Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-05-05
THE EUROPEAN
SOLVENT
1From the Nation, New fofK.l

S-1T-oro The Nation. New York;
rtS r.oi !. a new spirit aAtir In Bu.
zone and the German people are re-
spg on sav that the Russian revolution
,os not had continued verperation
,n Germany is to be blind to muitaply.
Inc evidence. The chancellor hlineeit
could not keel away Q the tne tne
lin all minds. He denied tha ~. A s
Hohenzollern dynasty wou.o H. -
Anger to help restore autocrecy IN
pnssia. Let the Russians order. their
avn nome" as they pleased. me IN.
farence that Germans have me rlSnt
~ 40 the same he did not draw, but
many Of his hearers and 'multitudes
IN Germany will do so. The direct APP
neal Of Russian workingmen TO- Ger
man workinsmen may not be allowed
oman circulation in Germany, put II
will be known; 1t will pass from mana
to rand: it will be eagerly debated IN
nrivate even II no public menuon OF
It IL permitted. Against these iniec-
lions Of liberty no cordon can % 90.
fablished. Already the SOCIALIST parry
IN Germany-the great party OF pro-
test-is acquiring fresh courage and
speaking in a bolder voice. Daily we
read Of utterances which even
month z would have been denounc-
ed AZ reasonable. Take the recent
extraordinary declaration by the So
cialist leader, echeidemann: 1T does
not REQUIRE many words 10 explain
why almost the whole world is array
ed against us. The answer Is given
quickly. The whole world sees among
our enemies more or less developed
forms Of democracy. and in US IT sees
only Prussians." The inspiration ana
- s>.i-~ - chat rnVYQf haVA coma
straight from the events in Petrograd.
While the chancellor is still unwill-
ing to concede democratic reforms IN
Prussia until after the war, the So
cialist demand that he do go at once
is becoming sitter. The Social
Democratic party 10 rapidly getting
into a position where It can force the
government to bid for further sup
port by offering terms. Already 1t Is
offering terms to the Polish members.
In behalf Of the chancellor, the state
ment was made in the Prussian upper
house that the government Is soon to
announce great reforms for. Prussian
Poland. The oppressive-And futile
appropriation law, which aimed to
take all land holdings from Poles, and
to enforce which the government had
exerted all its strength for years, Is
to be thoroughly revised. This doubt
less means that, in effect, it is to be
abandoned. And the Poles in West
Prussia are to be allowed freely to use
their mother tongue. This is almost a
revolution in itself. The whole stupid
and brutal attempt to force the Poles
to give up their national spirit-long
a proved failures to be dropped.
Such is the ferment Of freedom! II
the Poles In Warsaw are to have self
government, the Potes in Posen can
no longer be ground under the heel Of
Prussian ~autocracy. "a
1t has long been a commonplace to
predict that the war would bring
great political changes in Europe. But
they are now in sight Upon a vaster
scale than anybody dared to prophesy.
The old order is breaking up under
our eyes. More and more openly are
men saying that kingcraft. with the
craftsmanship which served it, has
written its own doom. What answer
can there be to Bernstein when he
rises In the %reichstag to affirm that
"distrust of the government" was
strengthened by the laundering which
now threatened to add the United
tates to the long list Of Germany's
enemies? The Indictment Of the old
regime Is crushing-it is written in
blood and tears and the misery Of
millions. The kaiser Ibid not will this
war" No: he merely willed a local
lied wal which would add prestige to
his policy and ~aggrandize his royal
house: But the flame and the fury
spread beyond HIS control. till now
the whole world is involved. and the
makers of the war stand aRhast at
their W folly. Meanwhile. the de-
cree Of death to the old system il
visible on the sky in letters Of nre.
However the war ends. the people will
never again put their heads in the
FORMER moose. If Germany loses the
war, the. fate Of those who dragged
ner into 1t cannot be in doubt. It
were better for them that millstones
We're hung about their necks and that
.hey We're drowned in the depths Of
the sea, Even If Germany wins. or
accepts a disappointing peace, the old
government canno survive. There
wili at least be a ministry RESPONSE
pIe 70 the peoples representatives. not
merely to the kaiser's within. 49,
everywhere the Europe OF 1914 IL
Men have tasted Of liberty and seen
that it is good. =" 'eoA