The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1903-07-26
THE GERMAN SOCIALIST LEADER

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drive 20 him exercise his wonderful pen.
THE GERMAN SOCIALIST LEADER,
August BeDel a Remarkable Public Man.
From the Fortuiohiiy Review
There IL always touch Of excitement In
the Reichstag when the President announces
that Herr August Rebel has the word. !"
Members who are lounging In the lobby
hurry back to their places pens are thrown
down. papers are cast aside and all signs Of
drowsnees vanish The most llstless OF the
officials is on the alert for the time being. and
the strongest Of the Ministers wakes appre-
hensive.
When Prince Bismarck was Chancellor,
there was nothing he enjoyed more than
crossing swords with the Socialist leader.
but the men who rule Germany now are OF a
different mettle Although the Nationalists
dubbed him a traitor for whom hanging on a
high gibbet was much too good fate and
the Junkers were wont to shake their fists
In his face---in their part of the House man
| ners are not strong point-yet they paid
more heed to his words than to those of any
other member. They used to greet his state
ments with cries Of lies" II is true: they greet
them sometimes In the same fashion to-day.
but whereas then they did 30 boldly. without
even trace Of doubt In their voices, now
they do 80 but half-heartedly. For they
have learned by painful experience that this
| man whom they SO hate Is no vain babbler,
that when he hurls accusations around-de-
clarss that in Germany soldiers are driven
| to suicide by the brutality with which they
| are treated: that in Africa men and women
! are done to death by German Governors,
| in sheer wnnt0nness-hc has proof at hand
| for what he says,
Even Herr Bebel. enemies admit that ms
Parliamentary orator he is without a rival
are perfect models Of eloauence. original In
matter. terse and vigorous in style His
language is singularly beautiful. and the
Eses nave one q the very sweetest
that power OF exciting wild enthusiasm which
! his colleague Herr Liebknecht possessed
For that he is himself too many sided. per-
| would say, None the less. he is by far the
! most convincing speaker in the Reichstag
There y certain fatslistic ring about
curious-and eminently unpleasant sense OF
| the inevitableness Of the changes he advocates
steals over them; the very calmness with
which he enunciates his doctrines seems TO
render them the more incontrovertible
No man was ever less Of demagogue than
this Socialist ah Lea Leader is not by paving court
chief OF the strongest party In Germany.
He rules his followers with firm hand, and
shows restive1ess but scnht eo9slderation
to face, for he has no sympathy with leader
that allows himself TO be led More than
ono. he ha :, deliberately run counter to their
roundly that the gods they were worshippinx
we're but of clay, He espoused the cause Of
the Jews, it Is interesting to note at the very
them was at its height In Germany: when. m
the eyes Of the workers. the whole tribe were
: sinathem9 opPrsssoiTSs OF the poor extor-
exterminate. In his speech on anti-Semit-
ism-one of the finest he ever made-he SCOTS
at the idea of jews being worse than other
task masters III they beat you in the strus-
gle. he informed his audience, 1T Is because
they have more brains than you haye-.are
more industrious, more sober For popu-
lar leader in Germany to utter such a tn,int
as this was to do Drawer deed than many n
one that has secured for its doer the Victoria
to-day. but there was time when they stoned
him
August Bebsl has not always been Social
ist on the cont, contrary i,, N Ms younger days
Tor the feeble folk who wish the state to light
for them their battles M Even now, some OF
point to his recent speeches In proof OF what
they say--that the Democrat is much stronger
in him than the Socialist, BY birth he be-
a Pole was commissioned officer in an
infantry regiment, and his mother was the
daughter Of a small burgher,a native OF
Wetzlar. He was born az Cologne in. 1870.
and was only years old when his father
died His mother. after time. married her
orotber-in,;law. an official In the Brsuweilen
his step-father died, whereqpon his mother
returned TO Wetzlar. her old home. taking
him with her. Of course. She sent him 80
The " ksschuis where he was taught reading
bRSidpa'
standard Of popular education was at rs
lowest in Germany just then. When he
III. ts hs Rss Woo r" he
ssS ,y-ars before Whs. n 1853 Angus,
a fss ss stled s he has Def and
delicate fingers and not only had he mastered
all the secrets OF his craft but be had de-
,sHred nss app
which stood him in good stead IN his WORT
The Social Democrat. IN Germany are u
m srI deGs1 TaTf spas9 re
Emperor makes secures for them thousands
of adhsrents. adherents Of whom a4ite lair
wy.r NG pTo Ss%%s e Ss M %
seven million members: 1t owns seventy.a Ave
ssy and the ERIN ' Sran alone nh has under
ia control revenue OF $40. 900 yea +. Al the
general electlon in 1874 their candidates
retslVsd 3Jl ,0Il votes, IN iFN4, hitnpnKn tnH
Exceptional laws we're then in force. they
received $40. 900 votes: and in 1903. ,7S6, 7as,
Thus already at that time they, were npmeri-
cally the strongest party in the empire, as
the Cltramcntanes received only j,48s 900
votes. and the Conservatives, .o3s 800 At
the 1893 general election no fewer than 2.1?0.-
O00 votes were recorded FOR the SOcialis ts
and. at the last election, that held only the
other dnv, some hN0. nfG.
Among the articles 81 Herr Rebels Dro-
Kramme are: Universal suffrage. for men
and women alike, and for Ill e'a"tions: the
discsta blishment OF thc Church freedom
OF the press: free and compulsory education.
secondary as well as urinary; the abolition
OF Indirect taxati?D. ana OF course, the re-
organization Of industry on. cooperative
for big navies and world empires, holding
that Germany is not rich enough TO indulge
In such eStravagances The naturalization
of Alsace and Lorraine If n marked feature
Of the policy he advocates. and so is also
q close alliance between England and Ger
many No man has fought harder. or more
successfully. to stem the tide Of Anglonhobia
In GERMANY II ia thanks to his influence in
a great measure that the working classes.
In their feeln gs toward this country than
either the middle classes or the Junkers
Even when the pro- oer enthusiasm was Mt
it's height, he denounced the anti-En Glish
agitation In uneparinG terms, md told his
fellow conntTymen roundly that 70 turn
against England was to court disaster
EDITH SELLERS.
Harry Forbes to Meet Frank Neil for
Bantam Championship.