamentals of all that is right? The conception: +"Might goes before Right," "Necessity Knows no Law," must pull down all +safeguards of law. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) The question as to +how the Ten Commandments stand to-day we hardly need to open. ("Very +true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) To-day it is not: "Love thy neighbor," but +kill thy neighbor! (The bell of the President.) + +VICE-PRESIDENT DR. KRAUSE: By such method you could throw the entire +world into the circle of your examination. ("Very true," and laughter at +the right side of the House.) + +ASSEMBLYMAN ADOLF HOFFMAN (Soc.-Dem.): "Justice has nothing to do with +right!" + +ASSEMBLYMAN DR. LIEBKNECHT: How would it be possible to speak about +criminology without considering it as a social phenomenon? ("Very true!" +from the Soc.-Dem.) When we wish to speak about criminality during war +we certainly must consider the special social phenomena of the war which +lead to crime! Justice is indeed not only the concern of the employees +of the Department of Justice, but the affair of the entire people. +("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) It is generally recognized to-day that +crime is to be considered a social disease. That war psychology is +responsible for preliminaries for the increase of crime is clear. Many a +sharp word could be said on this point, many a lash with the whip could +be given to the bourgeoisie society, but because the President does not +wish it, I will have to be silent about that which should also be said. +When Assemblyman Schenk von Schweinsburg said recently that the war +should not end very soon, lest after the war we shall again face such +conditions as in 1870--then I say, that from the present war no moral +regeneration can grow; from blood no innocence can grow; from might no +right can grow. The Apocalyptic rider rides even over righteousness and +tramples the seed of righteousness. + +The crime among the young is an especially serious phenomenon which can +be recognized in its entire importance only in connection with the +increased death rates of the young and the death rates of children, and +with the increased commitments to the reformatory. According to the +investigation of the _Zentrale fuer Jugendfuersorge_ (Headquarters of the +Welfare Society for the Youth), criminality among youths between twelve +and fourteen years has increased almost twice. ("Hear, hear!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) This increase touches also the youth of fourteen to sixteen +and naturally increases with the duration of the war. Offenses on +account of need and offenses on account of neglect of youth play an +important role. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Statistics would be +important which would show the relation between criminality and the +increase in the cost of living and the increase of the calls to the +army. The ruin of the family, insufficient education, need of better +housing, the partial abolition of laws protecting youth, all help to +increase criminality among the youth. To-day the youth of the +proletariat is in the position described in the melancholy song: +_Maikoefer fliege, dein Vater ist im Kriege_. (May-bug fly, your father +is in the war.) ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) The state took its +protecting hand away from the children; it is replaced by the +reformatory and criminal justice, in order to meet these phenomena of +human misery. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Added to that are the +moral causes, the contradiction of the entire present state of affairs +of Christian morality as preached in peace time; the entire morale of +bourgeoisie society is overturned. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) How +the old are singing, the young are twittering! The neglect of the youth +is a natural result of neglect of the entire human race in this war, the +neglect of our entire culture. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +Now commissioned officers are put into the schools to drum morality into +the youth; outside of the schools also a strong militarization of the +youth will take place. All kinds of demands for extreme reaction shoot +luxuriantly into blossom. In fact there was recently demanded the +restriction of free emigration of the youth from place to place. ("Hear, +hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +VICE-PRESIDENT DR. KRAUSE: All your last reproaches are not referring to +the administration of the Department of Justice. I call you for the +second time to the question, and call your attention to the resulting +consequences, according to the order of business. + +ASSEMBLYMAN DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: In time of peace it was possible to +discuss thoroughly in this connection the causes of criminality. Now +they try to muzzle me. ("Very true!" calls from the Soc.-Dem. "Even in +Parliament!") That is plainly impossible. (The bell of the President.) + +VICE-PRESIDENT DR. KRAUSE: I refuse to permit any criticism of the way I +preside. Certainly the discussion on the budget is the suitable place +for discussing all those social matters, but not in the section on the +Department of Justice's administration. This belongs to the general +discussion. + +ASSEMBLYMAN DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: I made my remarks in close connection +with the deliberation of the method for decreasing criminality among +youth. It is not possible to discuss criminality without discussing the +complex social conditions on which it grows. The Minister of Justice is +deeply interested in those methods which must be considered in +decreasing crimes. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +Another branch of material and spiritual misery is the increase of crime +among women. The President would not permit me to go into details to +show that just as crimes among the young go together with reform +schools, so criminology among women goes hand in hand with prostitution. +To discuss this matter in great detail is, according to the instructions +of the President, not suitable for this place. In criminality among +women, offenses because of misery and offenses because of neglect play +an important role, especially miscarriages. The campaign of our +Department of Justice against birth control is a particular chapter of +special importance which demands also sharp criticism. Birth control is +fought particularly on account of its danger to the military strength of +the people. We find that our criminal law, especially of late, has taken +sharp measures against abortion, in order to protect our army strength. +The women who are very often in most difficult distress, are forced to +give birth to future defenders of the Fatherland. I must protest against +this kind of procedure from the Department of Justice which defends +bayoneting the womb of the mother. (Great laughter at right side of the +House.) Previously not so much attention was given to the welfare of the +youth, to the remedy for crimes among the young. All these matters +attracted great interest only when they began to be considered from the +point of view of Militarism, in the light of the army strength of the +people. That is how irritability is to be explained when those questions +are touched. Sentences on offenses on account of neglect and offenses on +account of want in their severity present a great contrast to the mild +sentences against the profiteers of the necessities of life, those +vampires on the strength of the people. ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) This justice functioning strongly against the unfortunate +ones, who through social misery fell under the wheels of the law, and +the milder sentences on those dangerous hyenas of the battlefield, +gentlemen of high position, gentlemen from wealthy strata, show most +clearly that the class character of the present society is not +abolished during the war, but is aggravated, if that were at all +possible. All this in spite of the party truce and in spite of the +phrase "I know no parties any longer." (Liebknecht refers here to the +phrase of the Kaiser. _S. Z._) Also political justice did not cease to +any extent during the war. I wish to remind you of the way the +_schutzhaft_ (That is, confinement in prison till the end of the war. +_S. Z._) is treated now as a sentence without trial, without verdict, as +a punishment without any guaranties under the code of criminal +procedure. The relation between the military dictatorship and justice +also needs examination. Upon the searching of houses, which casts on our +justice the deepest shadow, the so-called Schutzhaft follows. Those who +are in the Schutzhaft cannot defend themselves in any way. The word +Schutzhaft taken literally means a "safe place," exactly the contrary of +what it really is. Those in Schutzhaft are not even in a position to get +the advice of counsel. Here in Berlin the authorities having +jurisdiction over the Schutzhaft are treating the lawyers very roughly +and excluding them more and more. An attempt of Attorney Weinberg to +obtain the interference of the Bar Association of Berlin against this +undeserved treatment was unfortunately put down by the Bar Association. +Hundreds and hundreds are or have been in the Schutzhaft for months, +yes, ever since the beginning of the war. A special light is thrown upon +this situation by some political trials also. In the criminal trials +against Westkamp and comrades in Duesseldorf the defendants were first +taken under the Schutzhaft, then under preventative arrest. In court the +warrant of arrest was withdrawn, but in spite of that, they were again +taken from the court room to prison, in Schutzhaft. ("Hear, hear!" from +the Soc.-Dem.) The result was that the appeals had to be given up, in +order not to extend their arrest, I do not know how long. My comrade +Caston in Duesseldorf was taken in preventative arrest one month before +trial began. The order for this arrest was rescinded, but he was held in +Schutzhaft until the beginning of the trial, and although he was +acquitted, he was taken back and interned in Schutzhaft again. ("Hear, +hear!" from the Soc.-Dem. Shouts "_The Russian Way!_") Now look at the +Prussia which was selected in this war to liberate the Russian people +from czarism. (Uproar on the right. "Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem. +Shouts from the Soc.-Dem. "Liberation is necessary here!") + +There is the case of Caston, in which the Imperial Chancellor was asked +for redress, but naturally in vain, because the sword of justice is now +in the hands of the military powers, its scales also, and behind the +figure of Justice grins Militarism. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem. +Laughter from the right.) + +The beginning of political trials under the party truce is as follows: +The military authorities hand over any kind of work, book or other kind +of material to the prosecuting attorney, with the instruction to +interfere. A very invidious role for our Justice! _Justitia Fundamentum +Regnorum_ (Justice is the foundation of states). No,--_Militarismus +Fundamentum Regnorum!_ (Militarism is the foundation of states!) Our +Justice does not know parties any longer, wherever there are not any +parties, where they capitulated before the military dictatorship. But +she knows very well parties when they have remained in opposition. There +is a very fine distinction in recognizing and considering only a certain +wing in the Social Democracy as a party, which for this wing is +considered a great honor. