Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1918-08-03

| tial pose. been exceptionally heavy. A
telegram from Berlin recently stated
that $500 members of the German no1
bility had been killed so far during the
war. AS all German noblemen are by
no means Junkers. this deathrate at
the front really shows that they have
succeeded remarkably well in keeping
out of danger. The Junkers are patri.
OTIS in their way, but the true spirit
of patriotic sacrifice is unknown to
them; they have feasted. grown rich
and gleefully watched the inhabitants
| OF the big cities, whom they hate and
despise, gradually starve.
Russian Prisoners Enslaved I,
The Government has never made
any serious attempt to force them to
give of their plenty to the emaciated
women and childrn Of Berlin, Ham
burg or LEIPZIG. nor to enforce Just
taxation of their estates. but 1t has
supplied them with thousands of Rus.
sian prisoners as cheap wage.slaves.i (
The Junkers owe a great part OF their
present unprecedented prosperity to
the submissive labor of these Russian
mujiks. This is one reason why the
German Government. in violation OF
the treaty of Brest.Litovsk. has not,
yet liberated the Russian prisoners In
Germany.
Some time before the war Pastor
Iraub, young Prussian divine. whose
independent preaching. had got him.
into trouble with his ecclesiastical SUI, /,
periors. was elected to the Reichstagt
as the candidate of the Progressive
Peoples party. He was expected to-
do great things for the Liberal cause. 1
During the war he has become COM
plete convert to the political ideals Of
the Junkers, and last week, i'm a speech
on the Prussian franchise reform,
made this astounding statement: :.
IT is only fair and just to recog.
nize the great merits of the Prus-
sian Junkers. They have inherited
from thir fathers an ability to gov,
ern which Is undeniable and which
cannot be acquired from one day to
another. The wisdom of govern
ment is theirs by right Of birth.
In spite of this grotesque declara-
ton. Pastor Traub has not vet been
elected from the Progressive party.
winch is supposed TO support demo.
cratic ideals.
Liberalism Junkerized
Another rengade from the Liberal
camp, Burgomaster, Koerte, of KoA.
nigsberg. recently mace the following
statement in the Herrenhause, which
shows how thoroughly Germans OF
the middle classes assimilate the ideals
OF the Junkers as soon as they are
raised to higher rank in the Prussian
hierarchy:
A war in which the conquered ter.
ritory does not remain the vctor's /,
property in nonsensical. After our
enormous losses we need an enor.
nous war indemnity. We need also
a great store of grain, coffee, rice
and ore in order to be better pre-
pared for future wars.
After this one is no longer surprised
that democratic politicians like Herr
Won Payer and Herr Friedberg, when
promoted TO be ministers of State. i'm.
mediately wax more reactionary and
autocratic than the Junkers them,
selves. A place on the Government
invariably has this effect on the Teu.
ton democrat" who is overcome by.
the honor thus conferred upon him
and deems it his duty to prove himself
worthy of it by acting as much as
possible like one to the station born. I;
In the early days of the war par
ticularly the Junkers openly accused
the Kaiser of personal cowardice,
weakness, and of secret sympathies
for the French, the English, or even
the Americans! l have heard them
call him religious maniac, a sufferer
from nervous and chronic diseases Of
all kinds, perverted voluptuary. They
often limited darkly that Prince Helm.
rich, the Kaiser's brother. was 4
traitor who favored England and had
therefore been deprived of the com.
mand of the German fleet.
Try to Force Workers Revolt
The -Junkers are INSCRIPTIONS but
astute politicians who believe In meth.
DDS OF government as practiced by
the tyrants of the Middle Ages. Their,
intractable opposition against the
electoral reform bill, in spite Of all the
restrictions invented by the Govern.
ment to render it.. virtually illusiye.s
is,. In the opinion Of 0rman poIiticaf
exiles In Switzerland, q deliberate It.
tempt to provoke the working classi(
OF Prussia to open revolt.
The Junkers argue that a revolutionl
AIRY uprising is inevitable sooner 6}<
later In Germany. and they prefer ~
to break out during the war, whorM
they are sure of being able 10 suppresd
II by force OF arms, all really abln}
bodied men being absent at the froHU
and subjected to military disciplt0oI
whereas after the war the ranks 81
the rebels would be swelled by rnany
thousands of dismissed and disaffecto6I
soldiers, accustomed to bloodshed a716|
violence. ana revolution conseQuo0H
ly be infinitely more dangerous.
As the Kaiser is constantly haunfG
by this same fear of revolution aft0{/
the war. which his Junker ,ihtiunn(
are careful to impress still mora deoT11|
upon his morbidlv receptive mind. III
is easy TO understand why he n1qoL
secretly elRted over tha roi66tl6 n
e ~ ;2ss' y vs. e e's