Pierre weekly free press. (Pierre, S.D.) 1889-19??, 1916-02-10

responsible source the following &C
count of a personal interview with
three leading German socialists
Karl Liebknecht. Karl Kautsky
and Eduard Bernstein.
L~iebknecht.
L remember him chiefly as a dark round
face. semicircled by a sort of black hair
that comes from a hair cloth mattress;
not a keen face at first glance, not the
race of a man of action apparently; a
sort OF professional. clustered. comfort
able face. You felt like talking over the
college courses you should take In the
next semester instead of talking over the
affairs Of the empire.
Then he began to speak, leaning forward
over the little table in his private office
In the reichstag. His voice was very mu-
! tlcai and very gentle. He spoke German
in a way to soften all it's angles, but what
ne said contradicted the delicate tone In
which he said it.
ut is a war of les He looked me
straight in the eye. Every nation con-
cerned lies. The German newspapers lie
rs d matter of course. When the wal be-
gan. the socialists were fully aware that
1t was due entirely to the capitalistic In
centvc of Austria-HungaTy. We held doz-
ems OF protest meetings here in Berlin.
'Norwaerts' published stout editorials. We
had demonstrations against the war. Then
came the censorship. We could do. we
could say, nothing"
But why?" l asked. why, Herr Dok-
tor. Americans expected you to do u great
deal"
You do not understand the power of
the censorship" he said. quietly. You
power OF the military. In one day. in one
hour. we We're cut off. Every man be-
came a separate cell in the body polite.
Every man was isolated with his w
thoughts, or else he was drowned in the
fioodlng idea of the war. From tho mo-
ment the censorship shut down there was
no more exchange Of ideas. Every think
ing mar in Germany became a mental
prisoner
But what is the war for. Herr Dok-
tori"
1T is a war of conquest. Whatever it's
causes may have been. we know that the
imperial government intends it to be Il
France and Belgium. They will never be
given back. The government will do with
them and with us just as 1t pleases.
1T has done as 1t pleases with all the
German people. I am a member of the
reichstag. The chancellor of the empire
sent an ultimatum to Belgium on August
2. 1914. That ult!matum was never report
ed to the reichstag until August S. The
war budget was presented on August 4
and passed on August 5. with the con-
currence Of all the socialists except ID.
That is abominab,e duplicity on the part
of the government. Those 10 social demo-
Gratis who voted against the war credits
We're the only rea! revolutlonists. They
were not for recon cillatfon with capital
ISM. but for fists.
But they were helpless. The lying press
was intlaming the people against our enc
m~ies-against the Russians and the
French and the Bclgians and the English.
The German papers were flooded with
stories of atrocities committed upon Ger
man soldiers which to my certain knowl-
edge We're afterwards disproved, but never
publicly denied. The people were told
that the Russians We're barbarians, the
French fools, the Belgians superstitious
Weddings. and the English cowardly
sneaEs.
The causes of the war We're obscure.
The socialists really thought that Ger
many could not be responsible for such
Il catastrophe. C2arism was ostensibly
the issue on which the war began. and it
was OH that issue that the social democrat
bloc voted the war credits on August ;.
Nobody exactly understood the situation.
The socialists had lost their press at one
stroke, for the censorship was absolute.
And so they were like sheep without a
shepherd.
Now there are two socialist parties in
Germany. The split has come, Hereafter
you IN America must understand that
when German socialism speaks in your
press it Will speak with two voices. 1t
will contradict itself. 1t will be pro-war
and anti-war. Only by remembering this
can you understand the great internal
struggle which must come"
How do you feel about Belgium"
questioned.
Liebknecht's voice continued in the same
even, professional tone. II was in SHIT
ga IF - he said rat rha time that WIN }ar
Goltz was appointed governor-general of
Belgium. l tried to get Up a protest meet
ing against annexation. The military gov
m would not permit so much as a
public poster advertising the meeting. In
deed. the government forbade meetings Of
any sort for any cause.
But you can see that the newspapers
are preparing the nation for the final an
%nexation of Belgium. We have bought
this province with our blood. they an
que, without thinking of the Belgian
blood. We have paid for it with our lives.
The Belgians.' they say, are little more
than brutes. They are completely domi-
mated by their clergy. they are ignorant
and superstitious and backward, they do
not deserve to possess their own country
All such nonsense as that passes current
for wisdom In Germany today"
But what nave you socialists really
9one?' / objected.
49, nv SpfSs "a W ~ ~ taaS
been cioseu up several times. 'NOrwaerts
has had to agree that it will not mention
the class war. Here is another example
of what has taken place. My wife is a
Russian, and the war had barely started
when my house was searched, my private
papers We're seized and carted off, and
the sanctity OF my whole establishment
was violated on the preteXt that my Wife
might be a spy And. in spite OF the fact
that I am IA member of the reichstas, not
one word of this affair ever got into Il
Berlin newspaper"
But, Herr Doktor Licbkneckt,'' | said.
you socialists seem to us Americans to
have lost a great opportunity. Frankly.
we can not understand your attitude as d
party. We think you have been-to put it
very frankly-cowardly."
You think we have been towards" he
repeated. gravely, never taking his eyes
from my face. Wei. perhaps we have
been. Remember. the German social
democrats WI property worth more than
2o.oO,&0 marks. They own printing
presses and halls and theaters and the
X You know property makes men eau.
tlous. Perhaps our possessions have
made us conservative. Perhaps the Ger