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem. Laughter on +the right.) This was expressed practically in the trial against my +comrade Walcher for distributing leaflets, of which the District +Attorney of District Court I in Berlin said in the indictment that the +leaflets were directed particularly against the majority wing of the +Social-Democratic representation in the Reichstag. The majority wing and +their policy are for the Department of Justice a particularly holy +object, and on different occasions expressing doubt as to this policy or +hindering the same was worked up in trials by the District Attorney as a +kind of new crime. The indictment against the said Walcher reads: "At +the same time the leaflet contains at the end an appeal to those workmen +who are not in accord with the policy accepted by the majority wing of +the Social-Democratic representation in the Reichstag, by violence to +alienate supporters of the majority Social-Democratic Party. To say +that the public peace is endangered by such action; I need not explain." +("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) We can be only very thankful to you +when by such methods you clarify over and over again the "Party truce" +(_Burgfrieden_), and in that way admit the correctness of our policy; in +that way you naturally attain only the contrary of what you wish to +attain. + +The editor of the _Vorwaerts_ (Dr. Meyer) was indicted on account of his +book against the actions of responsible and irresponsible inciters to +annexation and on account of another work, "WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE +WAR," where he says what every one could say in Germany until July 29, +1914, and what was also said by your parties. In this pamphlet those who +are responsible for the kindling of the world war were pointed out. Dr. +Meyer, it is true, was acquitted, against the motion of the District +Attorney. + +The paragraphs about agitation, disturbance of the peace, high treason, +etc., are interpreted more and more loosely. Placing one class in a less +favorable light than another is now considered as inciting to +discontent. Every energetic peace move is prosecuted according to the +criminal code. At the Police Headquarters in Berlin a special commission +was appointed to try those who are arrested on account of peace +propaganda. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) This, surely enough, is +not only a German but an international phenomenon. Like Comrade Castor, +a number of Social-Democrats in Italy were also indicted on account of +distributing the Zimmerwald peace manifesto. In Italy the Zimmerwald +peace manifesto was declared not punishable, but in Duesseldorf it was +punishable. + +Furthermore, a number of persons were prosecuted on account of +distributing the peace manifesto adopted in Bern at the International +Women's Conference. Among others Clara Zetkin was arrested for the +distribution of the manifesto mentioned. She was arrested for treason +because she engaged in peace propaganda. The French Socialist Louise +Soumonneau was arrested for that also, but acquitted. In Germany the +proceedings are still pending, and so far as I can judge, there does not +exist any inclination to follow the good example of France. But the fact +that an Internationale of enemies of peace get together, with the help +of the Department of Justice, to fight the peace propaganda shows the +condition of the Christian foundation of our present culture. ("Very +true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) If defending the peace idea, if the +proclamation of the international proletariat class struggle against +war, is treason, then it is an honor to be reproached as a traitor. +("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) For us, who see our country in the +Internationale of the proletariat, it is impossible thus to be deceived +by the Department of Justice. But the administration of the Department +of Justice should consider if it is not the highest insult to our +present order of society to consider work for peace and against the +murdering of the people as treason! The Administration of the +Department of Justice, it seems, felt no breath of this Christian +spirit. Equal rights for all in our time? Peace propagandists are +prosecuted, war instigators not. War propaganda is considered as a +special political duty. Why are not capitalists prosecuted and +authorities who, under the threat of sending the working people to the +trenches, prevent them from putting forward demands to improve their +condition, prevent them in that way from going on strike? Why are not +those prosecuted for provocation who withhold from the people the rights +promised to them at the outbreak of the war, and who are accusing the +women of waste and gluttony? Why are not food profiteers prosecuted? + +They who conspire to violate an agreement are committing treason. ("Very +true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) High treason has come to be, in a certain +sense, a noble crime. There are certain places in Germany to-day, +especially in prison camps, where high treason is conceived, high +treason other than that just mentioned by me. (Liebknecht refers here to +plots about the Irish Revolution in the German prison camps. _S. Z._) In +1904 German citizens were indicted for high treason against czarism. +To-day those who breed revolutions are high traitors. (Great +disturbance. Shouts--"That's the limit!") + +VICE-PRESIDENT DR. KRAUSE: For the unworthy expression that the +Government breeds high treason, I call you to order. According to our +rules I could ask the House if you should speak any further. (Cries of +dissent from the Soc.-Dem.) I shall not do so yet, but if you continue +in that way I will have to do it. + +ASSEMBLYMAN DR. LIEBKNECHT: On account of writing and publishing a poem, +death sentence was pronounced, which later on was commuted to five +years' imprisonment. There exists a country, where conditions are even +worse than in Germany, and that is not Russia, but Austria. Only here +and there a cry of distress comes through to the civilized countries. +(Continual disturbance.) If in capitalistic society justice is the veil +of force, the war has torn aside this veil and the legend of the +Christian state, just like the legend of the constitutional state, +vanished over the entire world. One of the most important and proudest +philosophies of bourgeois society is crushed under the blows of the +world war; that can be said also about international law. Even a member +of this House (presumably he means Prof. Liszt, teacher of Law in the +University of Berlin. _S. Z._) revised his handbook on international +law, in order to defend as not contrary to international law all German +methods used in carrying on this war. Just as science, art, religion and +humanity, broke down in this volcanic eruption, so justice broke down +too. In the Budget Committee the Minister of Justice promised to +prohibit German law students from studying law in cities of the neutral +countries where there is a strong sentiment against the German. If that +system were applied to all higher institutions of learning, in which an +unfriendly view against Germany is manifested, then the whole world +would be closed to German students. We protest against drawing such +chauvinistic conclusions from the occurrences at Geneva and Lausanne, +and we protest that the extent of race hatred, under which the whole +world is suffering at present, is exaggerated. ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) The clemency decrees were so much praised here that we must +think that to-day even clemency itself is used for war purposes. (Great +disturbance.) On account of these considerations the clemency decrees +must be examined very critically. + +What future prospects has our Justice? The source of war criminality +will flourish more and more, the longer the war lasts; and will not the +lowering of the entire standard of living through enormous pressure, +lead to this--that the whip of need should be even after the war one of +the long-remaining acquisitions of our great time? ("Very true!" from +the Soc.-Dem.) Will not the war ethics, the stirred-up inclinations to +acts of violence, that "Necessity knows no law" and "Might goes before +right," produce effects of which we shall be afraid? The passions which +were unshackled by our present order of society cannot be gotten rid of +so quickly. Sodom and Gomorrha are not yet destroyed and with the +sharpening of the class struggle political justice and reaction will +also grow sharper. Those are the prospects for the future. There is in +prospect for the future of humanity in Europe a morale, physical and +economic, bled white. For us it follows inevitably from this side of +our social life that we should put all our strength into the +international class struggle against the war, in order to enforce peace +by the will of the people. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) The cries +of distress from the prisons and penitentiaries and places of misery +which cannot reach the public will sound one fine day more clearly in +the ears of those who now stop their ears and will help to wake up +humanity to the only holy struggle known by us Social-Democrats,--for +peace against war, against the capitalistic order of society, for +Socialism! (Lively applause from the Soc.-Dem. Great disturbance.) + +(After this masterful exposition by Liebknecht of the condition of +justice in Germany, the Minister of Justice of Prussia, Beseler, took +the floor for some general statements, ending by saying: "I refuse to +give an answer to Dr. Liebknecht.") + + + + +THE SITUATION IN AUSTRIA + + +(At the same meeting Assemblymen Nissen (Dane) and v. Trampcynski (Pole) +protested against the prosecution of their nationalities by the +authorities of the Department of Justice. To them the Minister of +Justice gave no definite reply. This situation gave Liebknecht another +chance and he took the floor again to add his protest and by a few +remarks to show the conditions existing in Austria, Germany's ally.) + +DR. LIEBKNECHT: The disciplining of a nationality living in Prussia fits +exactly into the general picture which I just sketched. Such a +"liberation" of our Danish compatriots I took as certain. The Minister +of Justice limited himself to general remarks about my speech, saying +that I resorted to insults. In that way he thought to provide himself a +comfortable retreat. I have no desire, after such words, to concern +myself any longer with the Minister of Justice. Only at one point I +shall have to add something, and that is in relation to his denial of my +remarks about the conditions in Austria. The Minister of Justice +represented that my facts had been invented. But in Austria +courts-martial are carrying out a true regime of terror, such as was not +carried on in the worst days in Russia. (Lively "Hear, hear!" from the +Soc.-Dem.--continued noise from the majority parties.) I have the +material in my hands. ("Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) In Austria +there is no possibility of discussing those things from the tribune of a +Parliament. (Continued noise and shouts from the majority parties to +finish the debate.) + +ASSEMBLYMAN STROeBEL (Soc.-Dem.): You make yourselves accomplices of +those bloody sentences. (Again continued noise.) + +DR. LIEBKNECHT, continuing: In a few months hundreds of years of hard +labor were decreed and also the death sentence which I mentioned before, +and which was pronounced by a military court on account of the poem I +spoke of before. (Lively "Hear, hear!" from the Soc.-Dem. Commotion +among the majority.) One of my party comrades was sentenced to death on +account of a so-called seditious speech. + +(A few other sentences of the speech remain unheard on account of the +noise among the majority parties in the House. That closes the debate. +The Budget is approved.) + + + + +EDUCATION IN GERMANY DURING WAR + +MEETING OF THE PRUSSIAN ASSEMBLY + +March 16th, 1916, 11 o'Clock Morning Session + + On the Ministerial Bench: V. Trott zu Solz (Minister of Religion + and Education). + + The subject of discussion was: The Education and Religion Budget, + and as a special topic: The Higher Schools of Prussia. + + Taking part in the discussion: Dr. Karl Liebknecht (Social + Democrat), Wilderman (Centrum), Frhr. v. Zedlitz (Free + Conservative), Minister (Progressive People's Party). + + +In this discussion Liebknecht exposes the method and system of teaching +in the higher schools of Germany and gives full play to his great +courage. "The ideal _classical education lies in the spirit of +independence and humanity_," he exclaimed. And, addressing himself to +this reactionary parliament, he added: "Your ideal of classical +education is '_the ideal of the bayonet, of the bombshell, of poison gas +and grenades, which are hurled down on peaceful cities, and the ideal of +submarine warfare_.'" + +He also proves that an educational system cannot be separated from +social conditions and demands, along with a reform of the entire school +system, particularly that promotion from the primary school to the high +school shall not be considered any longer an act of charity but a right +to be demanded for every able pupil. + +His remarks brought out a cyclone of protest. Liebknecht was twice +recalled to the subject and thrice to order, and as the President +inquired of the House after the third call to order if it wished to +listen to the speaker any longer, the entire house, with the exception +of the small group of Social-Democrats, voted that he be