Workmen's advocate. (New Haven, Conn.) 1883-1891, 1890-04-12

movement. These unions began to ba
formed i'm 1881 and had an une xpectedv
rapid growth. The socialistic trades.
unions which were dissolved in 1878 had
attached to them beneficial institutions
which were under separate MANAGE.
ment. These beneft-funds were not
dissolved, but placed under police con.
troll; the members submitted for two
reasons, firstly to preserve the funds
which would otherwise have been con.
fiscated and secondly to keep the mem
bership, which was substantially the
same as that of the unions, together for
| a reorganization Of the unions at fin.
ture time. When after 1881 the govern.
ment permitted the formation of trades
unions, the members OF the benefit SO.
cieties focked to them in large numbers.
and these new unions, from which the
government had foolishly hoped to
exclude the socialists are in fact Just as
sociaIistic as the old ones were and have
aided considerably in strengthening the
socialist party. The new trades union
movement received a great impetus by
numerous lockouts and strikes which
commencing about 1882 assumed greater
proportions from year to year. In these
economic struggles the government in
variably employed the police force to
| hinder and terrorize the strikers and
thus drove large masses of hitherto
Indifferent worklngmen into the socialist
ranks.
The elections of October 30, 1884, re.
sultng in an increase Of $50, 900 socialist
votes and securing "a seats in the Reichs-
tag, startled the government, A new
attempt was made to repress the threa
tening tide by legal prosecution
! against the socialist leaders, The party
had held a successful convention at Co.
penhagen, Denmark, in April 1888; some
| of the delegates had been arrested on
their return, but had to be discharged
After several prosecuting attorneys had
declined to institute proceedings, num-
Der were at last indicted at Chemnitz
and tried on the charge of participating
in secret combination for the circula-
ton of prohibited publications. But the
| court acquitted all the accused. The
government was sorely disappointed
and procured from the federal court Of
appeals (Reichsgericht reversal of the
judgment of acquittal. A new trial was
had at Freiberg and under the dicision
of the court of appeals the accused were
found guilty. The decision was outrage
GUS While admitting that the alleged
combination had no officers or constitu-
ton, it was held that the participation
in a conven ton which received report
about the Social Democrat and approved
by resolution of that papers editorial
conduct, was clrcumstantial evidence
showing an unlawful combination
within the meaning of the law. Based
on this decision number of similar
prosecutions were instituted; the most
recent one took place at ElberfeId in the
beginning of this year and ended witha
moral defeat of the government by the
exposure of several paid spies and agents
provocateurs. Under the Freiberg judg-
ment nine leading socialists Gncluding
Bebel, Auer, Vollmar) were sentenced
to nine months and three others to s
months imprisonment. But these SEN
fences as subsequent convictions of other
socialists under the same decision failed
entirely of their intended effect; instead
of injuring, they helped the socialist
agitation with the people. The elections
of February 81, 1887, held under Bis
marck's famous war scare, showed
further increase of the socialist vote
from $40, 800 to 1853, 1923. The government
did not know what to do; in its exas.
peration it submitted to the Reichstag
an amendment to the exceptional law
by which severer punishments were pro.
vided and the additional power was
given the government to expel socialist
agltators from the country. This was
more than even the war-scare majority
of the last Reichstag could stomach.
When the so.called expatriation amend
ment came to vote in January 1888, it
received only few conservative votes.
During the debate upon this bill, the
anti socialist policy Of the government
received a mortal blow. The socialist
deputy Singer laid before the Reichstag
official proof of the fact that the police
was regularly employing agents to inclte
workingmen to acts of violence. One
OF these agents, named Schroeder, was
arrested in Switzerland and a box of
dynamite found in his possession. 1t
was shown by testimony taken before
the Swiss authorities that Schroeder had
received regular salary from police
headquarters in Berlin; that while in
the employ of the German police he was
the companion of leading anarchists as
Schumacher, Peukert and others, took a
Leading part in an anarchist conference
and paid for the printing of several is
sues OF the Freiheit during Most's i'm.
prisonment in London temporarily pub
iished In Switzerland) The details were
most compromising for the government
(and-the anarchists) and created SEN
satlon, Similar exposures had been
made before, though not Of SO shocking
character. Shortly afterwards Empgor
William |. died and the very first act of
ms son was the dismissal of Minister
futtkammer, the originator and man
ager Of this corrupting system of spies