Harrisburg telegraph. [volume] (Harrisburg, Pa.) 1879-1948, 1918-09-27

the people, has perhaps never oc-
Cured to the outside world, but
am firmly of the opinion that this
vaunted pillar of democracy is to
a great extent a wolf in Sleeps
| clothing.
! His fearless criticism of the gov
ernment from time to time has nat
urally stamped him in the eyes of
the world as the most outspoken of
German Socialists and the bitterest
of enemies of the Hoheneollern
regime. Unles am very much mis-
taken, however, this able writer has
| been one of the most valued tools
OF the government and has been
used to accomplish the Kaiser's
ends, while ostensibly working to
Illustrate them.
Has it never occurred to the Ger
man people that unless the govern
ment wanted Harden to talk in the
way he does they would very quickly
shut him up? Has it been forgotten
that the government did suppress
/ Die Zukunft his weekly organ, for
the duration of the war, but that it
is now appearing again?
When, only few weeks ago, the
peoples champion wrote, in Die Zu-
kunft, the weekly which the gov
; ernment had previously suppressed:
International law forbids Ger
many to retain even one pebble of
| Belgian streets, and commands Ger
many to restore Belgium to the con-
! ditions before invasion. Is Belgium.
as a Chancellor, a State Secretary
| and an Ambassador have confessed,
an innocent victim of German self
defense? Then we have to ask its
| forgiveness and not force conditions
1 9 n nf
decency. morality and honor of a
nation" what did it signify?
To me it's meaning was very obvi-
GUS 1t confirmed an idea that had
long held: that Harden was being
used by the government to fool the
| people. If the government had had
any serious hope of being able to re-
tain Belgium, it would certainly
never have allowed Harden, in his
suppressed journal, to advocate its
release. Realizing, however. that in
view of the turn things have taken,
Germany will have to give up Bel
gium, it was necessary to begin to
reconcile the German people to that
untoward development. How could
it accomplish that purpose better
than by making the suggestion
through the lips of Harden? When
the time comes for Germany to offer
! to restore Belgium as part of the
peace terms, it will now be able to
say that it was Macmillan Harden,
one of the spokesmen for the peo.
pie, who advocated it.
Compare this latest utterance of
Harden's in relation to Belgium with
a paragraph he wrote in December,
1914:
Now we know what the war is
for. 1t is to hoist the storm flag
of the empire on the narrow chan
mel that opens and locks the road
into the ocean. We shall re-
which we shall add the thin strip
of coast up to the rear of Calais
From Calais 70 Antwerp,
Flanders, Limburg, Brabant, to be-
hind the lines of the French forts
Prussian. The southern triangle
with Alsace-Lorraine and Luxem-
burg. We need land for our indus
tries, road into the ocean.
Never was there a war more just,
it will conquer new provinces for
the majesty of the noble German
SPIRIT
Is it not strange fact that when
the German cause was triumphant
and Hohenzollernism was at the
ilSlSIlI VI IFS aIIOSdnCSB We
Harden advocating the retention of
Belgium, but when the power of
America and the growing strength
of the Allies has turned the scale in
the fourth year of the war and the
future of Germany never looked so
dismal, we find this same peoples
spokesman demanding that Belgium
be returned? Can there be any
doubt at all that Harden is speak
ing to the people for the government
not from the people to the gov
ernment?
AS another slight indication of the
connection between Harden and the
throne, I recall that one of my COL
leagues in Berlin, an American, was
the only one who did not have to
remain in his home at night and no
restrictions were placed upon his
movements. He simply had to reg
lister at police headquarters once a
| week.
I asked him how it was that he
was so favored, and he told me that
Harden, who was a patient of his,
had written a letter to the Kom-
mandantur asking them to release
this American from the require
ments in question, and that the re-
quest had been granted Immediately.
For a man who is apparently such
an enemy to Hohenzollernism, this
! editor certainly seems to WELD con-
siderable influence among the mill
tary authorities.
| The German people are long suf-
| fering, but they will not stand i'm
position. When they learn the
truth, I fully believe they will turn
| upon the leaders who have so wick
edly and so consistently deceived
! them.
But how will they be able to
prevail against the German mailed
fist? If their emancipation de-
pended upon their overthrowing the
army, I should view their future
with the utmost apprehension, but I
believe the end will come with the
| cooperation of the army.
The part that the army plays in
revolution depends entirely upon
the attitude of the officers. So long
as the officers remain loyal, the
populace would be helpless, because
the rank and file will follow their
officers like sheep, as Q general rule.
Ito Re Continued.)