denied the +floor. In this way they avoided listening to Liebknecht's indictments. + + +DR. LIEBKNECHT: The real character of capitalistic society is shown in +inequality of education, especially the inequality of the Prussian state +with its three-class system of voting, in the three-class system of +education: primary schools, higher schools, universities. The +educational system cannot be separated from social conditions. In order +to acquire education, time and economic opportunities are necessary. +Education in the capitalistic order of society is not an aim in itself. +Utilitarianism dominates our education. The higher schools serve as +preparatory institutes for higher official positions, whereas the +primary schools teach the fundamentals which serve to make tools for +capitalistic society. Social misfortunes come to the surface now more +than ever before: overcrowding of the classes, insufficient rooms, +scarcity of teachers, frequent change of teachers, undernourishment and +overfatigue of the children, and child labor. Especially does +undernourishment weaken the health of the proletariat and thus hinder +even the limited educational work of the primary school. But more than +ever before the primary school is used to-day in order to make firm the +position of the ruling classes, to capture the souls of the young +proletariat for the ruling class, for Militarism. When we think of all +that, we recognize how urgently the proletariat must work for a +fundamental reform of the entire school system. + +Neglect of youth through the war cannot be denied, exists in spite of +all camouflage. There is not enough rain in the heavens to wash away +this sin from the bourgeois form of society. Improvement of this +condition can be obtained only by sharp criticism. When one sees +that,--as happened to people at the Berlin Police Headquarters,--young +working girls 16 and 17 years old, who were arrested for some reason, +are told: "_You should be put against the wall and shot down_" ("Hear, +hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.)--then it must be recognized that we really do +not live in an age where class differences do not exist and where the +entire people stands united, but that, on the contrary, dissimilarities +are intensified now in the most inciting way. Where is, in face of this +fact, the sensitive German nature about which there is so much +discussion here? + +Very desirable would be statistics as to how few children of the +proletariat on account of existing institutions have obtained +opportunity to reach a higher school education; then the unimportance +of these few will be recognized, when compared with the millions and +millions to whom the road to all the splendor and magnificence which the +human spirit can receive, is closed. The amendments proposed (he refers +to amendments which will make it easier for able pupils of the primary +school to attend the higher schools in larger numbers than had been the +case; another amendment introduced by Dr. Porsch (Centrum) proposed that +the so-called Rektorat-Schools, which are for procuring a higher +education for moneyless pupils, should be supported--_S. Z._), are +merely patchwork experiment, because what is proposed will be to the +advantage only of the poor bourgeoisie, but not of the proletariat. +Don't you really sense what it means, when they try to make the pathway +to higher education an act of grace, whereas in reality it is an +original human right? The mass of the people will feel that instead of +their rights there is given to them _Bettelsuppen_ (coarse soup made of +black bread). Certainly only to such proletarian children will those +privileges be accorded, whose souls, which make them independent, are +already broken, who are robbed of their class consciousness and who +become accessories of capitalist society. And at the same time these +laughable experiments are presented to the people with a +self-sufficiency which makes it possible for them to recognize very well +the insincerity of the ruling classes. In closing educational +opportunities we see a brutal waste of spiritual energies, a waste of +human strength in the treadmill of mechanical labor, the denial of +human economy. It is as plain as law that the children of the +proletariat are held down by darkness of the soul. Touching is the +description of Dante who walks with Virgil through the forest of the +spirits which have not sinned, but have suffered because they did not +receive baptism; to-day it is because they are deprived of money! ("Very +true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +Considering the magnitude of the World War you and also the Christian +parties do not think of saving these starving ones, damned by +Capitalism. You try to give an impression that something is being done. + +By these Amendments you try to give an impression of wishing to throw +open the road to education to the people also, but that is because +Capitalism requires educated soldiers. You similarly replace the human +losses in the war by giving commissions to non-commissioned officers +because the dregs of the proletariat are required for service. The +tendencies of the amendment show how necessary it is to destroy the +demagogism and the deceit which took form in them. (President Graf +Schwerin-Loewitz calls the speaker to order.) After their experiences in +war time the proletariat will not allow itself to be duped. + +Assemblyman v. d. Osten said, that the uniform system of education leads +towards differentiation. But the truth is that capitalism makes the +great mass of the people uniform in the most brutal way and +differentiates the people only in classes, and makes impossible the real +differentiation among the classes of the people and through the whole +people. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) + +Assemblyman Oelze spoke here yesterday in glowing terms of education, +science and ideals. But instruction in history has been for a long time +systematically used to inculcate certain political sentiments in the +pupils. The higher schools especially have been for years places to +exercise this practice and in these higher schools hatred against +England was systematically developed, which seed has now sprouted in +such glorious fashion. The propaganda of the _Navy Society_ in the +higher schools demonstrates strikingly the whole spirit of the system of +teaching. The world's history has been _ad usum delphim_ turned into a +political fiction. Not political truth, not objective knowledge, but the +opposite are the main features of what you teach. In German teaching the +soul of youth should have a chance to develop freely. But what are the +themes put to our children? They are set to write patriotic editorials, +and certain phases of war patriotism are taught them. In that way we sow +the seeds of falsehood. This procedure following advice from above is a +cancerous disease for the entire school system. You will not obtain any +advantages, even among the students of the higher schools who come from +the bourgeois class. This most awkward method of strengthening your +class rule will work against you. + +And instruction in religion? By means of the most skillful dialect and +by pedagogical methods was bridged over the chasm between religion and +war, between Christianity and mass-murder. ("Very true!" from the +Soc.-Dem.) The curtain of the temple is torn. But what spiritual +embarrassment comes to our children, when they hear of the Lord, who is +the Lord of all people, that is,--if I may use this word in this +connection,--an international God, a God of the entire humanity, when +this God of charity is claimed by each nation for itself and for the +war! I asked my child, who had to learn the catechism by heart +(instruction in religion is obligatory in Prussia. _S. Z._), if the +teacher always said: "Love thy neighbor as thyself!" The child answered: +"No, we should not love the Russians, Frenchmen and Englishmen!" ("Hear, +hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) How is that reconcilable? The most beautiful +pedagogy is that which reacts not through words, but through vision and +good example. But what shall children who are instructed in religion say +to the occurrences of the present? Here religion naturally cannot +become, as Christianity demands, an element penetrating the entire life +and determining each action, but something entirely different. From this +contrast you cannot escape and least of all when not the religion of +brotherly love but that of Baal is the religion of the world and when +even the children understand that in this war the main point is the +interest of capitalist society. + +One can pray again and again and still remain an inciter of war. To-day +an attempt is made to influence the children of the working people +toward the conception of life of the ruling class, of the capitalist +class, of the class of exploiters (shouts from the right part of the +House) toward the conception of life of war and mass killing. And how is +higher education inculcated in the occupied territories? When the first +school was reopened in Belgrade, a paper published there by the +Austrians stated that Servia committed a great sin when it fought +against Austria. (He could not go any further.) + +PRESIDENT GRAF SCHWERIN-LOeWITZ: The Servian schools have nothing to do +with the Budget. I recall you to the subject. + +LIEBKNECHT (continuing): The higher schools are also used as practical +helpers in the service of the present war. A systematic propaganda is +conducted in them for the war loans, and gold is collected in them. This +militarization of the schools has been characterized even by some parts +of the bourgeoisie as a questionable act. In the schools they have +already started to educate the human beings up to being war machines. +The schools are converted into training stables for the war. The +physical upbuilding of the youth is encouraged now to attract new +material for the Moloch, Militarism. Strengthening especially human +health has thus as its aim the destruction of human life. I do not want +to examine here how war psychology can reconcile itself to the +foundations of our entire education. + +Now I can speak only about the higher schools. Mr. Oelze demanded +yesterday that Militarism should be introduced to greater extent in the +higher schools, that Militarism should be the all-prevailing spirit. He +(Mr. Oelze) defined Militarism as complete subordination to discipline. +According to our conception Militarism means the opposite of imposed +discipline. ("Very true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Moreover, the military +spirit has penetrated the school system to such a high degree that I +don't know what else is left for Mr. Oelze to ask for. In committee it +was said also in the bourgeois section that unilateral military +education leads to brutalizing the youth. But that does not frighten +you, when your holy of holies, Militarism, is helped. You want liberty +only for the ruling classes and oppression for the great masses. ("Very +true!" from the Soc.-Dem.) You abhor the free mind because it will mean +the twilight of the gods of the ruling classes. Classical education of +to-day is only a parody on real classic education. Classics surely do +not consist in driving home languages and some other knowledge of facts, +but their essence is the spirit of humanism, the spirit of independence, +of clear vision, of criticism, of everything which is felt to be +harmful. This is the real freedom of the spirit. The ideal of the +bayonet, of the bombshell, of poison gas and grenades which are hurled +down on peaceful cities, the ideal of submarine warfare, that is +something quite different. (Uneasiness and laughter from the Right +parties of the House.) This is the truth which I oppose to your +endeavors to mask the reality of things. According to an edict of +Governor von Schwerin of Frankfort-a-O., it was ordered that the +feeling for general fraternization, for the brotherhood of the people, +for the international peace enthusiasm should be stamped out. ("Hear, +hear!" from the Soc.