The Washington herald., 1919-04-15
GERMANY DELUDED
UPON REAL FACTS
OF GREAT DEFEAT
CONTINUED FROM PAGE ONE.


protest. for Justice and humanity and
70 prepare for an early end Of the
old horror.
What could we others accomp,ish
who had not attained the sacred seat
OF paid representatives of the people
through the back door of political
parties and the grace of the bosses?
Because 1 would not toin. for any
price. in the chorus of lies, my week
ly (Die Zukunft) was thrice sun
pressed for long months, and in addI-
ton every few weeks an issue was
confiscated. was exposed to a hum
dred wretched chicaneries. No word
was allowed to come to light which
spoke clearly enough to be under
stood by the people. who were de-
cefved three times daily Only MEM
bers of parliament could help. by say
Ing the necessary thing with harsh
plainness and far resonance.
However. from Liege to Brest-LAt-
ovsk. and from Bucharest and the
Lusitania to the retreat and devasta-
tions and the destruction of the coal
mines OF Pas de Calais. these mem
bers approved of everything, even the
most revolving. because II appeared
to them unavoidable" because they
Dclung firmly to the belief that the
war had been forced upon us by at
tack; because they did not suffer any
doubt of ultimate victory; and be-
cause they did not suppose the victor
would need ask the verdict of the
worlds moral forces.
Shift to Revelation.
When defeat came instead Of VIC
tory these bondholders of the war be-
came the bondholders OF revolution.
They had neither wanted nor antici-
pated Messrs. Scheidemann, Erzberg-
er & Co, nor had they made use of
them as a ladder to climb TO higher
powers
These people could not make up
their minds to expose the lies and
atrocities Of the former regime. In
their view. apparently. the clearer the
genesis of the war and the hideous-
ness of its conduct might become, the
lower would they have sunk in the
estimation of their followers.
He who for fifty long months had
stood for everything that had hap
pened and had blessed 1t with patri-
otic speeches could only be convict
ed as an accessory in the crime or
else be excluded from all political
rights and Offices as a childish and
naively credulous soul.
The superstitious belief that only
on the misfortunes of one nation ca
the happiness OF another nation be
built ought to have vanished with
the food. The bandage which cuI-
prits bound about the peoples eyes
must be undone before the last deci-
sion falls as to the peace. Ger
many's people are not yet free, nor
yet their own masters, and they still
remain firm in the faith that they
were right in the war. That delu-
sion needs to be dispelled quickly.
Guardian Is Blamed.
Does an honest conscience permit
child to be locked in a penitentiary
because its guardian broke the law
A Germany carved into pieces, re-
duced to a debtors slavery by for
eign garrisons and dette publiQue
after the Turkish model, could not
breathe. nor could II atone for what
ever in its inheritance Of misfortune
can. according to human strength
be atoned for.
Even in noble nature, mistreatment
kills the good plants and lets the bad
weeds grow rank. Mutual understand
ing is still thinkable. We want TO
conceal nothing nor to make any fault
appear in a good light.
A conversation between human be-
ings of both camps. imbued with good
will. would bring negotiations further
than a council whose members do not
know the necessities and the possi-
bilities Of performance OF the one 70
be condemned.
Not in thousands OF years has suc.,
a great hour struck for humanity.
He who would miss IL. blinded by
hate or greed to the moral worth OF
free goodness of heart, would be
guilty of the deadly sin with whose
revolving name the pious manifester
does not let his lips be soiled.