The Washington herald., 1912-03-28

4
Conservatives ............................ Iosop
Imperial Party. 3 81. .oU
Anti semites and Famen' union..... 2 5o.oo
Clericals O. iH 2iSWo
Poles. Asatians. Gueifs. and PeaAantS'
National liberals and 1.d..... isaS
Radical Hberzls. 30 L5iioo
social Democrats. S3ooO
During the five years that have elapsed
the parties practically have remained sta
tionary, with but one excepuon-the So
cialists. who have increased their repre-
sentation by ten seats. Since ISL there
have been twelve general elections. fought
on a great variety OF issues. but It was
not until 1887 that the parties settled
down to definite programmes Of policy.
and finally assumed the shape and color
which still, characterize them For all
practical purposes the three groups OF
Conservatives. Imperial party. and Anti
Semites may be classed as Conservatives.
They act together in almost all situa-
tons and have the same programme on
all important questions.
They are agrarians. protectionIsts. and
reactionaries In every sense Of the word.
and on all matters Of national defense
their shibboleths are the same. In 1881
their combined strength in the Reichstag g
was l22 seats. Their lowest figure was
90. ir 1909 and their highest 11s. In 1888
In 1907 they were l12 strong.
The Center or Clerical party. mainly
recruited from tAe Rhine provinces and
Bavaria, varies little in numerical
strength. In 1887 they were in possession
| OF 9s seats Their greatest strength was
reached in 1890. with l05 seats: their least
In 1893. with e6. II we take into consid-
Grafton the growth in population. We
might expect a larger representation. but
we find that, although the number Of re-
corded Clerical votes has risen from
l.5ls.Oo in 1857. to 2.14S.ooo in 1907. the
number OF Reichstag members all through
this period steadily remains at about 100
From the nature Of its constitution and
programme very little increase or de-
crease can be expected. Center repre-
sents the interests OF the Roman Cath
ole Church.
| The National Liberals possess only q
shadow Of their former power and infiu-
ence. In the earliest years Of the en-
pire they numbered nearly half Of the
entire Reichstag. In 1851 their number
had fallen to 90. and In the following
election OF 1890 they reached their nadir OF
q seats. During the elections OF 1903 and
1907 they regained few seats. but the
country seems tired OF the pseudo LIB
eralism Of this party.
To the left of the latter sit the COM
bined forces Of radicalism. a union OF
three or four small radical sections, with
a hne programme-as far as II goes-out
without energy, doctrinaire rather than
practical. and with little OF inspiration,
Initiative. or creative powers. Their best
year was 1881. when they returned u4
members. which number had dwindled
down to q in 1887. German radicals suffer
from the absence OF a great leader. They
have no one who rises head and shoulders
above his fellows, no really constructive
statesman whose voice can influence the
Reichstag or the government in favor OF
liberal legislation. Timldity and a sort OF
academic pedantry mark the utterances
OF their leaders at time when the Ger
man nation stands In need Of the strong
est food on the political table.
We now reach the Sociaiists--the "ex-
treme left" they call them-doubtiess the
most interesting political party In the
country. One hears to-day on every side
the question What addition will the So
ciaIists gain to their already enormous
voting strength? The growth Of this
party is one OF the most remarkable po-
litical phenomena Of modern European
history In the first Reichstag one So
cialist sat. In 1903 the party occupied 81
seats. This was reduced in 1907 to @,
owing to party combinations against
them: but they quickly recuperated. and
IN lSll were % SlTOnB. Il MS IN lIsclL was
phenomenal. II is. however. when we
turn to the record OF voters that we are
able to properly appreciate the strides
made by socialism In the Fatherland-
At the general election for the first
German Reichstag, In Is7l. 10000 Social
ist votes were recorded. There were few
who paid any attention TO the cloud no
bigger than a mans hand, the cloud that
was afterward to overspread the entire
lst In
their votes. and three years later nearly
5oo.0 .00o Owing to measures taken by the
government against the growth Of par
ty which had begun to alarm the coun-
try, the number OF recorded votes In
1878 and 1881 fell to 474.0o0 and $4,000 re-
spectively, but rose In lssi to $4,000 and
in 1857 to 763,000. II was at the election
of 1890, and after the futility of the So
ciaIist laws had been demonstrated, that
the party put on that tremendous spurt
which has lasted for twenty years. and
which In no way seems to have exhaust
ed itself The figures for 1880 show
1. AZ. 900 votes, or nearly double the num-
Der recorded three years before. In 1888
the great wave reached 1,7S7,0O0. in 1885
the second million was topped. and In
1903 the third million. At the election OF
1907 another quarter million was added to
the gigantic vote, and now expectant
Germany will not be greatly surprised IL
the election Of 1879 shows that the fourth
million has been reached.
II 1t does. the Socialist vote will be
almost double that OF the combined con-
servative parties and Clericals. II win
probably also far exceed the united vots
Of the National Liberals. Radicals. and
their allies. It Is the salvation of the
so-called "Buergerilche" (citizensD par
ties that general elections continue to be
Tough. on the basis OF the old electoral
districts bill Of forty years ago, which
divided the German empire into s97 con-
stitus1cies. each OF approximately 10000
voters. Were a new redistribution bill
introduced on the basis Of population
alone the Socialists would I'LL more than
a third Of the Relchstag. instead Of sew
enth. which they occupied at the recent