-Dem.) Our enemies' deeds of shame against the +Germans must not be excused, but only hatred and revolt must be aroused +from those acts. We declare that to be a misuse of the schools of the +worst kind. That is your spirit of humanism. Mr. V. Canyre spoke about +softening the bones of ideas (_osteomalacia_), against which such a +propaganda must work in the school. But if it is true that the duty to +tell the truth is the aim of all education, then something entirely +different must be taught. In school must be taught, how this war arose, +not only that the abominable murder of Sarajevo was an incident to +inspire horror, but also the fact that the crime of Sarajevo was looked +upon in many circles as a gift from Heaven, serving them as a war +pretext. (He could not continue. The parties of the Right side of the +House broke out in cat-calls which became louder and louder. The +Assemblymen had raised themselves from their seats in great excitement +and left the room with continual shouts: "Put him out, put him out." +Assemblyman Liebknecht shouts to them: "Go out! You flee before the +truth, you can't hear the truth!") + +PRESIDENT GRAF SCHWERIN-LOeWITZ (who has rung the bell for a long time in +vain): I call you to order for the second time, and I call your +attention to the fact that in case you are called to order for a third +time I shall ask the House if it wishes to listen to you further. + +ASSEMBLYMAN LIEBKNECHT: I have told you only what I heard with my own +ears. + +The aim of humanistic education is that of complete freedom, a high, +ideal aim. Out of this spirit, great pedagogues such as Pestalozzi +demanded the unity of the school system. The school of to-day serves +only purposes of expediency. This is true also of the universities. The +spirit of Militarism corrodes the foundation of our entire educational +system. Art and science also are restrained. (President Graf +Schwerin-Loewitz: Please speak about the higher institutions of +learning.) The same phenomenon can be noticed also in the higher school +system. While it is the task of primary schools to make the youth of the +proletariat tools for the capitalistic order of society, it is the task +of the higher schools to prepare the youth of the ruling classes for the +great work which they have to perform in present society. In the +discussion of the question of the admission of foreigners to the +schools, Mr. v. Savigny declared in the committee meeting that the +admission of foreigners to German schools before (this war) was in order +to gain sympathy in foreign countries and in that way to obtain +indirectly political and economic advantages. This is true German +idealism which comes to light here. + +On the same level can be placed the present instruction about the +conditions in the Orient in the higher schools. It is being taught to +greater effect than before. Thus the higher schools also are converted +into an instrument of propaganda for economic purposes, which are back +of this war. + +This war, which has destroyed so much, has also destroyed the last +vestige of the bourgeois ideal of education, and to the surface came the +viewpoint of the pure utilitarianism in education. The technical quality +of teaching is also very much damaged by the war. Just as the Thirty +Years' War acted in ravaging and destroying in the educational field, +the present war is acting. (Assemblyman Hoffman, Soc.-Dem.: "Very +true!") The new method in teaching history is a sign of barbarism, a +sign of the fight to death being fought by the educational ideal of the +bourgeoisie. I spoke before about the poem of Schiller in which it is +said: "Only a miracle can carry you into the beautiful wonderland." To +the proletariat, for the unsaved souls, this word cannot be applied. No +miracle and no blessing from above can bring the proletariat into the +wonderland, in which all the treasures and magnificence of the human +soul are to be found. And when Dante's world-epic speaks about those +unsaved souls who live without hope and longing, that is also not true +of the proletariat. It does not live without hopes, but full of +confidence. But the liberation of the working class cannot come from +such motions as put by you to-day. + +PRESIDENT SCHWERIN-LOeWITZ: I call you to the question for the second +time and call your attention to the consequences which may occur +according to the rule of business. + +ASSEMBLYMAN LIEBKNECHT: I speak about the motion, about the chance of +those who are well off to attend high schools and colleges. This +spiritual liberation can also be the deed of the working class and it is +our duty to say to the working class also on this occasion: _To action! +Those in the trenches, as well as those here at home, should put down +their arms and turn against the common enemy_, which takes from them +light and air (great disturbance on the right side of the House). + +PRESIDENT GRAF SCHWERIN-LOeWITZ: I call you to order for the third time +and ask herewith whether the House wishes to hear the speaker any +further. (Stormy applause at the right. The Assemblymen are rushing with +great speed into the House. Only the Social-Democrats vote to listen +further to the speaker. Assemblyman Liebknecht leaves the speaker's desk +amid stormy shouts from the Assemblymen of the Right. Assemblyman Adolf +Hoffman (addressing himself to the right side of the House): "_When it +comes to yelling, you are the masters._") + + + + +LIEBKNECHT PROTESTS AT BEING PREVENTED FROM DISCUSSING THE SUBMARINE +WARFARE + +_Reichstag, March 22, 1916_ + + +PRESIDENT KAEMPF presides. + +For discussion: First reading of the Budget in connection with the +taxation bill. + +PRESIDENT KAEMPF: In accordance with an understanding between the +representatives of the different parties in the Reichstag the submarine +warfare will be excluded from this discussion until further decisions of +the _Seniorenconvent_. (Committee composed of the Party Leaders to +discuss the business of the Reichstag before it is discussed in open +session. _S. Z._) The discussion of this question will take place in the +meetings of the Budget Committee in the first days of next week. + +MEMBER DR. K. LIEBKNECHT (not belonging to any party in the Reichstag, +questions the order of business): I consider it my duty to dispute the +decision (laughter). This is a question which concerns most vitally the +present public interests. Everything is done under cover and we are +brought to discuss only accomplished facts. (Great commotion and shouts +so that the following words of the speaker can't be understood very +clearly.) Very soon it will be _Tirpitz redivivus_. The people have a +right to hear the Parliament on this important question immediately. The +people have a right to demand that nothing shall be hidden from them. + +PRESIDENT KAEMPF: Please make your remarks in a parliamentary fashion, +and don't present general political considerations when you speak to the +question of the order of business. + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: In the Prussian Assembly everything is done under +cover. The same methods of concealing matters obtain as here. (Stormy +interruptions and calls: "This does not belong to the discussion about +the order of business.") I wish to protest against such a policy +injurious to the people, against the continuation of secret diplomacy in +Parliament. + + + + +REICHSTAG MEETING, MARCH 23, 1916 + + +Discussion of the Budget and taxation bill. + +Different persons spoke. + +Dr. Liebknecht asks to be recognized on the motion of closing the +discussion. + +DR. LIEBKNECHT (speaks to the question): I am sorry that under this +motion, which was directed in the first place against me, I will be +unable to say that I certainly refuse all taxes to the Government of +martial law, the government of _War ueber Alles_. (Excitement at the +right side of the House.) + +PRESIDENT KAEMPF: I must ask you to confine yourself to this discussion +of the order of business. + +MEMBER DR. LIEBKNECHT: I assert that even in the Prussian Assembly there +exists more freedom of speech than in this House. (Laughter and +excitement.) + +PRESIDENT KAEMPF: If you don't obey my orders I will be forced not to +let you talk any further to the question. + +MEMBER DR. LIEBKNECHT: It is also made impossible for me to look into +the dark chamber of our German war policies and military dictatorship. + +PRESIDENT KAEMPF: I can't give you the floor for this question any +longer. + + + + +LIEBKNECHT'S COMMENTS ON THE IMPERIAL CHANCELLOR'S SPEECH + +Reichstag Meeting, April 5, 1916 + + +On April 5, 1916, Karl Liebknecht made some sharp comments on certain +passages of the Imperial Chancellor's speech. Asserting that Germany's +aims were peaceful, the Chancellor said that Germany wanted the +"strength of quiet development" before the war. "We could have had all +we wanted by peaceful labor. Our enemies chose war." Liebknecht +retorted: "Lies, it was you who chose war." (Uproar followed, with cries +of "Scoundrel!" "Blackguard!" "Out with him!" The President at once +called Liebknecht to order.) + +Later Bethman-Hollweg made reference to the necessity of guarantees +against Belgium becoming again a vassal of France and England. "Here +also Germany cannot give over to Latinization the long-oppressed Flemish +race." Liebknecht interjected, "Hypocrisy!" "We desire to have neighbors +who will not again unite against us in order to throttle us, but with +whom we can work to our mutual advantage," said the Chancellor. +"Whereupon you suddenly fall upon them and strangle them--the invasion +of Belgium," said Liebknecht coolly. This sally caused another uproar, +Liebknecht shouting out "Invasion" whenever he got the chance. + +Towards the close of his speech the Imperial Chancellor declared that +the peace which ends this war must be a lasting peace. It must not +contain in it the seeds of new wars, but the seeds of a final peaceful +regulation of European affairs. "_Begin by making the German people +free!_" shouted Liebknecht. "Germany is only fighting in self-defense," +remarked the Chancellor. "Can any one believe that Germany is thirsting +for territory?" "Yes, certainly," roared Liebknecht as loudly as +possible. Thereupon the uproar redoubled. The President had to call the +Reichstag to order to prevent personal violence to Liebknecht. + + + + +REICHSTAG MEETING, APRIL 7, 1916 + + +VICE-PRESIDENT PAASCHE in the chair. + +On April 7, 1916, Liebknecht declared--in the Reichstag during the +discussion of the military estimates--that he had documents showing an +agreement between Herr Zimmerman, the Under Foreign Secretary, and Sir +Roger Casement, by which British prisoners were to be drilled to fight +against England. After some further remarks about Mohammedan prisoners +of war being pressed into service for Germany, Liebknecht was prevented +from speaking amid shouts of "Traitor!" from all parts of the Chamber. + +Liebknecht was able to speak later about the resignation of Von Tirpitz, +but was prevented from discussing the submarine campaign. Here is what +he said about the resignation of Von Tirpitz: + +"After the War had begun with the cry 'Against Czarism' the aim was soon +shifted westward." (Vice-President Paasche: "To say that the war began +with one or the other object is to insult the Government. I call you to +order and ask you not to dwell at any length on our war policy.") + +DR. LIEBKNECHT: "After the war aims had been shifted westward--(the +Vice-President: "I repeat my request"). I must touch on this question if +I am to discuss the opposing currents in the Government which brought +about the change in the Admiralty. The manner in which the conflict was +taken up in the Prussian Diet, the way in which the sharpening of the +war against England was demanded in the Reichstag on account of the +Baralong affair, and the scenes in the Prussian Diet before the change +of office, throw an interesting light on the differences within the +Government and in capitalist circles. A memorandum was to be published +on the subject of armed British merchantmen. It was kept back for some +length of time. In this one saw an acknowledgment by the Government of +the demand for a sharper submarine warfare. The attack in the Prussian +Diet was made premeditatedly, in order to show the strong opposition to +certain members of the Government (the Vice-President interrupted the +speaker) on pressure from the Prussian Diet. (The Vice-President again +requested the speaker to keep to the point.) You must not suppress a +most important political question." (General commotion. The +Vice-President again requested the speaker to keep to the point.) + +"I did keep to the point. I shall now discuss the memorandum on the +question of armed merchantmen, for which the Admiralty is responsible. +It is so composed that those who do not read it carefully with all the +supplements must be misled. The memorandum attempts to prove that +British merchantmen are armed in order to attack German submarines. (The +Vice-President again forbade a discussion of the submarine question, +and called Dr. Liebknecht to order.) With such a ruling I am +unable--(The Vice-President: "I ask