Evening capital news. (Boise, Idaho) 1901-1927, 1917-05-05


man, and therefore not as daring as
Scheidemann or Liebknecht, but hav-
ing spent something like IL years in
England and having a son In London
today. he IL at heart a thorough DEM
ocrat and a man who believes In .
republican Germany.
ecHElDEMANN FoRcEFUL.
Personally Scheidemann impresses
one as being sincere and earnest. He
Is as we'll educated as any public man
in Germany today. He is one of the
most forceful orators there. and Inn
presses every one he meet with his
masterful executive ability. He Is
practically the dictator Of the policies
and ideas OF the ''Vorwarts." Many
of the leading editorials in this news
paper are written by him. He has his
office on the fourth floor ola factory
building, together with other Of his
Socialist colleagues. and because his
advice and help are sought by so
many people he is one Of the most
difficult men in Germany to see.
The chief Socialist centers in Ger
many are Berlin, Munich, Essen, Leip-
sic and Stuttgart. The Berlin Social
lists are not as radical as those in Ba-
varia and in the Rhine industrial Sec
ton. For instance, last fall when food
became SO very scarce that many peo-
pie began to fear there would not be
enough for the country to hold out,
the Munich Socialists wrote to the
chancellor suggesting that all food in
Germany. even that in possession Of
private families, be confiscated. The
poor know that people with money
have been able to buy food in large
quantities both inside and outside of
Germany and store 1t for the "siege."
The people know. also, that those who
live on big estates and farms keep
back all the food they need for them
selves and only sell what they have
to. So the Munich Socialists recon-
mended to the government that food
be taken away from all persons in
Germany. A further proposal was that
the government organize soup kitch-
ems and restaurants throughout Ger
many and compel every one, high and
low, rich and poor, to eat the same
kind Of food in government cafes. This
was bitterly opposed, OF course by
every one in Germany who had food
or who could live at hotels. The chan
cellor paid no heed to this proposal
from Munich, but If this years harv-
est should be as bad as that Of last
year the government may be COM
PEELED to accept the Munich plan after
all.
SOCIALISTS ARE ELECTED.
During the last year there have
hnn al 1a4lI Or.
seats in the reichstag to fill those va
Gated by death, illness or the retire.
ment of members because of age.
When the election was held in Pots
dam, the kaiser's home, Socialist
was elected to take the place Of DR..
Karl Liebknecht, who was sentenced
to two years Imprisonment. Socialists
also carried elections in Cologne and
in Essen, where the great Krupp mu-
milton factories are located.
The government has been watching
this advance In Socialism very care
fully. 1t has tried to keep abreast Of
the times by establishing state social
ism in Germany during the war. The
present method of controlling and dis
tributing food is purely socialistic. At
present the "Z. E. g." which is the
official bureau for purchasing and
controlling the sale of food, Is abso-
lutely socialistic In its nature. No
German firm and no private citizen
can buy food wholesale or retail in
any neutral country in Europe and
bring it into Germany without having
the supply confiscated by this organ
ization. The result Is that no German
fi,.vfa tod htt1r IL.
tries. Everything available in Hol-
land, Denmark, Norway. Sweden,
Switzerland or Hungary is purchased
by an agent Of the ". E. g." and
shipped into Germany in freight cars
owned by this organization. Travel
ers in neutral European countries will
see on the railway sidings white
freight cars with the following sign
in big black letters:
Central Emkaufgesellschaft,
Deutschland" th4 so-called az. Il. G."
Before this bureau was organized
German merchants had been going to
these countries and bidding against
each other for the available food. The
result was that prices became almost
prohibitive. Now the government sends
one man to buy the supplies and Of
fers a certain fixed price.
This same organization controls the
sale of all food within Germany. A
Bavarian wholesale grocer, for in
stance. cannot send food to Berlin or
to any city outside of Bavaria unless
he sells 1t to the ~. e. G." BY max
ing the penalty SO high-in some cases
it amountAto imprisonment-few peo-
pie try to get around these govern
ment restrictions.
SOCIALIST SCHEMES SUCCEED.
This is one Of the ways by which
state socialism has been established in
Germany during hostilities. Because
the government was successful In the
food department, similar bureaus were
organized to care for other common
needs. A government department to
buy. sell and conserve all edible fats
was organized. Another bureau to
control the oil market and another