The Minneapolis journal. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn.) 1888-1939, 1906-11-11

UOOk.lL0Gm.s "a
train to IL epenick Arrived dc I Koes.
penick, he ordered them So fx bayonets
and march to the town. hall. 8. q. So.
tSefoTe arriving there, y oict put the
potency Gof his mi orm to- another test.
u was essential to the success of his
coup that all Observation-Disclosures between
the outside world and the town hall
should be prevented while he held
possession of 1t. Otherwise the Frantic
essages sent out by some Of the Of
lclals or their underlings would iney-
iitably have brought to the scene some
big military funct ionary and the bogus
exposed. rs 81. lIs7
y: I, Hating at, the telephone exchange,
!. y yolgt ordered the offcialjin charge to
cut off communications With the town
nall FOR the next, two hours under PEN
atty of5incurring the kaiser's displeas-
nre. The uniform trinmphed again. The
trembling official promised implicit ODE
.l All Inc world knows how his uniform
enabled the disreputable old iailbird to
carry al before him at. the. town hall,
and after selling all the money, he
could lay his hands ON in the municipal
treasure chest-only $I,00O-to send the
b.urgomaster,. DR.. sLangerhans. pris-
oner to Berlin, under an armed guard.
But perhaps the most striking feature
OF the affair, and significant Of the sub.
seir,vvlency in Germany Of the civic to
mlAtary authorities, was the aid Voigt
received from the Koepenick police.
a,. Aided by the Police.
The chief of, the lKoepenick tno}ice
took; orders from 2Voigt Withont. rn,,e :.
tion: The uniform hypnotized him M. as
it did everybody else. BY Voigt S direc,
lions, he placed a. squad of, polio
around the town hall to keep the crowd
back, and as proof@of his zeal. actually
arrested five citizens whose curiosity
got the better Of their discretion. In
MS widest extravaganzas, Gilbert
never conceived anything more. ludi-
crous than a : municipal police force
helping a thief to loot the. municipal
treasury and arresting honest men to
make things easier for him. 81: i. 81,
:, : All but a small portion of .Voigt's
loot has been recovered. In Germany,
many times the value of what he stole
has been, made by exploiting his feat.
Two or three comedies have been put
on the stage, founded on the, gigantic
noax, IN which the central role is that
OF the bogus captain. A fortune has
been made out of the sale Of comic
postcards. Only red.tape fettered Off
claldom which has been held i,p to ri{li-
Guile feels sore over the exploit. The
fetish: Of the military uniform has re-
celyed a. deadly blow. The absurdlty
OF, the semi divinity, which. in, Germany
doth. hedge about the military caste
has been exposed. Ridicule: may accom-
Pl1sh a reform of the system which
logic and common sense have failed to
achieve: The day may come when Ger
many, freed from the tyranny of mil
!tary bureaucracy, may recognize. that
It owes a. debt of gratitude to the cob
bier who made the world laugh.
F.. Volgt s case has called attention to
another form of tyranny which. needs
reforming in Germany. It is the sys-
tenn of police supervision of ex-convict is.
That made it impossible for .Voigt to
make "a an honest living. Perhaps Voigt IS
efforts in that direction were not par
ticularly strenuous. but it is certain
that he lost his Job at .Wismar. where
ne had obtained employment as a cob
bier, because of police persecution. His
master there says that he behaved well
IN every respect while working for~l
but wherever he obtained work, police
supervision prevented him from hold
ing any situation long It was, he: says,
because. there was no way open to. him
by which he could make q decent living
honestly that he conceived the idea Of
erecting a coup which he hoped would
bring him, money enough to enable him
to live without work, and wed his old
sweetheart: That story nay be. taken
with . grain; Of salt, but that The hoary
sinner has good stuff in him which has
survived a score Of years spent in iai1s,
old folks in whose house he was lodging
when caught, that he <nursed there, With
touching ,devetion,. a. young girl dying
Of consumption. IT. is "a pity=that, his
fate cannot be determined by the votes
Of his grateful :countrYmen.. :: :<i5