the member not to criticise me.") So +I am obliged to say nothing on what politically is most material!" + +A few days after this scene in the Reichstag Herr Daeumig, the editor of +the Socialist organ _Vorwaerts_, sent a Hungarian journalist with a +letter of introduction to Dr. Liebknecht for an interview. The censor +condensed the interview, and it only reached Budapest by messenger. The +following extracts are from the suppressed portion printed in a Budapest +(paper) pamphlet: + +Dr. Liebknecht was greatly surprised at the visit, as he had been "quite +neglected by reporters nowadays because what I say is generally +considered 'dead copy' by the censor." + +The correspondent explains that it is a mistake to suppose that Herr +Liebknecht is as unpopular in Germany as he appears to be inside the +Reichstag. He showed him correspondence from parts of Germany, a pile +received in two days amounting to hundreds and hundreds of letters, +ninety per cent of which are of an encouraging and congratulatory +character. The remaining ten per cent are scurrilous anonymous attacks, +and these he puts in a separate bundle, which he compares with great +pride and satisfaction with the heap of more flattering epistles. + +He is overjoyed at the idea that he is, after all, not alone, as he +appears to be, and that although he is persecuted by his fellow-members +of the Reichstag, he is recompensed by the hearty congratulations of +the people. What he wanted to say in the Reichstag when he was muzzled +and expelled was said by two members, and he is quite satisfied on that +point. + +"Herr Davidson," said Liebknecht, "referred to the two cases I wanted to +mention, and he drew just as vivid a picture of the spirit prevailing in +the army and of the illegal persecutions as I should have done if I had +been allowed. + +"I wanted to call attention to the case of Dr. Nicolai, the world-famous +professor at the University of Berlin, who attended the Empress before +the war, and who was persecuted some time ago by the military +authorities for what were termed indiscreet utterances. He was appointed +to the directorship of two military hospitals at the beginning of the +war at Graudentz, but some one reported him to the military authorities +and he was discharged. On March 1st he was again sent away from Berlin, +this time to Danzig, and was ordered to be sworn in as a soldier. He +refused to obey, and as a consequence the world-famous professor was +degraded to the status of a private. Orders were given that he was not +to be allowed to provide his own food, and he was ordered to submit all +his scientific literary work to the military authorities for approval. + +"The same thing happened to another scientist, who wrote in a letter: 'I +am sorry for and disapprove of the cruelties committed in Belgium, and, +as a good Christian, I regret and disapprove of the terrors of this +war.' + +"I know for a fact that the higher command uses German soldiers to spy +on other German soldiers, a system which brands soldiers and commanders +alike." + + + + +LIEBKNECHT'S REMARKS ON THE GERMAN WAR LOAN + +(_Reichstag Meeting, April 8, 1916_) + + +DR. LIEBKNECHT: "Gentlemen, the principal work of the Secretary of the +Treasury, whose salary we are asked to vote for, was his activity for +the war loan during the last year. I intend to examine critically those +activities (great merriment). The new loan has brought 1,400,000,000 +marks less than the preceding one, but still a grand total of +10,000,000,000 marks. We should investigate carefully from what funds +the money invested in the war loan comes. Does this money invested in +the war loan come from private or public funds." (Cries of protest from +all sides of the House. Many Deputies rise from their seats in +excitement. Continued cries: "This is the limit! Shall we allow him to +go so far?" Cries of "Treason." "The fellow belongs in an insane +asylum.") + +Dr. K. Liebknecht clenches his fists and shouts a few words which cannot +be understood. Great uproar again. Shouts of "Finish! Finish!" A few +members of the Reichstag call out loudly: "Mr. President, you must +preserve our rights!" "Down," from the platform! The Secretary of the +Treasury tries to calm a few members of the House. + +PRESIDENT DR. KAEMPF: According to the order of business the floor +cannot be taken from a member of the House until he is called to order +three times. + +MEMBER DR. MUeLLER MEININGEN (Progressive Party): "Then he will betray us +three times." (Stormy applause in the House in which the galleries +join.) + +DR. K. LIEBKNECHT: In regard to our loans, it has been said that our +system of inbreeding--that the practice of obtaining loans on a former +loan in order to invest the capital thus obtained in another new war +loan is a sort of "_perpetuum mobile_." In a certain sense the loans may +be compared to a merry-go-round. To a large extent it means simply the +centralization of public wealth in the Treasury. (Great uproar and cries +of "Finish" and "Treason.") I have the right to criticise. The truth +must be spoken and you shall not hinder me. (Great uproar. Member +Hubrich goes to Dr. Liebknecht and snatches Liebknecht's notes from his +hands, and throws them on the floor. Stormy applause in the House in +which the galleries join. Liebknecht raises his clenched fists and +shouts. He then addresses himself to the President in an agitated tone. +He is twice called to order by the President. Around the speakers' +tribune are small and excited groups gesticulating. Member Dr. Mueller +Meiningen goes to the tribune and in a violent tone hurls indignant +reproaches at Liebknecht. The minority Social-Democrats of the +Reichstag--Henke, Dittmann and Zubeil--rush to the tribune and put +themselves in front of Liebknecht, other members of the House try to +calm down the excited ones. The majority Social-Democrat Keil shouts: +"Put the fellow out and then all will be finished." The whole House is +in great excitement and uproar, notwithstanding the continual clang of +the presidential bell. Finally the President is able to restore order, +and declares that the chair finds that there is no quorum. The meeting +is adjourned.) + + + + +LIEBKNECHT'S MAY DAY MANIFESTO + +This May Day Manifesto called the people of Berlin to the May Day +Demonstration of 1916. He was sentenced to jail for expressions in this +May Day Speech. + + +"Poverty and misery, need and starvation, are ruling in Germany, +Belgium, Poland and Servia, whose blood the vampire of imperialism is +sucking and which resemble vast cemeteries. The entire world, the +much-praised European civilization, is falling into ruins through the +anarchy which has been let loose by the world war. + +"Those who profit from the war want war with the United States. +To-morrow, perhaps, they may order us to aim lethal weapons against new +groups of brethren, against our fellow-workers in the United States, and +fight America, too. Consider well this fact: As long as the German +people does not arise and use force directed by its own will, the +assassination of the people will continue. Let thousands of voices shout +'Down with the shameless extermination of nations! Down with those +responsible for these crimes!' Our enemy is not the English, French, nor +Russian people, but the great German landed proprietors, the German +capitalists and their executive committee. + +"Forward, let us fight the government; let us fight these mortal enemies +of all freedom. Let us fight for everything which means the future +triumph of the working-classes, the future of humanity and civilization. + +"Workers, comrades, and you, women of the people, let not this festival +of May, the second during the war, pass without protest against the +Imperialist Slaughter. On the first of May let millions of voices cry, +'Down with the shameful crime of the extermination of peoples!' 'Down +with those responsible for the War!'" + + + + +LIEBKNECHT'S MAY DAY, 1916, SPEECH + +_Delivered at the Potsdamerplatz, Berlin, May 1, 1916_ + +(Report by one present at the demonstration) + + +BERLIN, May 1. Very early in the morning, with three other comrades, I +reached Hortensienstrasse, where Comrade Liebknecht lives. We enter No. +14, climb up the stairs, ring his bell. Comrade Liebknecht opens the +door himself. He is thin, his hair looks unusually black and his face is +deathly pale. He walks like a dead man, walking with grim steps. He +leaves us and soon returns with his wife; she is a Russian. She nods +welcome to us all. Suddenly a terrible fear comes to me. No one has +spoken a word, yet we all feel that we are in the presence of a supreme +moment. From Comrade Liebknecht's grim silence we judge that he is about +to hurl prudence to the four winds and defy the Government. + +He hands out, one to each of us, a copy of the speech which he will +deliver. So far not one word has been spoken. While we are hurriedly +reading his speech, which is to be delivered within a few hours, he +remarks, "I have several thousand of these printed." + +We have finished reading the prospectus which will make history and +send him to prison. Then we go into conference. We have been with him +just an hour. We leave him. + +Shortly after 2 P. M. of the same May day, I have taken a hasty lunch at +the Central Hotel. As I near the door I hear the footsteps of the great +multitudes. As far as I can see, all the streets and side streets are +full of surging, silently moving human beings; all moving in the +direction where the May Day demonstration is to take place. These are +men and women, mostly women. The men among them are mostly over fifty. +Suddenly it becomes apparent to me that there are more children in the +crowds than men and women together. As they march I notice that I cannot +see one in the crowd who has a smile on her or his face. Along the route +no one is cheering them. I had never seen such immense crowds in the +streets of Berlin. Not even during the Agadir crisis had the streets of +Berlin held such multitudes. The crowds move as though they are part of +a funeral procession. They are all sad, very sad. I recognize a group of +comrades in the crowd. I rush in and join them. _Mund halten_ (keep your +mouth shut) is the unwritten rule, and every one seems to observe it +strictly. + +Some one has turned the head of the procession into Unter den Linden. We +do not know why; very few of us have noticed it, anyhow. We suddenly see +a platoon of mounted guards dashing through the crowd, but they are +riding on the sidewalk. The part of the procession that had been +marching on the sidewalk rushes to the middle of the street in order to +escape being trampled upon by the mounted guards. Another group of +mounted guards rides past hurriedly, and still another follows. The +people in the procession all about me do not seem to notice them. Not +even a whisper one hears. Their footsteps have a strange sound to my +ears. On reaching the palace grounds I see in the distance five persons. +From their elbows up they tower over the heads of the multitude +surrounding them. I leave my friends and elbow my way through the thick +crowd. I explain my impolite advance on the ground that I am a reporter +on a party (Socialist) paper. I finally reach the spot where Comrade +Liebknecht and other comrades are standing. The crowds are close where +they are standing, and I cannot make out whether they are standing on a +raised platform or in a motor car. I am about twenty or twenty-five feet +from the doctor. + +Suddenly one of the comrades near Dr. Liebknecht raises his hand and at +once proceeds to speak. The multitude is anxious to hear him. Every one +is sounding "Hush" in order to obtain silence and thus making more +noise. Dr. Liebknecht uncovers his head; some one near by offers to +relieve him of his hat. Deathly silence reigns all about the grounds. +The interior of a cathedral cannot be more silent. The doctor begins: +"Comrades and friends." They start to cheer him. He holds up his hand +forbiddingly, then he resumes: "Some years ago a witty Socialist +observed that in Prussia we Germans have three cardinal rights, which +are: we can be soldiers, we can pay taxes and we can keep our tongues +between our teeth. The Socialist who made this observation made it with +a grim humor, but to-day the humor of it must be disconnected from +it--it is all too grim. Especially in these days this observation is too +true. To-day we are sharing these three great Prussian State privileges +in full. Every German citizen is given the full privilege to carry a +rifle in any manner. Even the Boy Scout has been incited to play the +ridiculous role of a soldier. They