New-York tribune., 1918-12-21
In Germany

rhe reports arriving this week from
the Convention of Workmen's and Sol
diers' Councils at Berlin indicate that
the German people have by no means
accepted the present revolutionary gov
ernment to such an extent as had hith-
erto seemed probable. Indeed, the occur
renceS in and around the convention hall
are very confusing. Delegations of
'Sparticides" get into the hall and de-
mand that the convention hear a speech
by DR.. Liebknecht. This is refused by
an overwhelming majority.
That looks like sanity on the part of
The delegates; but other things occur
chat strikingly illustrate the muddled
state of things at Berlin.
When the Peoples Commissioners, as
the present Cabinet is called, were in
stalled in Office about five weeks ago,
it was reported that the breach between
the two wings of the Socialists had been
closed. Three members of the Indepen-
dent Socialists were accordingly given
positions as commissioners along with a
like number from the majority faction.
But now we see Barth, one of the
minority commissioners, attacking the
demoblization and food supply policy
of the government, and several days ago
it was reported that he had boted the
convention. Ledebour also, long promi-
nent i'll the Reichstag for his radicalism
and now q minority delegate to the
convention, attacked the government in
TWO speeches on Wednesday.
Yesterdays dispatches reported that
Landsberg, one Of the three commits
sioners of the Majority Socialists, de-
nounced the business methods and dicta-
torial attitude Of the Workmen's and
Soldiers Council, presumably that Of
Greater Berlin, which had hitherto been
the holder of authority above the gov
eminent itself. Then the convention
voted to transfer authority from the
council to the government till the con-
stitutional convention meets, which
looks like q move in the direction of
sanity. Another vote looking toward
moderation was the refusal of the con-
vention to exclude the bourgeois ele-
ments from the government.
But the most important action vet
taken was the vote to call preliminary
national convention on December %
for the special purpose Of electing the
tirst president of the German republic,
This action appears to have been taken
owing to the technical difficulties in
The way of holding a national election
for the constitutional convention at so
early date as the present critical stu
alton calls for At this writing the date
for 1t has not yet been decided by the
present congress, but it will probably
act very soon and select an early date
When the constitutional convention
meets it is possible, though not proba-
BILE, that the Socialists will find them
selves in the minority
What then? Will Ebert. Scheide
mann and Haase initiate Lenine and
Trotzky, send the delegates home, and
set up dictatorship of the prole
tarat"?
Unless one can credit these men
with peculiar degree Of political turpi-
tude it is not possible to adopt that con-
cluslon. The majority leaders in par
tlcular have eschewed 50 explicitly the
role of usurpers of power, have COM
nltted themselves SO frequently and
formally to the principle of majority
rule, and have so uniformly referred all
vital decisions to the constitutional con-
vention that they cannot stultify them
selves by suddenly adopting Bolshevik
methods when It meets. Scheidemann
has said there could be "no political and
40 economic success without a consti-
tutional convention and that expresses
the general attitude Of the Majority
Socialists.
That the situation at Berlin IS still
critical, however, is evident Yester-
days dispatches reported the Vo1
g0drts as admitting openly that there
was danger of the whole government
apparatus crumbling to pieces 1t fears
that this would be followed by the fail
IRE of the peace negotiations and the
occupation Of Germany by Entente
troops.
This gloomy view, however is partly
offset by the TACT that in several cleo.
tions reported from various parts of
Germany this week the most radical
Socialists did not even get mention,
honorable or otherwise. All the news
fseas Gsarnsny, too, goes 20 shaw that
aot nn!y The "gnaYticidcsH but evAn thc,