The Bemidji daily pioneer. [volume] (Bemidji, Minn.) 1904-1971, 1919-05-02
old REGIME RULES
eERMANA!SSEMBLy
Many Old Faces Remain and
Many New Ones Are Not
Unlike Old.
REICHSTAG SPIRIT prevails
Only One Member Has Admitted Ger.
many Had Part In Starting the
War-Aun Doesn't Understand
Why He Should Suffer.

The German national assembly has
demonstrated two things clearly. It
ag unable to do business much more
speedily than the old reichstag, chief
fy because there Is little unity and
much dissension between the parties.
and the old order of things has
changed very little despite the new
saceS.,
The latter Is perhaps the most Inn
portant point, because the assembly
was hailed by German papers---and
particularly by the agencies that sup
ply the outside world with news-as
the birth Of the new republic, the be-
ginning of new regime. the living en-
Aem Of the passing Of the old.
It ts new In q. sense. and the old
regime has passed, perhaps, but there
are enough Of the old people left, and
20 many Of the new people are not
much unlike the old that the effect In
the Weimar theater Is not much diff.
Escent from the reichstag. One hears
precisely the same arguments from the
yitoor. watches precious time fly by over
the same and similar arguments as
ased to make one despair Of cOnstruc-
tive Legislation.
One Admits Germany's Guilt.
Perhaps the most striking thing is
me tone Of the great majority Of the
party speeches. Just one delegate has
had the courage to attack the con-
seTvatives and the moral strength to
80 on record as admitting that Ger
many had something to do with start
Ing the war. Man after man, regard
less Of party, has. In speeches proved
10 his own and the houses satisfaction
THAT Russia. France or England, not
Germany, started the war.
One lone man has had the courage
10 tell the house that the German
treatment Of Belgium forever forbids
German complaints from being eff.
feetive. The great bulk at least Of
a0~thern Germany. seems to have
adopted the attitude:
"Weil. it's all over now. We, the
people, didn't start the thing at any
rate. SO let's start out even and square,
with no hard feelings On any side"
The assembly is the principal out
aet for every known kind of propa.
sanda, INDUCED in nearly as vehement
Yy and excltedly by the social demo.
Sats as by the conservatives. First
shere Is the Alsace.Lorraine question.
Il comes up three, four, dozen times
a session, and always rouses the same
enthusiasm. Every old and shopworn
argument is trOtted out and cheered
1t has never occurred to the Germans
that on the other side Of the fence
there are fairly good arguments TO sup
port Frances retention of these PROV
inces.
The Junction with Austria provOkes
IA almost equal enthusiasm, and II
would seem as If half the speakers in.
ssrt 1t In their speeches for that pur.
pose alone. The Sehleswig- Holstein
question has come to the front lately
and Germany IS filed with propaganda
10 show that Schleswig should and
must remain German No speech is
complete without at least q reference
70 Poland and Czecho- SlOvakia, and yet
act one OF the speakers but knows that
these questions will be settled, for good
Or i'll, by the peace conference.
Is Same Old Hun.
The failure Of the German to change
materially Ia In no way better to be
observed than In his attitude to the
question of the conduct of the war. 1t
is only rarely that u criticism Of it is
Aeardi In the house, and the general
feeling seems to be that If anything Is
wrong with it. that Is all in the past
md should be forgotten or overlooked
by Germanys enemies
The, prisoner of war question is as
pHzzifng to- the student Of German psy.
eAciogy just now as anything else.
Virtually every speaker touches upon
the prisoner question before he leaves
The tribune. Tell German first that
the armistica made no provision for
The return of German prisoners, and,
second. that. while Germany begs daily
tor food, she attempts at the same
anne to saddle herself with 100000
more mouths to feed. and It has no ef.
iect on him. 1t cannot be sheer pity
fer the welfare Of the prisoners. be-
cause plenty Of Germans know only too
wsit how slim food Is.
Listening to delegates to the assem-.
bly,, and talking to Germans outside Of
Il. the correspondent finds that the old
German viewpoint he learned to know
20 we'll during the war until the breach
With America Is still abroad In the
mnd. though In less truculent form.
The German does not understand why
he now should suffer; why everything
cannot be placed on basis of status
goo ante: why anyone should hold
against him the conduct of the war
with which. he claims, he had moth
ing to do.
iont Is Returned