have thus planted the spirit of hate +deep in his youthful soul. Meanwhile the old Landsturmer is forced to +perform forced labor in invaded countries, in spite of the fact that +under the laws of the Imperial Constitution he cannot be called out for +any other purpose than for the defense of the Fatherland. + +"As for his second privilege--his right to pay taxes--in this respect +the German citizen is, up to the present time, far ahead of his brothers +in foreign lands whom he is engaged in exterminating. And yet more +privileges of this kind are awaiting him in the days to come--after the +end of the war. The high taxes which the German people have so far paid +are insignificant compared to the great burdens which they must carry +after the war, and for which their masters are daily preparing them with +such touching delicacy of patriotic sentiment through the medium of the +official press. + +"The new Germany has the unquestionable right to hold its tongue +between its teeth. Recently our official press has been flooded by +authoritative and pharisaic exhortations to soldiers' wives that they +must, for God's sake, not complain so much about the scarcity of food. +Keep your mouth shut tight when hungry. Keep your mouth shut tight when +your children are hungry, keep your mouth shut when your children want +milk, keep your mouth shut when your children cry for bread, keep your +mouth shut and write no letters to the front." + +Outside of Germany these phrases might sound like the stock phrases of a +professional agitator, but not so in Germany, at least not in those +days. I carefully watched for the effect of these remarks all about me, +and I saw no dry eyes. + +Amid tense silence the doctor continued: "In a recent issue the +mouthpiece of the Pharisees, the "_Muenchener Neueste Nachrichten_," +complains thus (reading from a clipping): + +"'Our soldiers do not always receive from their dear ones at home the +best encouragement to hold on. A soldier on furlough who, before +obtaining leave, had performed for his Fatherland unflinchingly, went +through many hardships with good humor, but after a visit home returned +to the front with a sad face, worrying day and night about his dear ones +and the pretended scarcity at home.' + +"'Pretended' scarcity certainly is palatable, especially when one is +reminded of the fact that our police is weighing the bread, that butter +is out of the market, that fat, meat and margarine have reached a price +that is beyond the probable reach of the workingman! + +"Another well-nourished Pharisee exhorts in the columns of the +_Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung_ by asking, 'Where is scarcity to be +found?' and no doubt after having partaken of a good dinner he preaches +with these words: 'We must teach ourselves at home how to manage to get +along in our homes with as little as possible. But of course in large +families with children the small earnings of the breadwinner being now +totally absent, this sum must be replaced by the creation of a relief +fund so that there may not be any serious want.' Exactly, but under no +circumstances must the people complain of hunger. It annoys the soldier +terribly and cripples his fighting power. Therefore do not write +complaining letters to the front. In other words, you wives of soldiers, +hide the truth from your husbands; in fact, lie to them. + +"The old proverb says, 'The mouth speaketh out of the fullness of the +heart,' and if her children's stomach is empty it is hard for the wife +not to mention to her far-away soldier husband that it is hard to +provide for his children with food while he is offering his life for his +country. But if it is not found possible for your masters to prevail +upon you to 'keep your tongue between your teeth,' then they resort to a +more practical means. They have a very simple means of stopping these +annoying complaints. The Prussian censor is now supervising these +letters of wives at home to their husbands at the front. They simply do +not allow this objectionable correspondence to go through. Poor and +unfortunate German soldier! He deserves pity! At the command of the +militarist Government he has gone into the enemy country, and at the +command of the Government he must steal from other nations. He is +required to perform difficult services. The sufferings that he endures +are past description. About him everywhere shells and bombs sow death +and destruction. His wife and children at home are suffering want and +hardship; she looks about her and finds her children crying for bread. +She is desperate, but she must not appeal or complain to any one. She +must hold her tongue and suffer inwardly. But how can she silence her +children? She must not even share the sympathy of her husband at the +front, because that cripples her soldier husband's fighting powers. Her +soldier husband must 'hold on' and 'steal' in the land of her neighbors. +He must hold on and 'suffer' because the capitalists, the hurrah +patriots and the armor-plate kings have willed it so. Every one must +keep his or her tongue between the teeth, for the war profiteers must +make money out of the want and misery of the wives and their husband +soldiers at the front. + +"By a lie the German workingman was forced into the war, and by like +lies they expect to induce him to go on with war!" A mighty shout went +up from a thousand throats--"Hurrah for Liebknecht." Liebknecht raised +his hand for silence. Then steadily, though knowing the cost, he said: +"Do not shout for me, shout rather 'We will have no more war. We will +have peace--now!'" + +Scarcely had he finished speaking when, as if by magic, a tremendous +tumult arose. Near the spot where the doctor and his friends had been +standing the crowds surged back and forth. The great multitudes in the +palace grounds had the appearance of an immense sea whose surface was +every inch covered with human heads, those of men and women. The +children became terrified. The shouts of the grown-ups and the terrified +shrieks of the children added vehemence to the scene. The next moment I +see Comrade Liebknecht pulled down from the stand. His friends also +follow. Then I see fists raised. I suddenly discover that the jostling +of the crowds about me has carried me further away from the spot where a +riot is in progress. I again elbow my way toward where the doctor and +his companions have been pulled down from the stand. I had made some +progress when suddenly I find myself being swept backward by a huge +human wave. + +In spite of my wish to see what is going on behind me I am being carried +away further and further. Several hundred thousand panic-stricken souls +are rushing towards the streets and avenues that lead to the grounds. +The scene is frightful. Every one is shouting. I steal a glimpse of the +spot which is now the center of the sudden panic. I gasp with fright. I +see numberless mounted soldiers with large black whips in their hands +lashing the crowds. Their mounts are so close to the struggling and +frightened men and women, yea, even children, that it is a miracle that +thousands are not pinned to the ground. I cannot tell whether they are +killed or whether they fainted. But there are many of them. I myself was +forced to step over several persons. I tried to lift up a body, but in +the next moment I was carried away.... + +May Day evening. Twenty-five or thirty meet secretly at the home of a +comrade in ---- street. We all know what the report is. Herr Doctor is +arrested. We are all sad, very sad. We have met to exchange views as to +what step to take next. Every one is laboring with heavy thoughts within +himself. The silence is sickening. With the exception of four the men +who come together to exchange views are all soldiers in the active army. +Not all of them are privates. We have spent the entire night, sometimes +in heavy silence and again in deliberation. It is decided that we +---- ---- ----. Are the German workingmen thinking? Their present +thoughts are tragic. They hurt. + + + + +LIEBKNECHT'S REPLY TO HIS JUDGES + + +While in prison Dr. Liebknecht sent two letters to the military court +handling his case, in which he explained his position. It was Dr. +Liebknecht's hope that these letters would be read to the Reichstag and +in that way reach the German people. But this was not the case. The +letters were put before the Parliamentary Committee, which investigated +Liebknecht's case and on whose recommendation the Reichstag, by a vote +of 229 to 111, refused to ask for his release. A copy of one of these +letters was smuggled out of prison and sent out of Germany. + + +Berlin, May 3rd, 1916. +_To the Royal Military Court, Berlin:_ + +In the investigation of the case against me, the records of remarks need +the following elucidation: + +I. The German Government is in its social and historical character an +instrument for the crushing down and exploitation of the laboring +classes; at home and abroad it serves the interests of junkerism, of +capitalism, and of imperialism. + +The German Government is a reckless champion of expansion in world +politics, the most ardent promoter in the competition of armaments, and +accordingly one of the most powerful influences in developing the +causes of the present war. + +In partnership with the Austrian Government the German Government +contrived to bring about this war and so burdened itself with the +greatest responsibility for the immediate outbreak of the war. + +The German Government started the war under cover of deception practiced +upon the common people and even upon the Reichstag (compare, among other +things, the concealment of the ultimatum to Belgium, the make-up of the +German White Book, the elimination of the Czar's dispatch of July 29, +1914), and it tries by reprehensible means to keep up the war spirit +among the people. + +It carries on the war with methods that, judged even by standards +hitherto conventional, are monstrous. The invasion of Belgium and +Luxemburg, poisonous gases, which in the meantime have become of common +use by all the belligerents, and then look at the Zeppelin bombs, which +outdo everything and which are intended to kill all that live, +combatants or non-combatants, within a wide region; submarine commerce +warfare; the torpedoing of the _Lusitania_, etc.; the system of hostages +and forced contributions at the beginning, especially in Belgium; the +systematic entrapping of Ukrainian, Georgian, Baltic Provincials, +Polish, Irish, Mohammedan, and other prisoners of war in the German +prison camps for the purpose of having them do treasonable war service +and treasonable spying for the Central Powers; Under-Secretary +Zimmerman's agreement with Sir Roger Casement in December, 1914, +regarding the organization, equipment, and training in the German prison +camps of the "Irish Brigade," composed of captured British soldiers; the +attempts by means of threats of forcible interment to compel Christians +of a hostile nationality found in Germany to do treasonable war service +against their countries, and so forth. (Necessity knows no law!) + +The German Government has, through the establishment of martial law, +enormously increased the political lawlessness and economic +exploitations of the people; it refuses all serious political and social +reforms, while at the same time it tries to hold the people docile for +the imperialistic war policy, by means of rhetorical phrases about equal +rights accorded to all parties, about alleged discontinuation of +discriminations in social and political matters, about an alleged +readjustment and new direction of political matters, and so on. + +The German Government because of its consideration for agrarian and +capitalists' interests has completely failed to care for the economic +welfare of the people during the war, to guard against misery and the +practice of revolting extortion upon the people. + +The German Government is still holding fast to its war aims and so +constitutes the chief obstacle in the way of immediate peace +negotiations upon the basis of renunciation of annexations and +oppressions of all sorts: Through the maintenance--in itself illegal--of +martial law (censorship, etc.) it prevents the public from learning +unpleasant facts and prevents Socialist criticism of its measures. The +German Government thereby reveals its system of seeming legality and +sham popularity as a system of actual force, of genuine hostility to the +people and bad faith as regards the masses. + +The cry of "Down with the Government!" is meant to brand this entire +policy of the Government as fatal to the masses of the people. + +This cry also