Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1920-07-07
Gay q. s. !

Copenhagen, June 16.--TodAy, eight
days after the German Reichstas cleo
lions. an observer gets the impression
that conditions in Germany areychao-
tic; one after the other tsJ asked to
form ri government and sassFefuseaSss on
purely political grounds Of expediency.
But there lis n paradoxicals feature
that echarkcterizes the erection: ~; Ale
though tie Majority .SocialistSsl69tA3lm.
meneely, they still constitutesaSth
strongest party, for their 6.63lyt57
votes secured for them Ill s~eatsSout
Of the total .461; opposite the coali-
ton parties, the Majority Socialists
will. nevertheless. become . minority.
Only now it has been possible to
gather from. first hand sources In
Germany material that lends itself to
an analysis.
The voters have spoken, but a. yet
it is impossible to say whether the
government is to me liberal OF cons
sentative, or whether the radical So
cialists or the Industrial elemtnts are
to exert the greatest influence. The
fact that the German people in q stu
alton like the present is unable to es-
tablish an effective government, does
not speak we'll for the future OF the
parliamentarian> system in the c0un-
try
Otherwise-in 1918. gM
/ II II, had been possible in the days
following Immediately upon the Mo-
vember revolution, 1918, to submit the
question as to the color of the new
government, the overwhelming answer
would have been in ravor OF the So
cialists. Even in January 1919, 1t
would have been possible for the Ger
81 IT, 80 a.
full support.
In June, 1920; the Socialistic defeel
Is 30 curshing that 1t becomes the
most CONSPICUOUS feature OF the first
regular elections to tho parliament OF
the republic.
Let is look for a moment at the
meaning of this:
Collapse of Socialism,.
From a purely German viewpoint
the Socialistic defeat might not be as
impressive as 1t is If it had been pos
sible to save out of the chaos enough
material out of which to construct an
enduring parliamentarian platform for
the new government. But nc such
thing has happened. The Socialists
leave nothing that is useful.
Such a situation means something
more than just an ordinary parlia.
mentarian crisis.
1t means that the triumphal
car of the revolution sticks in
the ruts; after the 1918 revolution
it succeeded in the course of q few
days establishing ar entirely new
regine-but now it. has reached
the point whence no ore prog.
ress is possible.
Some extraordinary efforts are nee.
essary to imagine exactly what wat
the strength and the justification
which the Socialists in Germany
claimed only a little while ago. It Ii
not 80 long since the. e%xcellency or.
ganized Socialistic hosts OF Germany
were considered the elite corps Of this
army Of the Internationale. They
were the banner bearers of the legion,
of the future.
But the question is-and it is a fail
one-how much of the internationa
solidarity really existed among the
socalled proletarlat. It is still recall,
led from the Soiialistic congresses ir
the years prior to the war haw eznpha.
tically the Socialists Of the western
European countries attempted to wir
their German colleagues for a pro
gram of anti-militarism, and how ad.
Eroitly the Germans evaded the issue
so that they during the war could
point to the fact that they Had plVdg.
I'd nothings--shad not pronaieed to ,,or,