Evening public ledger. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1914-1942, 1919-02-04
RHETORICAL DUEL
STIRS SOCIALISTS
French and German Dele.
gates at Berne Reproach
Each Other
DISAGREE ON WAR GUILT
Teuton Declares Britain's
"Hunger Blockade Caused
Death of 100000 Teutons
By the Associated Press

Bernc, Feb A violent rhetorical
! duel between the French and German
Socialists. with many reciprocal re-
proaches and accusations marked the
second sitting last night of the inter
national labor and socialist conference.
, The French side Of the debate was in
J the hands of Pierre Renaudel, Albert
Thomas and NJ. Mistral.
Otto Wells, the former military cUm-
mander of Berlin, defended the German
position and sad that the German 50.
cialists already had settled the question
of responsibility for the war in having
taken all power from the princes and
kings Wells accused Great Britain of
; having killed 100000 German women.
children and old men by the hunger
blockade" He said that the exclusion
of the German socialists would impede
the reconstruction Of the internationale.
Kurt Eisner, the Bavarian Uremier,
was the first speaker on the program
! for today.
Asks Guilty be Punished
Albert Thomas, who was formerly n
French member of the Allied war coun-
ell. prior to the French and German
! verbal clash offered a motion placing at
! tht head of the program questions Of re-
; spons' 'bility for the war and the future
Of Socialism. The motion follows:
'"The Berne Socialist conference. con-
siderng that cate clysm deliberately
. loosed by n few men has inflicted upon
the world nameless calamities and
! threatens TO harrow up civilization itself.
4 and considering. on the other hand. that
! all hopes of just and la sting peace de-
pend upon the possibility of founding a
! society Of nations that there can be no
! society of nations without trust, and that
: International public faith would remain
forever compromised IL the governments
which have violated 1t could escape
; punishment. for their crimes and If So
! cial,st chiefs who made themselves ac-
, completes of these governments were not
: branded outcasts by the lnternationals,
! has decided to inscribe at the head
y agenda the question OF governmental re-
: sponslbilities in the causes of the war.
Z that of violation of neutralities which
: had been placed under the guarantees
: of Europe and that of the responsibility
: of Socialists involved.
! Calls BoIshevism Menace
ION the other hand the conference,
= considering that the future OF Socialism
in the world is threatened with greatest
dangers by new tendencies called Eol-
shevism. decides to place in the second
posftion on its agenda the role OF
democracy in the establishment of So
cialist order"
Ia Arthur Henderson, the British Labor
7. leader, opened the conference yesterday
afternoon with brief address show
ing the difficulties he, Samuel Com
pers, president Of the American Fed
GRAFTON of Labor; Albert Thomas. tht
French labor leader. and Emile Wander
weld. the. Belgian Socialist chief. ex
perienced.. IN ,,arranging the conference
at ALL He proposed the name of HAL
mar Branti9g. the Swedish Sociaris
leader, for president He was elected
rnan mously.
It was officially announced that eight.
delegates representing twenty-one diff
ferent countries. were present, and tina
more were expected soon, including
! seventeen Americans.
There was applause when Hjalmal
Branting remarked that IL the Peac,
Conference at Paris represented tn,
ruling classes he hoped Bevne would rep
resent the working classes. There wal
general approval and some cheering
when Branting declared:
president Wilson is the great pro
tector of workingmen and the founder
Of tho league of nations" Branting ais,
praised Mr. Wilson's fourteen points