The Detroit times., 1915-05-18
THE REAL CRIMINALS.
~ Or. FRANK CRANE
Copyright. 1915. by Frank Crane)

Inc responsibility Tor the crime or
war never rests with the people.
Wars are made by the governing
class.
The governing class is a close corpor-
alton. II may be a hereditary dynasty,
as in Russia, Austria, and Germany. II
may be a small autocratic group in the
midst of democracy, as in France and
England
The interests Of this class are all it
consutS; and the interests Of the people
only in SO far as these affect the few.
The people of England had nothing
against the people Of Germany before
the war. Nor did the German common
people hate the English common people
until they had been inflamed by the gov
erning class, who control the organs Of
public opinion.
The class is adept in the act Of manip-
ulating popular sentiment. Having got
its country into war it compels the COM
mon folk TO come TO the rescue to save
the country. The poor fools go out and
get killed: what remain Of them after
the slaughter must work for years un-
der intolerable burdens to pay the
taxes.
There Is but one world problem; 1t is
how TO break up the governing classes.
Ii is these that by their vanity, their
egotism. their ignorance. their selfish
ness and their incapacity lead the people
first into the folly of ornaments. and in
time into some war which shall justify
these ornaments.
The common people Of no country hate
the common people of another country;
they don't want TO kill them they want
TO do business with them, TO visit them,
and To enjoy them. The hate which bios
SONS into conflict arises solely from the
small group of men who make governing
a business: that is, from dynasties. bu-
reaucracies. and professional politicians,
and from their hired men, the military
class.
For soldiers do not serve the people.
They serve the governing class. They
are recruited from among the people to
murder other people.
There is no service the governing class
could perform for the people so valuable
as to get Fl their backs
Americas security lie smainly in the
fact that it has no such class, or at least
in that what governing class 1t has Is
continually shifting, and is never in pow
er long enough to get well ntrenched.
Ii We had a group of vain, cocky. ex-
travagant, idle and mischievous counts
and mobiles here who ran the govern
ment. we would be continually at war.
Just now remember it was not the
will of the German people that caused
the dastardly massacre OF the innocents
in the Lusitania; il was the violent.
criminal governing class, gold-braided,
MISUNDERSTANDING. rained In the
vicious business of soldering, looking
down with contempt on all honest work.
The governing class are lot OF no.
boes, the scum Of mankind, as the slums
are the dregs. All down the avenues OF
history they have plundered the people,
lived off them in RIGHTEOUSNESS and
proflgacy, gloried in the fact that they
had no useful employment, but spent
their time in strutting, philandering,
and drunkenness. They are character
lied by insolence, egotism, intolerance,
and cruelty.
People Of Germany, do not forget that
we love and admire you deeply. we
know your worth, your kindness, your
humanity. Whatever action We may
take will be from no hate Of you, but
shall be aimed at that inhuman, Goddess,
piratical, and swollen militaristic gov
erning class that has hurt you quite as
much as the nations they induced you to
attack