Omaha daily bee. (Omaha [Neb.]) 187?-1922, 1919-05-14
NATIONAL
ASSEMBLY
.APPLAUDS
DECISION
Treaty Called by Chancellor
"Murderous Document"
Which Would EnsIave
People Of Germany.

Paris, May l3.--lBy the Asso~
ciated Press. 1.-The German dele
CATION announces the dispatch Of
fifth note which probably will
reach the French foreign office
tonight and will be delivered to
the couacil of four tomorrow
morning.
Berlin, May 13.-(By the Assoc
ciated Press. )-The declaration by
Chancellor Scheidemann in the ma
tional assembly Monday that the
peace terms were Unacceptable"
brought the members of the as
sembly, the spectators and those in
the press gallery to their feet in
hurricane Of cheers and applause.
The chancellor reached the climax
of his statement on the peace terms
10 minutes after he began. The
chancellor paused in his address and
then thundered out the words which
announced the German govern
ment's rejection of the Versailles
conditions.
"This treaty" he said, "is in the.
view of the imperial government
unacceptable, so unacceptable, | am
unable to believe that this earth
could bear such document without
cry issuing from millions and mil
lions of throats in all lands, with
out distinction of party. Away with
this murderous scheme!"
With the exception of the inde-
pendent socialists, led by Hugo
Haase, all factions in the assembly
Arose and cheered vociferously.
Leaders Back Government.
(, After the chanceilor's speech the
leaders of the various parties. with
the exception of the Haase group,
made speeches in which they declar-
ed they backed the government.
The ,chancellors described the
peace treaty as a dreadful and mur-
derous" document. He said it would
make an enormous jail of Germany
in which 100000 persons would
have to labor for the victors of the
war. The chancellor said German
trade would be strangled should the
peace terms be accepted.
He criticised President Wilson
and said that the president by his
attitude had deceived the hopes Of
the German people.
The chancellor described the
was the turning point in the life
of the German people, as the as
sembly was to decide the attitude
toward what our adversaries call
peace conditions"
"The representatives of the ma
tion," he continued, meet here as
the last band Of the faithful as
sembles when the fatherland is in
the greatest danger. All have ap-.
peared except the representatives
of Alsace-Lorraine, who have been
deprived of the right to be repre-
sented here just as you are to be
deprived of the right to exercise in
free vote the right of self-deter-
mination.
Realize Gravity of Hour.
"And l see among you the rep
resentatives of all the German races
and lands, the chosen representa-
tives of the Rhineland, the Sarre,
east Prussia, west Prussia, Posen.
Silesia, Danzig and Memei, to-
gether with the deputies of the un-
menaced regions. | see the deputies
of the menaced province. who, if
the will of our enemies becomes
law, are to meet for the last time
as Germans amongst Germans.
ITO keep our nation alive-that
and nothing else--is our duty. We
are pursuing no nationalistic dreams.
No questions of prestige and no
thirst for power have part in our
deliberations. Bare life is what we
must have for our land and nation
today while every one feels a throt-
thing hand at his throat.
Let me speak without tactical
considerations. The thing which is
at The basis of our discussion is this
thick volume in which 100 sentences
begin Germany renounces.' This
dreadful and murderous volume by
which confession Of our our un-
worthiness, our consent to pitiless
disruption. our agreement. to
helotry and slavery are to be ex-
torted--this book must not become
the future code of law"
Loses an Illusion.
"The world has once again lost
an illusion. The nations have in
this period, which is so poor in
ideals, again lost a belief. What
name on thousands Of bloody bat
tlefields, in thousands of trenches,
in orphan families and among the
despairing and abandoned has been
mentioned during these four years
with more devotion and belief than
the name Of Wilson? Today the
picture of the peace-bringer as the
world pictured him is paling beside
the dark forms Of our jailers to one
of whom. Premier Ciemenceau, a
Frenchman recently wrote: The
wild beast has been put in a cage
on bread and water, but is allowed