The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1902-11-10
The Prospect, al the socialist Party
i'm Germany

that would Wclcom" the dissolution of
that body. which seems 10 bo inevitable
if the Agrarians and CcntristS insist
upon the heavy duties on grain which
Chancellor VoN BrELow has declared
he never will accept. We refer To- tho
Socialists Who look forward with conf
denCe To increasing al the next general
election the number of their representa-
tives in the kcichsiug from siNtvtnnincty
or one hundred through tn" codporat ion
Of former supporters of Liberal candi-
dates. On what grounds is their con-
fdoncc based,
German Socialism seems destined TO
absorb most of the Liberal elements of
the electorate, because II l. tending to
renounc" the irroruncilahlo and imprac-
tlcable attitude TO which II WAS COM
mittod by m" disciples of KARL MARN,
and is entering uurn m" path of COM
promise and oppprtunlsm That path
leads straight 10 the acquisition of power
and the insoparahc recognition of re-
sponsibllity The remarkable change of
front which the party has undergone in
the last few years WIS S;rikinglv cxhb-
tied in the proceedings Of the German
Socialist Congress recently held in Mu-
Mich. After long and heated debate a
decision was reached that Herr BERN
STEIN should hc permitted 10 advocate
a revision of the Socialist programme
in the now review Djg Sorillis'ischop
NonntshofiC. In order - measure tho
significance uf this concession il j. need
ful 10 recall the treatment which BERN
STEIN has hitherto received
Ii Is now som" four years since this
writer, then ancNilo in England. disputed
the nfallhilitv of MARN. and maintained
that no substantial success could be
looked for 10y the Socialists until they
adopted different methods In the German
Socialist Congress held soon afterward az
Hanover, the doctrinaire theorists, or
orthodox MarSians. had il all their own
way, and BERNSTEIN was condemned.
Two years later, however. when the Con
gress met at LoubcCk. he was pres
ent, and it turned out that his following
had grown materially in numbers and
authority.
No longer wa, there any question
of eNpelling him from the party. hut
he was listened to with respect and,
in the end. II species of mOdus rirondi
was embodied in resolution. which,
while imposing certain restrictions upon
him, could not be regarded a. Il vote IF
censure, or calculated 10 ~tltle the en-
preston of his opinions Since then he
has been elected hy his fellow Socialists
a member of the Rcich~tag, and has
founded the new review Just mentioned,
which has proved successful. In the
recent Congress al Munich he explained
distinctly what was meant by the term
revision, which he accepted as descrip-
tive Of his position. From the theo-
retical viewpoint, he desired he said. to
revise the doctrine propounded by MARX,
and to place it on truer scientific basis.
while from the practical viewpoint he
wished Ia found more rational Social
ism, a Socialism which should be- oppor-
tunist, and not fatalistic; evolutionary,
and not revolutionary. There was no
reason, he contended, why an evolu-
tionary Socialism should not only come
10 embrace tflt WIlDlt bI l'lf WdEt-pHrn-
ing class, but also enter into provisional
combinations with those men Of Liberal.
though individualistic. opinions, who in
Prussia aimed TO do away with the three
class system of taxation and voting. and
who in Germany at large are striving 10
give the people greater power by making
Imperial Ministers accountable TO the
Reichstag by paying the members Of
that body, and thus enabling them 10
give more time to Parliamentary work,
and, finally by emanCipating the Reichs-
tag from its present relation of undue
subordination to the Bundcsrath. With
all of those purposes Socialists heartily
sympathized and recognized that the
fulflment Of them was indispensable if
the German people was ever to become
self-governing in any genuine sense Of
the word.
How many convert, had been made TO
the concliatory policy of which BERN
STEIN has been the chief advocate was
shown by the attitude Of the Munich
Congress toward the Polish question and
toward Catholicism. How important it
is not to ALLEVIATE the Poles will be evil
dent when we point out that whereas
in 1861 there were only sixteen Poles in
Brandenberg and the Rhine provinces,
and only one in Saxony. there are now
"a, 800 in Brandcnburg % 800 in the Rhine
provinces. 24,7OO in Saxony, nearly lOO,-
600 in Westphalia and 100000 odd in
Hanover. In West Prussia there are
now 5OO,Ooo, in Posen proper 1,l58,9oo
and in Slesia 100000 Poles. Under the
circumstances it il patent that If Pol
ish Socialists should refuse To cooperate
with German Socialists the prospects of
the party as a whole might be seriously
affected The Munich Congress showed
itself alive to the importance of averting
racial dlscord. and was at the utmost
pains to adopt "A considerate and con-
ciliatory policy toward the Poles. No
ticeable, also, was the difference in
the tone of the references TO the Catho-
lie religion. which il zealously protessed
by millions of German peasants, and
which has constituted hitherto an in
superable bar to cooperation between
the small farmers and agricultural la
borers on the one hand and the urban