Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-09-21

| deeply regretted the events which
took place in Germany in the spring
and summer of 1911, as ! did all other
manifestations of weakness. They
We're bound to react unfayorably on
our conduct of the war; and therefore
on the subsequent peace.
Looking back ! can see that our
decline obviously began with the out
break of the revolution in Russia The
government was oppressed on the one
hand by the fear that it might spread
to Germany, and on the other by the
knowledge of their inability to revive
the resolution and warlike ardor of
the people, waning as they were
through the combination Of innumela-
bic circumstances No doubt our pre-
carious military position and later, the
want of success achieved in the sub
marine war, of which some people
had unfortunately been too confident,
made it more difficult to rouse our
energy, 1t was obvious that it suf-
fered from these causes.
But after all. owing to the collapse
OF Russia. our position in the summer
of 1917 was better than that of the
entente. We were justified in being
hopeful But there We're other rea-
SOIlS AOl WI sui lNutl AGNlAl'N' ilA
government lacked the resolution to
deal theoretically with abuses. And
behind it there was the reichstag, with
no united will, in part sincerely anx-
ious about our future. in part merely
striving for power from selfish rea-
sons.
on April 18th there was published a
decree by his majesty on the fran
chise. / only heard of it after pub
LEGATION. Neither the emperor nor the
imperial chancellor, Won Bethmann,
ever spoke to ME about internal Of
fairs Nor was it my business to orig
mate discussions on these subjects, as
internal politics had nothing to do
with me.
The connection between the fran
chise decree and the Russian revol,f-
ton was too obvious. That was what
made it so ill-advised. If a change in
the franchise was necessary--as it
doubtless vast should have been
made before the war, at the latest in
August, 1914 with a grand 2este, as
the free gift of strong government,
Worst of all. the government now
made the crown the center of political
discussion, instead of keeping it clear
of party strife. Besides, apart from
q small section this step pleased only
the enemy, who probably CRASHED the
reason for it with gusto. At every
step. the government should have con-
sidered its probable effect on the en-
envy, as we'll as at home.
Effort 10 Fend Off Revolt Adj
vcrtised German Weakness.
During the war home politics should
have been dominated and directed by
consideration of the effect on the
enemy. The greater the prominence
given to questions of internal politics,
the lower the warike ardor of the
nation will sink. Any statesman
should know that,
The DEGREES of 18th of April .and
18th Of July disclosed our weakness
to the enemy and revealed our fear of
revolution. The enemy must have said
TO himself that there is no smoke
without fire ana~a confederation is
therefore possible Revolution viii
come He must therefore have con-
cluded that he had only to hold out
and fan the flame to attain his object
revolution il Germany and her ulti-
mate destruction.
The effect Of the April decree at
home was very much what It was
abroad The revolutionary elements
perceived the governments anxiety
and became more eXactings Their
reply was the strikes OF the second
half OF April. They We're an echo Of
the Russian revolution, and proved