indicates that it is the duty of every representative of +the welfare of the proletariat to wage a struggle of the most strenuous +character--the class struggle--against the Government. + +II. The present war is not a war for the defense of the national +integrity, not for the liberation of oppressed peoples, not for the +welfare of the masses. + +From the standpoint of the proletariat this war only signifies the most +extreme concentration and extension of political suppression, of +economic exploitation, and of military slaughtering of the working-class +body and soul for the benefit of capitalism and of absolutism. + +To all this the working-class of all countries can give but one answer: +a harder struggle, the international class struggle against the +capitalist Governments and the ruling classes of all countries for the +abolition of all oppression and exploitation by the institution of a +peace conceived in the Socialist spirit. In this class struggle the +Socialist, whose Fatherland is the International, finds included the +defense of everything that he, as a Socialist, is bound to defend. The +cry of "Down with war" signifies that I thoroughly condemn and oppose +the present war because of its historical nature, because of its general +social causes and specific way in which it originated (developed), and +because of the way it is being carried on and the objects for which it +is being waged. That cry signifies that it is the duty of every +representative of proletarian interests to take part in the +international class struggle for the purpose of ending the war. + +III. As a Socialist I am fundamentally opposed to the existing military +system as well as of this war, and I always supported with all my power +the fight against Militarism as an especially important task and a +matter of life and death for the working-class of all countries. +(Compare my book "Militarism" and my reports to the International Young +People's Conferences at Stuttgart, 1907, and Copenhagen, 1910.) The war +demands that we carry on the struggle against Militarism with redoubled +energy. + +IV. Since 1889 May 1st has been consecrated to manifestations and +propaganda in favor of the great basic principles of Socialism, against +all exploitation, oppression, and violence; dedicated to propaganda for +the solidarity of workers of all countries--a solidarity which the war +has not abolished, but strengthened--against the workers' fratricidal +strife, for peace and against war. + +During the war the manifestation and propaganda of these principles is a +doubly sacred duty imposed upon every Socialist. + +V. The policy advocated by me was outlined in the resolution adopted by +the International Socialist Congress held in Stuttgart (1907), which +pledged Socialists of all countries--after they should have failed to +prevent a war--to work with all their energies towards its quick ending, +and to take advantage of the conditions created by the war for hastening +the abolition of the capitalist order of society. + +This Socialist policy is meant to be international, even in its ultimate +consequences. It imposes upon the Socialists of other countries the same +obligation with reference to their Governments and ruling classes that I +with others in Germany followed against the Government and ruling +classes of Germany. + +This Socialist policy has an international effect, by spreading +reciprocal encouragement from nation to nation; it promotes the +international class struggle against war. + +Since the beginning of the war I, together with others, have defended in +every possible way and upheld in the most public manner this Socialist +policy, and besides, so far as possible, have entered into connections +with those who shared my sentiments in other countries. + +(I may mention, for example, my journey to Belgium and Holland in +September, 1914; my Christmas letter in 1914 to the Labor Leader; the +International Socialist Meetings in Switzerland, in which, I regret to +say, I was unable to participate personally, being prevented by superior +powers, etc.) + +VI. This policy to which, cost it what it may, I shall hold fast, is +not mine alone, but it is also the policy of an ever-increasing +proportion of the people in Germany and of the other belligerent and +neutral States. It will soon become, as I hope--and to this end I am +resolved to toil on--the policy of the working-class of all countries, +which will then possess the power to break the imperialistic will of the +ruling classes, and to shape as may seem best the mutual relations and +conditions of the people for the benefit of all mankind. + +KARL LIEBKNECHT, +_Armierungssoldat_. + + + + +LIEBKNECHT'S TRIAL AND RELEASE + + +On June 28th, 1916, Karl Liebknecht was sentenced at secret trial to +thirty months' penal servitude. When the public prosecutor asked for +this secrecy, Liebknecht exclaimed: + +"It is cowardice on your part, gentlemen. Yes, I repeat, that you are +cowards if you close these doors." + +Nevertheless, the court decided to exclude the public, upon which +Liebknecht cried to his wife and Rosa Luxemburg, in the audience, "Leave +this comedy, where everything, including even the decision, has been +prepared beforehand." + +Following the announcement of the sentence given Liebknecht, the +Potsdamerplatz in Berlin was the scene of a serious outbreak. + +The next day (according to reports from Switzerland) strikes of protest +against the Liebknecht case took place in Berlin and some 55,000 persons +were involved in them. In other cities strikes and demonstrations of +protest also took place. + +An appeal was taken but resulted only in an increase in the sentence to +four years' and one month's imprisonment at hard labor. Furthermore, he +was deprived of all his civil rights for a period of six years after he +should have served his term. + + +[Associated Press Dispatch] + +PARIS, October 25.--An enormous crowd assembled before the Reichstag +building in Berlin yesterday, calling for the abdication of Emperor +William and the formation of a republic, according to a special dispatch +from Zurich to _L'Information_. + +Dr. Karl Liebknecht, the Socialist leader who has just been released +from prison, was applauded frantically. He was compelled to enter a +carriage filled with flowers from which he made a speech declaring that +the time of the people had arrived. + + +_Printed in the United States of America._ + + + + +The following pages contain advertisements of a few of the Macmillan +books on kindred subjects. + + +The End of the War + +BY WALTER E. WEYL + +_Author of "American World Policies," "The New Democracy,"_ etc. + +_$2.00_ + +"The most courageous book on politics published in America since the war +began."--_The Dial._ + +"An absorbingly interesting book ... the clearest statement yet +presented of a most difficult problem."--_Philadelphia Ledger._ + +"Mr. Weyl says sobering and important things.... His plea is strong and +clear for America to begin to establish her leadership of the democratic +forces of the world ... to insure that the settlement of the war is made +on lines that will produce international amity everywhere."--_N. Y. +Times._ + + +The New Democracy + +AN ESSAY ON CERTAIN POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC TENDENCIES IN THE UNITED +STATES + +_Cloth, $2.00_ + +"A masterly, scathing, and absolutely fearless arraignment of things +that ought not to be in a republic, and of tendencies that no democracy +ought to tolerate."--_Boston Herald._ + +"A thoughtful volume ... a big synthesis of the whole social problem in +this country. A keen survey."--_Chicago Evening Post._ + +"A searching and suggestive study of American life.... A book to make +people think.... Notable for its scholarship and brilliant in execution, +it is not merely for the theorist, but for the citizen."--_Newark +Evening News._ + + +American World Policies + +_12mo, $2.25_ + +"It is refreshing to read Dr. Weyl ... his approach to the problem is +absolutely sound and right."--_The Dial._ + +"An economic philosophy neatly balanced, suavely expressed, and of +finely elastic fibre."--_New York Sun._ + + +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + +Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York + + +_THE WORKS OF H. H. POWERS, Ph.D._ + + +The Great Peace + +"A clear, frank statement of the problems confronting the nations of the +world and how those problems must be faced to insure a lasting peace." +(Ready Shortly.) + + +America among the Nations + +_Cloth, $1.50_ + +"For an understanding of this new crisis that we are facing in 1918 we +know of no book more useful or more searching or clearer or more +readable than H. H. Powers' 'America among the Nations.' It is really a +biography, or rather, a biographical study. Its hero, however, is not a +man but an imperial people."--_Outlook, New York._ + +"Mr. Powers takes unusually broad views and they are enforced by a +historical knowledge and a logical development of ideas that carry +conviction.... An excellent book."--_Philadelphia Public Ledger._ + + +The Things Men Fight For + +_Cloth, $1.50_ + +"An able, unprejudiced and illuminating treatment of a burning +question."--_Philadelphia North American._ + +"Probably no other book dealing with the war and its sources has made so +dispassionate and unbiased a study of conditions and causes as does this +volume."--_New York Times._ + +"Out of the unusual knowledge born of wide observation and experience +came this unusual book. We may not altogether agree with its +conclusions, but we must admire the breadth of it, and feel better +informed when we have perused it. The liberal spirit of it cannot fail +to impress the careful reader."--_Literary Digest._ + + +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + +Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York + + +_ERNEST POOLE'S NEW BOOK_ + +The Village: Russian Impressions + +BY ERNEST POOLE + +_Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50_ + +This volume describes in personal and narrative form Mr. Poole's visit +to the small estate of an old Russian friend, whose home was a rough log +cabin in the North of Russia. From there he ranged the neighborhood in +company with his friend, talking with peasants in their huts; with the +vagabonds camped at night on the riverside; with the man who kept the +village store; with the priest, the doctor and the school teacher, as +well as with the saw-mill owner. + +Their views of the war, the revolution and American friendship are all +of great significance now, for the peasants form nearly ninety per cent. +of the Russian people. + + +"The Dark People": Russia's Crisis + +BY ERNEST POOLE + +_Author of "His Family," "The Harbor," etc._ + +_Cloth, 12mo, $1.50_ + +"Too strange, too romantic, too imaginative, to be anything but sober +truth.... We have read no book which got closer to the heart ... of the +Russian people."--_N. Y. Tribune._ + +"A valuable book, ... sane and informative, ... shows close study by an +impartial mind."--_N. Y. Herald._ + +"We have never read a book more deeply thrilling. It is not the book of +a dreamer, but of one whose vision is far because his heart beats for +his fellowmen...."--_Book Review._ + +"A sincere, unpretentious, and strikingly successful attempt to get at +the mind and heart of these people in the midst of revolution."--_N. Y. +Evening Post._ + + +Inside the Russian Revolution + +BY RHETA CHILDE DORR + +_Illustrated. Cloth, $1.50_ + +"Mrs. Dorr's book is an excellent piece of reporting. It will be the +exceptional reader who will not find here what he would most like to get +from an American visitor who has had exceptional opportunities to learn +the truth. Her book will have to be consulted by the future historian of +anarchy's reign in Russia."--_Springfield Republican._ + +"As a distinctively first-hand study of a world event of illimitable +influence and implications, this volume is a milestone along the pathway +of history."