The Seattle post-intelligencer. [volume] (Seattle, Wash. Terr. [Wash.]) 1888-1914, 1898-08-08

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the matter was that, though the public
prosecutor read cai 20 the Berlin Judges
the dectz OF % their provincial colleagues.
they unanimously discharged the author.
stating that il their Judgment the article
contained nothing bus fair criticism. and
IL such expressions Of public opinion were
20 bs punished. fair criticism would be-
cone impossible.
Nobody Knows What Lese Majestic In
Il h q fact that nobody IN Germany
knows at this moment what lese majestic
Is. For safssy's sake there Is 4 mutual
bat .ac!s agreement among those con-
cerned as far as possible not to mention
the kaiser and his doings. II he makes
speeches. they are registered verbatim
without comment. That Is. indeed, the
strongest criticism 20 which they can pcs
sloiy be subjected. As a final resort the
editor ef The Kia5dera3assen. Herr Tro-
jar, recently resOrted TO the advice % the
old Latin sage, 'Ridenda deere verxTn,"
and instructed Ills artists 10 draw a comic
picture Of one OF the ernperors addresses
10 his recruits The nation once more
laughed good na;ureiiy al their kaiser,
bar Herr Trojan was excluded from the
common merrlmens. He is allowed dur
ing rwo months 70 reottate upon the les
son the Berlin judges gave him. that 10
ore OF the most terrible crimes Of fin
de siecle-at least in Germany.
Evils OF s.Deuuncfatfon."
There Is anothc, perhaps the most
pe-licious outcome of these iese ma
jesie prosecutions. mean the accursed
pest o. denunciation which has fouled
vast circles OF the population. As iese
mateste IS punished. even If j, has been
committed as far back as four years.
there Is ample opportunity for rogues OF
every description 20 jenounce their fellow
citizens against whom they have. or be-
iieve that they have. any cause for IL
feeling. Every man or woman in Ger
many. ! daresay, has at least one lese
majestic on his or her conscience, and il
Is a detestable proof OF the wickedness
Of human nature that since the initiation
OF the September kurs'-which means
the course adopted by our government
since the speech Of the emperor TO tha
guards OF September. lssS-that friends"
have denounced their friends, neghbors
their neighbors. workers their fellow
workers. mothers-in-law their sons-in-law,
fathers their sons nay, even wives their
husbands. The confidential word has not
been holy. and che cannc; trust even his
intimate acquaintance in this regard.
Neither age tor sex Is protected from the
public prosecutor.
Some Specimen Cases.
Readers in country where lese majes.e
IL an unknown thing may perhaps con-
/ ceivs the suspicion that am telling tales.
or, at least. am strongly exagge-ating.
But the following quotations from news
paper reports will dismiss such suspicious
They are with one exception. cases tried
a ynn nJh nd z,.s1f4 10 80
ad lIbitum:
November 10. The tradesnan Baumann
was sentenced at Stettin foI six months for
iese majestic. Some women customev
with whom he haa Quarreied had de-
nounced him.
November 5. Liebsch. a laborer In
! furnishing shop at Magdeburg, was SEN
fenced for lese mateste. because in con
! versauor he had sharply criticised the
eIiperor's composition Sang alt Aegir."
November g. The iss,ie Of the Vorwarts
was seized by the public prosecutor for
paragraph containing the note that two
policemen who had been sentenced to three
months for assault had been pardoned by
! the emperor. 90 which note the editor
added the remark that such leniency con-
trasted strangely with the severe punish
rnents for iese naajes:e. The editor Of TIE
Vorwarts was sentenced TO three months
Imprisonment for such criticism OF the
November o. kupczyk. Polish laborer
of Neu-Weissensee, near Berlin, was SEN
fenced 10 five months and two weeks for
leso majestic. While intoxicated he had
smashed the pictures suspended from the
, walls OF his OWN room, one OF them repre-
sentng the emperor His own wife, who
had informed against him, was the chief
witness.
November %. An invalid miner and q
p.asterer. both from Essen. were taken
{ into custody and proceedings Initiated
against them. In drunken discussion
they had uttered some words against the
emperor which were reported 10 the au-
thoriiies by their conpsniors
Nov amber 81 a Danish actor named
Marx. while on a lecturing tour TO Ham
burg, stayed at hotel in Son Ierburg
Marx was known as 4 Danish ac.tator in
Sehleswig Ho,stein. He had Il converse
ton with the parlor maid az the hotel, the
latter telling him that the soldiers OF the
garrison were going TO play a comedy that
night in honor OF the empress birthday.
Marx replied 10 the maid. IA fol" a Dan
ish phrase meaning what a pity" The
maid repeated the phrase to the suthori-
ties. and the public prosecutor. .ranslating
IA foi' enormously by "ah fy. ''oh
pfli!'' In German. at once arrested the act
or and Instituted proceedings against him
for lese majests, After having been IN
custody for 4 long time. the actor was
! tried and discharged the judges accepting
his plea that the words lid not mean "ab
fy." but what a pity his intention hav
ing been to express his regret that the
play was to be enacted by d.lettantes, and