The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1917-07-24
THE MAN ERzBEAGtR
CENTER LEADER WHO PRECIPI
TATES CRISIS IN GERMANY.
Son of a Very Poor Tailor in Wurtem.
berg, Sent to College by a Generous
Friend, Made Good and Became
Powerful

from office, and opened the way to a
new and people-owned Germany is a
short. fat, bullnecked, forceful, obsti-
nate politician. Just a politician-not
a statesman. There is not a sign of
constructive craftsmanship in anything
he has ever written orssaid or done In
the reichstag and out, during his polit-
ical life. he has talked and talked
Erzberger is forty.two, a native Of
Buttenhausen in Wurtemberg and a
man who has made his way up from
very mean surroundings. He was the
son of a poor tailor, who could not af-
ford to send him to college. A well-to.
do friend came to his relief. paid the
! boys bills at Freburg and gave him
his chance in life. Erzberger made a spc.
\ cialty of political law and economy at
the Swiss university and then went
back to Wurtemberg as teacher. Il
was at this time-the early nineties-
that the Christian labor union move.
ment was beginning to make history
and Erzberger took a very active part
4 in that movement. He was really more
Socialist during this period of his
| development than a "clerical"-so much
so, in fact that in 1897 he was a de.e-
gate to the international congress at
Zurich. After this, he became connec..
ed with several organizations of a So
cial-political nature, and began TO gain
notice as a powerful public speaker.
He was a member of the "St. Augustln
| Cnafafxr 70 ha Of 1,
Germany" and exerted considerable In
| fluence on the doings Of that organiZa-
tion. When he abandoned his socialis.
| tic creed and became an active support.
er Of Centrum policies l do not know,
but in 1903, when he won his election
to the reichstag he entered that body
as a Centrist, and has ever since been
looked upon as one Of the brainesJ
members Of the Catholic party. He is
one of a group inside group who
are known as the new men of the
Centre"
Leader of the Liberal Centrists.
To explain what this means l need
only say that the present Centre party
in the reichtsag differs greatly from
that Centre party which was so famous
in the days of Bismarck and Winl
thorst. The "Kulturkampf" has disap-
peared as an issue, the older leaders
are dead, and the Centre party has, to
a great extent, become nationalist. Its
objects are no longer strictly religious
the protection of Catholic interests
to modify it little-but politically Ger
man, in the national sense of the word
Thus II has happened that, whereas a
few old fogies among the nobility and
wealthy landed gentry still cling &c
their old Centrist notions, large AM
progressive group has been developing
on new and broader lines. These mer
are the new men Of the Centre" anc
Erzberger who is a born politician and
opportunist, is the leader of that group
1t is wrong TO call him-as he has beer
frequently called during the last week
"the leader OF the Centre" He is strict
lly the leader of the liberal Centrists
The reactionaries in his party are under
the leadership of Doctor SPAIN the ves
eran successor of Windhorst
The above explanation is necessary
perhaps. to make clear the nature 0i
Erzberger's recent demands on th'
chancellor for mo annexation-no IN
demnity declaration" We are led to be
lieve that this demand was made OF
behalf of the whole Centre party A.
a matter OF fact, 1t was not, but wa
made on behalf Of the liberal Centris;.
and "off Erzberger's own bat" so e
speak That the whole Centre paciy
has since officially approved Erzberg
ers action is proof that he did no
represent his whole party when h'
made his speech. What he did rep
resent-and this is point OF som'
importance-wa the 10000 membef,
Of the Christian labor unions In Ger
many. These people, who exercise
large and growing power, want the wal
to end. and Erzberger their spokesman
in the reichstag at their behest, PM
the whole thing up to" the chance.
lor. on the grounds we know,
Erzberger's Startling Somersault.
There is no doubt that party politics
land the desire to wiring concessions q
the people from the governing power
Is at the root Of the chancellor's trod
bles. Erzberger is enough Of a poll
tician to take advantage Of his oppor
tunlties, even II he has 10 eat his words
TO do il. This Is not the first time h'
has opposed Bethmann, but II Is th'
first time he has deliberately and VIC
lently overturned his principles, ant
turned down his friends. II must have
been gall and wormwood to the dough
Is Centrist 70 plead mo annexation
when up to the very moment OF his
amazing flopover he was looked up &
as one Of the soundest supporters o
conquest and indemnltes. More thar
this. he has been a strong advocate 81
the policy OF unscrupulous warfare ~
! means OF bringing the war OF con
quest to prompt conclusion. Was II moi
he who wrote in the Berlin Tag tha
"the more pitiless and cruel war is th'
more humane Il Is, because II Is ther
more quickly brought to a satisfactory
end?" Was Il not he who, In the SAM
paper. expanded this Teutonic thought
by saying that "in warfare the great
est absence OF scruples, II one sets about
the matter intelligently, comedies, II
reality. with the greatest humanity
When we are In a position to wipe out
London by a method In our possession