The San Francisco call., 1895-12-15
REPRESSION OF SOCIALISTS.
Fifty.six Convictions for the Offense of
Lese Majeste Within Three
Months.

To-day's proceedings were in marked
contrast TO the perturbed atmosphere per-
vad1ng the House while the Radicals and
Socialists attacked the Ministers in regard
to the Governments measures of repres-
sion against socialists. The discussion of
these measures, which lasted four days,
showed how lamentably defective is the
debating power of the occupants of the
ministerial benches compared with that
of the members of the opposition. The
Conservative deputies remained almost
mute throughout the discussion, leaving
the Ministers to respond as best they
could to the brilliant and impassioned ora
tory of Herren Richter, Busel. Hauss-
mann and other leaders of the Socialist and
Radical parties.
The remarks made by General Bronsart
| Won Schellendorf, the Imperial Minister of
War, warning the Socialists that the army
had not forgotten the insults heaped upon
the head of its venerable leader in 1870
| and declaring if the police failed to sup
press the Socialists the latter wonld find
the action of the army to be no child
| play, was felt even IN Government circles
as an exhibition of coarse invective. The
ever, enabled Herr Haussmann to char
| acteriZe his speech as TRADE suited only
| to excite applause in regimental mess
rooms and admiration IL barrack-yards.
| 1t was pitiable, too TO see how the Min
listers and their adherenrs sat stoldly in
their seats listening to Herr Bebel without
remonstrance as he soiled the memory of
Prince Bismarck in connection with the
| Governments adoption of the former
Chancellor's policy against Socialists.
| Among the many newspaper comments
| upon this incident, the Boersen Zeitung
says, and justly, too: mot one of the
long row of Ministers rose to refute Herr
Bebel's slanders and his widest violations
of the truths of German history. Even
when he assails the Germans who have
written that history with their blood, it is
sorrowful to think that nobody on the
Government benches possesses the courage
or ability to cope with Herr Bebel in polit-
! ical com bat"
Baron Marschall Won Bieberstein, the
Minister of Foreign Affairs, from whom
some response was expected, completely
| ignored Herr Bebel's references to Prince
| Bismarck, but promptly sprang to his feet
| to defend Assessor Weihlen, a minor Of
fetal in the Foreign Department. when
! that gentleman name was casually men
toned in connection with the infamous
Herr Liest, formerly Chancellor of the
Cameroons, in the scandals and outrages
which caused Liest's prosecution and dis
missal.
The Foreign Minister boiled over with
rage at the attack upon his subordinate,
but he allowed his old chief, Prince Bis
marck, to be stigmatized in the open
house as a forger of dispatches without
raising a word of protest.
Except in the case of the Conservative
press, the consensus Of newspaper opinion
becomes more and more opposed to the
continuance of the represslve measures
against socialists. The Vorwaerts, lead
ing socialist paper, publishes list of fifty
six convictions for the offense lese majestic
within the last three months, the persons
convicted including members of the Reich
stag, journalists and even comic singers
who have introduced illusions to the
Kaiser in their songs. A number of these
convictions and still greater number of
charges, the paper says, arose from the ut
terance of alleged insulting comments
upon the Kaiser upon the streets in the
hearing of the police, and in many cases
informers in private life, actuated by per-
sonal Spite have caused arrests upon real
or spurious charges.
The Vossische Zeitung says that under
such system some degree of public SYM
pathy is extended to socialists under the
conviction that they ought to have fair
play. "If harsh measures are dealt out to
them for actions which are permitted to
other partisans," the Zeitung says, 1.-THE
right will soon seem to be on their side.
The agrarians and the anti-Semites have
aims not jot less subversive than social
ism, and one law ought to be applied to
ALL"
In the meantime the Socialists are tre-
mendously energetic under the stimulus
of prosecution, and their frequent mass
meetings are greatly crowded and i'm
mensely enthusiastic. In Difference to the
law they have adopted very noticeable
and ingenious innovation. Hitherto at
ouch meetings cheers were proposed for
international revolution and socialism,"
Now they cheer for international liberia
tion," which is rather distinc ction with.
out difference.
The Socialist members of the Reichstag
have submitted to the Chamber proposals
for the abolishment of the penal code
Furnishing the offense OF iese majeste;
affirming the liberty of meeting; abro-
eating the dictatorial powers of the Staff
halter (Governor) of the Reichsland, and
universal suffrage. The. Conservatives op-
posed the bill, but the Ministers an
nounced that they would promote bill
for a similar class of suffrage as that in
vogue in Prussia.
DR.. Stoecker. formerly court chaplain,
celebrated his sixtieth birthday on
Wednesday, when he was the recipient of
ovations at two great public meetings. At
Christian Socialist reunion DR.. Stoecker
told his admirers that if certain circles in
authority had not been. blind his party
would have long ago vanquished the
Social Democrats of Berlin. He reminded
them that his parry alone counted more