--_Philadelphia North American._ + + +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + +Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York + + +The Flaming Crucible + +BY ANDRE FRIBOURG TRANSLATED BY A. B. MAURICE + +_$1.50_ + +Under the title _Croire_, this autobiography of a French infantryman was +published in Paris in 1917. It is a revelation of the French spirit. It +is rather a biography of the spirit, than an account of the amazing +experiences M. Fribourg encountered, from 1911 at Agadir, through the +fighting on the Meuse, and part of the campaign in Flanders. The +descriptions are memorable for their beautiful style, their pathos or +their elevation. There is a definite climax toward the end where M. +Fribourg returns to a hospital in Paris, broken and dulled, his faith +momentarily befogged. Gradually he readapts himself, regains and +confirms his faith in the human spirit that was so vivid when he lived +with his fellow soldiers. + + +Behind the Battle Line + +BY MADELINE Z. DOTY + +_Cloth, $1.25_ + +What are the women of the world planning for the future? To find that +out, Miss Doty made a trip around the world. She takes you into the +heart of each nation she visited--Japan, China, Russia, Norway, Sweden, +England and France. The differences in civilization are vividly shown, +mainly through the daily thought and life of the women. _Behind the +Battle Line: Around the World in 1918,_ depicts the great spiritual +struggle that, beside the physical battle, engulfs the world. + + +The War and the Future + +BY JOHN MASEFIELD + +_Author of "Gallipoli," "The Old Front Line," etc._ + +_Cloth, $1.25_ + +"It was well to reprint these lectures, and it will be well for the book +to have the widest possible reading and permanent preservation for +rereading.... No man in the world to-day has a more searching, accurate, +and divinely just spiritual vision of the war and of the issues involved +in it.... If ever a book was inspired, this was."--_N. Y. Tribune._ + + +THE MACMILLAN COMPANY + +Publishers 64-66 Fifth Avenue New York + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Future Belongs to the People, by +Karl Liebknecht + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE FUTURE BELONGS TO THE PEOPLE *** + +***** This file should be named 39023.txt or 39023.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/3/9/0/2/39023/ + +Produced by Odessa Paige Turner, Martin Pettit and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This book was produced from scanned images of public +domain material from the Google Print project.) + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, +set forth in the General Terms of Use part of this license, apply to +copying and distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works to +protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm concept and trademark. Project +Gutenberg is a registered trademark, and may not be used if you +charge for the eBooks, unless you receive specific permission. If you +do not charge anything for copies of this eBook, complying with the +rules is very easy. You may use this eBook for nearly any purpose +such as creation of derivative works, reports, performances and +research. They may be modified and printed and given away--you may do +practically ANYTHING with public domain eBooks. Redistribution is +subject to the trademark license, especially commercial +redistribution. + + + +*** START: FULL LICENSE *** + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full Project +Gutenberg-tm License (available with this file or online at +http://gutenberg.org/license). + + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or destroy +all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your possession. +If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound by the +terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the person or +entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph 1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this agreement +and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the Foundation" +or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection of Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual works in the +collection are in the public domain in the United States. If an +individual work is in the public domain in the United States and you are +located in the United States, we do not claim a right to prevent you from +copying, distributing, performing, displaying or creating derivative +works based on the work as long as all references to Project Gutenberg +are removed. Of course, we hope that you will support the Project +Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting free access to electronic works by +freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm works in compliance with the terms of +this agreement for keeping the Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with +the work. You can easily comply with the terms of this agreement by +keeping this work in the same format with its attached full Project +Gutenberg-tm License when you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are in +a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, check +the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this agreement +before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, distributing or +creating derivative works based on this work or any other Project +Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no representations concerning +the copyright status of any work in any country outside the United +States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other immediate +access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear prominently +whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work on which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, performed, viewed, +copied or distributed: + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is derived +from the public domain (does not contain a notice indicating that it is +posted with permission of the copyright holder), the work can be copied +and distributed to anyone in the United States without paying any fees +or charges. If you are redistributing or providing access to a work +with the phrase "Project Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the +work, you must comply either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 +through 1.E.7 or obtain permission for the use of the work and the +Project Gutenberg-tm trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or +1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any additional +terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms will be linked +to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works posted with the +permission of the copyright holder found at the beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including any +word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access to or +distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format other than +"Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official version +posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site (www.gutenberg.org), +you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense to the user, provide a +copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means of obtaining a copy upon +request, of the work in its original "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other +form. Any alternate format must include the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works provided +that + +- You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is + owed to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he + has agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the + Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments + must be paid within 60 days following each date on which you + prepare (or are legally required to prepare) your periodic tax + returns. Royalty payments should be clearly marked as such and + sent to the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the + address specified in Section 4, "Information about donations to + the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +- You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or + destroy all copies of the works possessed in a physical medium + and discontinue all use of and all access to other copies of + Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +- You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of any + money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days + of receipt of the work. + +- You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work or group of works on different terms than are set +forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing from +both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and Michael +Hart, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark. Contact the +Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +public domain works in creating the Project Gutenberg-tm +collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may contain +"Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other intellectual +property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or other medium, a +computer virus, or computer codes that damage or cannot be read by +your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium with +your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you with +the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in lieu of a +refund. If you received the work electronically, the person or entity +providing it to you may choose to give you a second opportunity to +receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If the second copy +is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing without further +opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS' WITH NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO +WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTIBILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of damages. +If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement violates the +law of the state applicable to this agreement, the agreement shall be +interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or limitation permitted by +the applicable state law. The invalidity or unenforceability of any +provision of this agreement shall not void the remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in accordance +with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the production, +promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works, +harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, including legal fees, +that arise directly or indirectly from any of the following which you do +or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this or any Project Gutenberg-tm +work, (b) alteration, modification, or additions or deletions to any +Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any Defect you cause. + + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of computers +including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It exists +because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations from +people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need, are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future generations. +To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +and how your efforts and donations can help, see Sections 3 and 4 +and the Foundation web page at http://www.pglaf.org. + + +Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive +Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Its 501(c)(3) letter is posted at +http://pglaf.org/fundraising. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent +permitted by U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is located at 4557 Melan Dr. S. +Fairbanks, AK, 99712., but its volunteers and employees are scattered +throughout numerous locations. Its business office is located at +809 North 1500 West, Salt Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887, email +business@pglaf.org. Email contact links and up to date contact +information can be found at the Foundation's web site and official +page at http://pglaf.org + +For additional contact information: + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To +SEND DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any +particular state visit http://pglaf.org + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. +To donate, please visit: http://pglaf.org/donate + + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic +works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart is the originator of the Project Gutenberg-tm +concept of a library of electronic works that could be freely shared +with anyone. For thirty years, he produced and distributed Project +Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of volunteer support. + + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the U.S. +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/39023.zip b/39023.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ffc9db6 --- /dev/null +++ b/39023.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8484c63 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #39023 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/39023) |
