Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1918-02-22

SJ
Court Reporter to Parliament.
This article was written by a Ger
man to be read by Germans. It was
circulated in Germany through the
efforts OF German Republicans in
Switzerland who are working for the
overthrow of Hohenzollernism and
the establishment of a German re-
public.
A copy has just been received in
this country and has been translated
for the use Of the press.-Committee
on Public Information, George Creel,
Chairman.
1t is doubtless true that the wishes
Of the entente nations, and especially
of President Wilson, coincide with
those Of the German democrats in
one particular, however they may
differ in others. namely. the desire
that Germany should at least become
a democracy even though it may not
be possible to make a republic Of her.
1t is not my purpose to discuss
here the various degrees Of demo-
cratization. 1t might be said that
these are q~uantitative, not qualita-
tive distinctions. and have more to do
Against this an objection car certain
ly be raised, which ought to be intel
ligible at least to the German Major
ity Socialists. In F. Engers polemic
against Eugen Duhring, a catechism
of Marxism which is still looked up
to today as %canonical, the "transfor-
nation Of the quantitative into the
qualitative" following the termin-
ology of Hegel's philosophy plays a
great role. To put the matter con-
cretely: How far characterization
goes, in the last analysis. is not SOLE
ly a question Of degree. If democratic
cation goes so far as ever to place eff
fective limitations upon the power of
the military monarchy and the Jun
ker caste it involves and changes the
essence of the Prusso-German state.
In this cas- it is qualitative in nature.
But. on the other land If democracy
only succeeds in making a few small
additions to it's strength, without fun
~damentally limiting the militaristic-
junker-bureaucractic power, the
change is then solely qualitative. The
number of democratic institutions
undeniably existing in Germany (in-
Guiding the reichstag suffrage law,
the South-German Landtag suffrage
law, and the social l~egislation) is thus
increased without making any change
in the essential nature of the en-
pire, as predominantly militaristic
and a~ristocratic.
Improvement in the right Of labor
to organize, repeal of special legisla-
ton imposing disabilities and dis
qualifications upon the Poles and the
seattle House lat present already I'M
der preliminary consideration)-
these are advances of this sort in
German democracy, and while graft
flying in themselves they are only
quantitativc. OF considerably greater
significance will be the introduction
Of the reichstag suffrage law in Prus-
STA and the modrenization of the
Prussian house of lords, if they
eventuate. But so far these reforms
have not been put through. Ever
suppose they are adopted, they would
still be merely cumulative in nature,
although they undoubtedly mark an
important advance toward the point
at which, in Hegel-M MARKHAM terms.
"the cumulative shades into the
qualitative
A more or less clear recognition of
this fact is beginning to spread
abroad in Germany; indeed, it has al
ready established itself. The rally
ing point of political warfare within
Germany is no longer the question of
Prussian suffrage rights but Of the
parliamentarization of the imperial
government.
V11dL NldA1IIllllcl I1dIGSu StIO YEARS
ago to Theodore Barth. the gifted
leader to whom German democracy
owes so much (and who died long be-
fore the war. sad to say, is no longer
a challenge but a fact: THE question
is not whether Prussia's suffrage is
more or less democratic nor whether
the grain traffic is a few marks high
err Or lower. but whether h%enceforth
the empires policies. especially in
foreign affairs, are to be shaped with
reichstag." That is the great ques-
the empire.
What has been gained in this direc-
ton so far?
Theodore Wolff, in the Berliner
Tageblatt, ans FRS this question with
ing" I for my part do not go SO far.
but insert before nothing the quail
flying word almost"
Had the defeat of the democratic
movement been due solely to the OPP
position of the militaristic-monarch-
istic-bureaucratic forces. there would
be no reason for pessimism. The
bloody pages of this world war show
how difficult it is for o%ffensives TO
reach their goal at the first attack.
Let us keep to this analogy. The
weakness Of the German democratic
movement lies in the difficulty of pre-
senting a united front.
For a time, to be sure, it looked as
if a phalanx could be massed together
which would reach from h farthest