Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1917-09-04
a GERMAN
RE
~ William English WaIHng
OF The Vigilantes.

Is q revolution at hand In Ger
many? The Russian extremists 20 SO
Iar as to assert-against ali facts
mat Germany is already "abiaze.
with revolution. And nearly all Rus
! SLAMS seem to be convinced that the
Germans. will surely follow their ex-
ample, and do to the Kaiser what
they did to the Gear.
II thls connection it is eminently
WoFth while to note the difference be-
aWaen Russia and Germany. Here
are q Few of the most glaring.
Russia has been re~yoIutionarv for
nalf q century; Il is more than half
a century since the last spark Of revo-
tutlon died out In Germany.
!. ~ recent Russian revolution an
itself by thousands Of pra-
lmlnary outbreaks, spread through
lnore than q decade; Germany has
not q single revolutionary
ouTIpLr s N slxty-seven years
me majority Of well-informed OBJ
servers had long predicted a reyoin-
ton in Russia, No prominent Ger
man, n nobody who knows Ger
many, dreamed Of predicting an eariv
in the Fatherland-untiI
snis wal arose. and the wish became
father to the thought,
~ luna elections as long ago as
rso6 indicated that 80 per cent Of the
M Musslan people We're revolutionists.
n rev%olutionists in Germany, q mi
nority of the SOCIALIST party, probably
90 not number half a million alto
gether-scarcely one per sent OF the
German people.
In Germany 1t has been customary
Tor q handful Of Socialists to sit a
rev in Jail for such mild mis-
az ieEe majestic. In Russia
nundreds OF thousands of the flower
son or exile. while tens Of thousands
nave died. not for %innocuous verbal
criticism OF government but for revo-
lutionism.
The Russian Socialists are all revo-
iutionists. The German Socialists
% per cent Of them-have actually
attacked revolutionism as being unso-
cialisttc and have preached legality
Stne kalser,s law). while discipline"
taught obedience to the Socialist lead
ers: Who-as we have seen-obey the
Kaiser, D
Nor has the war brought the Ger
nan revolution nearer-as vet. The
whole German nation Is under ne
impression that Germany has been
steadily victorious. and the Socialists
n the revolutionists have publicly
announced that this ia their view also.
lent basis for the German-made a
FOR which all German agents are
now agitating. But they are not ex-
actly q favorable soil for a German
revolutton-as August Bebel, the
great Socialist leader, pointed out on
ly a few years ago.
The view Of all we'll informed Ger
mans Is that of Victor Berger who.
after making the usual German claim
that Germany would remain victori-
Gus on land. concludes that there is
no prospect OF a revolution in a VIC
torious Germany
their very memory be wiped out by a
series of equally numerous andSde-
cisiye defeats and the country may
begin to move towards revolution.
me military caste will neWe yield
excevt under compulsion. That COM
pulsion. implying the complete re-
versal Of military discipline, can
scarcely be expected from a miiitariz-
ed n non-revolutionary people like
the Germans, The pressure will have
to come from without. 4
It may be that ahGerman revolution
Is lear, or 1t may be that a German
revolution is far. One thing is ger
tain-that the only hope Of such a
revolution is smashing ana ire
trievable defeat for he Kaiser's
armies.
The German revolution is already
being fought for-by the revolution
lists of Russia and the descendants Of
the revolutionists Of France, italy,
England and the United States.
Kaiserism left the worlds great
democracies no choice. They had
either to allow themselves to be rob-
bed Of a large part Of the benefit Of
their. WI revolutions In the past, or
they had to undertake to bring about
a revolution in Germany Cor in lieu
Of that to treat her as a criminal
among the %nations).
It is 0 the chief hope Of the al
lied democracries-by force of arms
together with the offer of Just peace
terms, such as have been clearly out
lined by President Wilson-to bring
about that German revolution.
A press report says Bakersfield in
southern +aClifornia. with 1900 peo-
pie, has n motor a for every six
IN ho hifc pfo Ea4& FF4 T-G .lHf