The Birmingham age-herald., 1915-04-04
Karl Liebknecht's Solitary No"
By WILLIAM ENGLISH MAILING Exclusive Service the Survey Press Bureau )

I spend year as a political prisoner l was not because of any real or tech
 nical violation of the law, but because of the successful manner in which he had exposed the bloodthirsty in- | tentions of the ruling classes to use l the army to repress any republican or democratic movement. He quoted from the memoirs of some German of high 1 position, a conversation between Bis
 marck and the present Kaiser, appro- l imate1y as follows: The Kaiser had
 said that he intended to make no mo-
 mentary concessions to democracy as his grandfather had made in 1S4S Bis
 marck answered that if he did make
 any such concessions it would be nee
 essary to wade up to his knees in blood l to put the popular movement down
 again.
 l The reader will want to know why
 Liebknecht has specialized" in anti-
 militarism. It is because the world is l his country and he is more interested
 in all nations than in any one. Un- doubtedly Liebknecht is a genuine and
 ardent internationalist, but 1t may be
 questioned if this is bottom of his thought In fighting against militarism, | Liebknecht is also fighting in the most | effective way monarchy, nobility. bu-
 reaucracy, clericalism. landlordism--in
 a word the whole social system of Ger many.
 ] I shall indicate only. the leading points of Liebknecht's celebrated dec laration on December 2 He declared | that Germany for many years has been 1 the accomplice of ozarism and the
 model of political backwardness;" that
 the war was in no sense war of de- fense but was mutually fostered by German and Austrian war parties in
 the darkness of standardization and secret diplomacy in order to steal a
 march on the adversary
 FavOrs Immediate Peace l It might appear, then, that Liebknecht l takes the position of the socialists of
 France and Belgium-that this is a war
 against German militarism But this is not the case. for he specifically repudiates 1 that view in his declaration and attributes l the war on both sides to the desire of cap l italists of all great nations for new mar kets and fields of investment Moreover.
 Liebknecht favors immediate peace, which would undoubtedly mean a return to the status quo, which existed before the war, another point on which the socialists of l France and Belgium would refuse to agree with him.
 l Liebknechts tremendous "No'' in the 1 Reichstag has gained the most currency abroad. but his work in the Prussian Landtag has perhaps had even more in- fluence in Germany. In the session of Oc- IODer Z1p l5l4, Qo WAB aDl6 10 CaTIy only half of the 10 members with him in his l demonstrative protest against the govern ment, but in the Landtag meeting of Feb ruary 0, the 10 socialist members were unanimous in declaring:
 We know that this war Is not desired by the people in any of the countries par ticipating in it.'' And when the ccnserva-
 tive leader said something about the unan- imity of the German people. Liebknecht
 shouted that he had no right to speak in the name of the people, and the I4andtag almost broke into riot
 In the session of the Prussian Landtag on March these scenes continued. Lieb-
 knecht declared: Democratic control by
 the people would have prevented the war l and 1t is well known that the socialists were unanimously opposed to the declara-
 ton of war to the very end. On the fol-
 lowing day. the vowaerts repeated the
 statement of Liebknecht. in spite of the
 censor. using his very words: Demo
 cratic control by the people would have prevented the war"
 The importance of the btand taken by I Lebknecht and the hundreds of thou
 sands of German socialists that support
 him and his associates 1ies in their readi- ness to enter into an immediate life and
 death struggle with the German ruling class. taking full advantage of the critical moment And in this position he has the support of the overwhelming majority of
 the sociali!ts of every country of tho
 world. outstde of 0srmany and Austria.