The patriot. [volume] (Indiana, Pa.) 1914-1955, 1917-12-22
KAISERISM LAID
BARE BY GERMAN
DR.. lebkneCht Makes Charges
Against Government.
IS A SCATHING INDICTMENT
War lnefted Through Suppression OF
Belgian UItImatum and Messages OF
czar-Submarine Warfare and Sink.
Ing Of Notwithstanding of Host.
ages and Levy of Contributions.

| ages ana Levy OF Contributions.
A scathing indictment Of the Ger
man government by a German was re,
ceived in Washington and made pub.
lie at Washington. 1t is a four-page
pamphlet in German by DR.. Karl Lieb-
knecht, the Socialist leader. These
are some Of the things with which he
charges the kaiser's government:
The Indictment of the war through
the suppression of the Belgian ulti.
matum and the messages of the czar.
The rape of Belgium and Luxem.
burg.
Introduction Of poison gas.
The Zeppelin bombings, "aimed," he
says, Ito annihilate every living per.
son, cOmbatant and noncombatant."
Submarine warfare on commerce and
the sinking of the Lusitania.
The taking of hostages and levy
Of contributions in occupied territory.
Systematic eXaction of service trea.
sonable to their own countries from
Ukrainian Georgian, Courland, Polish,
Irish, Mohammedan and other prison
ers of war, and from enemy aliens In
Germany under threat of internment.
This service involved forced espion.
age for the central powers.
Fostering political lawlessness and
exploitation Of the people through
martial law.
Failure to provide for the people
through the war through the influ-
ence of the capitalistic and agrarian
classes.
Maintenance of its aims Of conquest
blocking the way to peace.
All of this Doctor Liebknecht sums
up as 'the most extreme concentration
and extension Of political oppression,
Of economic exploitation, of militaris
tic slaughtering of the working
classes, body and soul, for the advan-
tage Of capitalism and despotism."
Paved Way for Revolution.
"The German government" he says,
"has prepared the way for a revolu-
tionary uprising Of the people and for
general Distress"
Doctor Liebknecht's statement was
made to the imperial military tri-
bunal, Berlin, in explanation Of his
deposition in the proceedings follow
ing his arrest. He says:
"The German government contrived
the war Jointly in concert with the
Austrian government and so burdened
itself with the greatest responsibility
for the immediate outbreak Of the
war.
"The German government brought
on the war under cover of deception
practfced upon the common people and
even upon the reichstag (note the sup
preston of the ultimatum to Belgium,
the promulgation of the German White
book, the elimination Of the cars dis
patch of July %, 1914, etc.,, and it
sought by wicked means to keep up
the war spirit among the people.
"The German government wages the
war methods which, judged even by
standards till now conventional, are
monstrous. (Note, for example, the
sudden attack upon Belgium and
Luxembourg; poison gas-stnce adopt
ed by all the belligerents-but most
outrageous of all the Zeppelin bomb
ings, inspired with the purpose of
annihilating every living person, COM
batant or noncombatant, over large
areas; the submarine war on COM
merce, the torpedoing of the Lusitania,
etc.; the system of taking hostages
and levying contributions, especially
at the outset in Belgium; the system
attic exactiOns from Ukrainian, Geor-
gian, Courland, Polish, Irish, Moham-
medan and other prisoners of war in
the German prison camps; of treason
able espionage for the central powers
the contract between Under Secretary
Of State Zimmerman and Sir Roger
Easement in December, 1914, for the
organization, equipment and training
Of the Irish brigade made up Of i'm
prisoned British soldiers in the Ger
man prison camps; the attempts un
der threats by forced internment to
compel enemy alien civilians found In
Germany to perform reasonable war
service against their own country, etc.
Necessity knows no law
Refuses All Reforms.
"The German government has,
through the establishment of martial
law, greatly increased the political
lawlessness and economic exploitation
Of the people; it refuses all serious
political and social reforms, while 1t
seeks to hold the people doclle for the
imperialistic war policy, through rhe-
torical phrases about equal rights of
all parties, about alleged discontinue
ton Of political and social class dis
examinations, about an alleged new or
der and direction Of affairs, and the
like.
''The German government has failed,
out Of Difference to agrarian and cap
italistic interests, to care for the eco
nomic welfare of the population dur
ing the war, and so has prepared the
way for a revolutionary uprising of
the people and for general distress,