The Bridgeport times and evening farmer., 1918-03-01

not to speak of the Russians, i Well, if anybody is so ignorant of po- litical individualities as to believe that the Swedish Socialist leader, Brant- ing, would help a German device or would not see through a German de- vice, he must be left in his belief. MT. Granting is the real originator of the idea of the Conference.
 AS for the Prussians getting the better of us across a table-it is as- tonishing how the legend of Prussian superiority dies hard, how affection ately we cling to the legend. To my mind the boot would be entirely or the other leg. There are at least two members of the British Socialist par ties who would make mincemeat of any Prussian in contest of wits across table. And I do not desire British participation in the Confer ence because of my fear that the Ger mans would befool the Russians. do not think they would. So far as na- tional rivalries go, I desire participa- tion in the Conference because it pre- sents an unsurpassed opportunity for pro-Ally propaganda. German Social ists have already had one eye-opened at Stockholm They would absolute ly be staggered at a full Conference. They would have such an experience as could not fail to react with enor- nous force against the German gov ernment. And incidentally the labor ious work of the German censorship would be definitely undone in a few days or hours. The fanciful picture of the astute Prussian (so famous for his diplomatic finesse!) dominating a Socialist world-conference to his own ends strikes me as extraordinarily funny. I do not for an instant imagine that any member of the government takes the picture seriously.
 The Root of the Opposition
 In my opinion the opposition to the Stockholm Conference is due to req sons quite different from those which have been avowed by the authorities. The true importance of the Stockholm Conference resides not in it's oppor- tunities for dialectic and propaganda and persuasion, but in the fact that it would constitute an unprecedented and supreme phenomenon of demo- cracy taking care of itself, and taking care of the world. and of the future. And herein is the root of the oppo- sition to the Conference. Confining myself to the British opposition to the Conference, I may point out that our ruling classes are strongly desir- ous of two things-an economic war;
 after-the war, and a terrific exten- I may also point out that the British V1J0r lyi in aIo 4o two notions, and that, if the working classes had the settling of peace terms, the peace terms would be of such a nature as to render both notions inn possible. But the Stockholm Con- ference would have discussed peace terms! Here alone is sufficient explan- ation of the opposition to the holding of the Conference.
 | But the origin of the opposition lies still deeper. It lies, not in any diff ference of opinion between the ruling classes and the masses of the nation about particular terms of peace, but in the fundamental objection of the rul- ing classes to the mass of the nation having any hand at all in the draft of peace terms. The theory that in- ternational affairs ought to pc and are the monopoly of an exclusive caste still held by the exclusive caste. The Cecils, typical members of the caste,
 have recently voiced it, Lord Robert
 Cecil, with an honesty born of me-
 diaeval zeal, and MT. Ba1four, with an honesty born of the most profound
 and candid cynicism.. MT. Balfour,
 an extremely dangerous enemy or
 democracy, can stand up before the
 representatives of the people and
 calmly sheer at their pretensions to guide the ship of state, and so low
 are the representatives of the people
 fallen that not one per cent. of them
 dares to make an effective protest.
 Privilege and Peace
 It is natural that in such an anti , democratic atmosphere as now pre-
 vails any comprehensive scheme for
 the participation of the people in the
 moulding of peace terms should be scotcaed, by the representatives of
 privilege and the foes of popular free. dom. The representatives of privilege
 have generally made a dreadful mess
 of diplomacy as a whole. To give
 one recent instance. The war would have been over by this time but fol
 the privileged diplomatic system an(
 the utterly rotten ignorance and stu
 pidity of it's chosen pets as exempli fled at Constantinople before the wal l and in the first three months of the war. On the other hand, the Labol party has demonstrated it's aptness fol ) the work to which Labor aspires by