The Irish standard., 1919-02-01
WHEN REAL DANGER IMPENDS GERMANY
REJECTS MARXIANTSM

hat socialism of the Bolshevikist type is not
destined to flourish and prosper among the
strated in the recent elections. A few weeks ago
III these columns predicted that the German
people would not take to" the highly adventurous
and hazardous schemes of the Lenne- Trotzkv en-
prlclsts basing conclusions on the belief that
Bolsheviksm will not take deep root among anv
people where the masses have en- Dyed the benefits
OF common school education. Illiteracy is the
top-root of the Balsheviki plant and wherever the
vast majority of the people possessed of the
ability to read and write it will not thrive Blind
credulity and fatuous gullbilty are the elements OF
the social soil which chiefly sustain and stimulate
ITS growth, and these are not usually to be found
where the common schools have been established for
a few decades.
world may we'll rejoice therefore at this critical
juncture of human affairs that the tidal wave of riot
and loot centerng in Russia has received a decisive
setback III its destructive course Had the spartacan
element won victory in the German contests the
whole European situation would have been greatly
aggravated and the work of the Peace Conference
would have been prolonged almost indefinitely
There would doubtless have, followed an orgy of
anarchy and chaos that would have required for
their suppression another colossal draft upon the re-
sources of the civilized world, and would have been
attended with epoch of misery starvation and
lootlng such as is prevalent in Russia.
The returns so far available indicate that the
spartacans who had adopted the title OF Indepen-
the SIX important elements in the German election
having succeeded in eecting only "a representatives
in total of about 500 The Ebert party the "Ma-
jority Socialists, credited with 1o4 seats, the
Christian Peoples party. the Centrst or socalled
Catholic party. with 49, the German Democratic
party with IT. the German National Peoples party
(the Junkers) with a. and the German Peoples
party with %. In some of the electoral districts
including Alsace-Lorraine and parts of Poland
there was no participation in the election these dis
trlcts being no longer in the German domain
1t is interesting to note that the Center party the
socalled Catholic party, comes second in strength
to the Majority Socialists The Centrists or Chris
tan Peoples party, rallied to it's support the out
and-out opponents of Socialism. These included not
only vast ma orty Of the Catholic voters but also
a strong contingent of Lutherans who have adopted
the Catholic view of the Socialistic tenets This
party swept the Rhineland by two to one vote
winning eight seats in the Aix-la- Chapele district
alone Inasmuch as the Ebert faction, though the
most numerous in the government. will still be
only minority party. 1t must seek affiliations and
combinations with one or more of the other con-
tlngents to maintain its control of the situation But
it will not be obliged to link up with the Boshevki
spartacans. 1t is quite apt to negotiate working
agreement with the powerful Centrsts and some of
the conservative elements the other parties rather
than with any of the radical elements.
In the lines of cleavage the several parties ran
true to their old FORM regardless of the socalled
revolution" all classes voting in accordance with
their special interests with the exception of the
Centrists, who stood boldly their antsociaiistc