Evening star., 1908-01-11
SEEMS QUIET
Mutterings of an UpheavaI
Under the Surface.
SOCIALIST ORGANS ANGRY
Whole Party Is Smarting Under Won
). Buelow's Words.
INDIGESTION OF THE BLOC"
National Liberal Leaders Hope That
the Present Crisis May Work
Their Party Good.
INDIGESTION OF THE BLOC"

BERLIN. January 11.-Order prevails
throughout Berlin today. and there has
been no recurrence of the demonstrations
of yesterday for manhood suffrage In
Prussia. The police, however. are still
disposed in force at the strategic points
of the city-the neighborhood of the palace
and various public suuares-or they are
houses The police do not permit the
people TO form in groups, and consequently
it has been impossible to assemble and
start demonstration. Most of the men
Herr Bebel, Herr Singer and their asso-
ciates who compose the committee. of
seven which is managing the social demo-
cratic party, regard the terms in which
Prince Won Buelow. the imperial chancel-
or, yesterday rejected the demand for
manhood> suffrage and a secret ballot In
stead of the existing property qualification
for voters as a declaration of war. The
Vorwaerts, the official organ of the COM
mittee, says today:
Word of the Vorwaerts.
There will be no quiet in Prussia until
universal, equal secret and direct suf
frage has been won. Prince Won Buelows $
declaration is quite clear. The phantom
OF liberal era is ended. The people are
warned and they will learn"
The paper then asks: 'Will the govern
ment dare ignore and despise the demand
Inr 40
the responsibility upon the privileged
and governing classes. Thirty out of the
thirIy-seven million people in Prussia are
without property and without rights
Social democracy will rganiZe the So
UOOtU9 and make their demand irresis-
tibie. The government now has the word
but the people will have the final word.
Newspapers of liberal tendencies. such
as the Tageblatt, regard Prince Won Bue-
lows refusal curt harsh and mbued
with the worst reactlonary spirit.
angry With Buelow.
In past times" the Ta.eblatt adds
..other liberal reforms have overcome the
opposition of greater statesmen than
Prince von Buelow.
The Vosssche Zeitung recognizes that
reform Of the suffrage is necessary, and
the question will not disappear from the
order of the day until solution has been
found.
The government is supported fully by
the conservative politicians, and the indl-
cations are that the final stages of the
controversy over the abolition of the
property qualification for the franchise
are at hand. The cleavage between the
supporters of the existing order and the
socialists is becoming more acute. Finan-
cial and industrial interests. especially In
the Rhine and the Westphalian country,
which naturally are liberal. support the
crown in it's refusal 10 modify the cleo
toral system because this system has
been the only barrier which has prevented
the socialists from obtaining influential
representation in the Prussian legisla-
ture.
National Liberals.
Independent observers are of the opn-
ion that the socialists have been supplied
with strong arguments for the liberaliz-
ing of the suffrage by reason of the
present financial embarrassment of the
kingdom through the efforts of the gov
ernment to find new methods of taxation
at a time when period of great pros
perity apparently is coming TO an end.
The leaders of the national liberal party
are forced to quiet in the present con-
troversy by fear of doing anything to
help the socialists, and by the hope that
Chancellor Won Buelow's dependence on
the so-called bloc combination of lib
eraI and other active interests will ulti-
mately strengthen the influence of the
liberal party.