The Washington times., 1917-10-28
HOLL VEG WARNED
CHANGES COMING
GOVERNMENT
By JAMES W. GERARD.

By JAMES. w. GEhArO.
American Ambassador to Germany, July q,
Is1a, to February 4, 1911.
tCouyr,Rht. United States, Canada, and In
ternational, 1911, by the Public Ledger Col
Ambassador Gerard, tcho, during tie
four years preceding the declaration ol
Ioor. ,ods On BeTIin and n constnnf
touch 4citk Gerns0n affairs, has toTttten
a vtptd story Of his experiences. Thts
story The WGshinotoH Tiusss totH Pno-
Hsh In dolly iHstGII1sents, Of tchtch the
foIlooino Is the Jorfy-thtrd and last.
No document Of diplomacy t0os eOer
more vttol or more iHterestsno.
I have already expressed belief
that Germany will not be forced to
make peace because of q revolution
and that sufficient food viii be some
now found to carry on the population
during at least another year OF war.
What then offers a prospect OF
reasonable peace supposing, OF
course, that the Germans fail in the
submarine blockade Of England and
that the crumbling up of Russia
does not release from the east
frontier soldiers enough to break the
lines of the British and French In
France?
l think that it is Cily by an evolu-
ton of Germany herself toward
liberalism that the world will be
given such guarantees Of future
peace as viii justify the termina-
ton of this war.
There is, properly speaking, no
great Liberal party in the political
arena in Germany. As l have said,
the Reichstag is divided roughly into
Conservatives, Roman Catholics or
Centrum and Social Democrats. The
so-called National Liberal party has
in this war shown itself a branch Of
the Conservative party, and on some
issues as bitter, as conservative as
the Junkers themselves. Herr Bas-
sermann and Herr Stresemann have
not, shown themselves leaders Of
liberal thought nor has their leader
ship been such as to inspire con-
fidence in their political sagacity.
Attacked President Wilson.
It was Stresemann who, on May so.
1916, said in the Reichstsg, referring
to President Wilson As q peace
maker. I'VE thrust the hand 4 VIII
son aside" On the day folio ing the
day on which the Presb ht an
nounced to Congress the br fixing OF
diplomatic relations newf of that
break had not yet arrived h Berlin;
Herr Stresemann on tn I peaceful
making q speech to the lsmbers Of
the National Liberal party In which
he told them that as a result Of his
careful study Of the American situa-
tion, OF his careful researches into
American character and politics, he
could assure them that America
would never break with Germany.
As he concluded his speech and sat
down, amid the applause of his ad-
mirers, a German who had been sit
ting in the back of the room rose and
read from the noon paper, the 'fB. z, !"
a dispatch from Holland giving the
news that America had broken rela-
tions with Germany. The political
skill and foresight OF Herr Strese-
mann may be Judged from the above
Incident. "
The Socialists, or Social Democrats,
more properly speaking. have shown
themselves in opposition to the mon
archical form OF government in Ger
many. This has put them politically.
militarily, and socially beyond the
pale.
At Heart II q Liberal.
Zimmerman, the foreign secretary.
although the mental excitement
caused by his elevation to the foreign
office at a time OF stress made him
go over to the advocates of ruthless
submarine war lock, stock. and bar
rel. is nevertheless at heart 9 liberal,
and violently opposed to a system
which draws the leaders of the coun-
try from only one aristocratic class.
DR.. Solf. the imperial colonial min
lister, while devoted to the Emperor
and his family, Is a man SO reason
able in his views, so indulgent of the
views Of others, and indulEent with
out weakness. that he would make an
ideal leader OF a liberalized Germany.
The great bankers, merchants, and
manufacturers, although they appre-
eiate the luscious dividends that they
have received during the peaceful
years since 1870, nevertheless feel
under their skins the ignominy of
living in a country where q class
exists by birth, a class not even tact
full enough to conceal its ancient con-
tempt for all those who soil their
hands by business or trade
In fact, such a party Is a necessity
for Germany as a buffer against the
extreme Social Democrats.
when Gernany's Soldiers March
At the close OF the war the soldiers
who have fought in the mud OF the
trenches for three years will most
insistentiy demand a redIstrictinE OF
the Reichstag and an abolition. of the
inadequate circle voting OF Prussia.
And when manhood suffrage comes IN
Prussia, and when the Industrial
population OF Germany gets that rep
resentation in the Reichstag out of
which they have been brazenly cheat
ed for so many years, IL may we'll be
that a great Liberal party will be
the only defense OF private property
against the assault Of an enraEed and
Justly revenEeful Social Democracy.
The workingmen Of Germany have