is such a widespread fear of the Government and the police that even the most radical Socialists hesitate to oppose the Government.  In war time Germany is under complete control of the military authorities and even the Reichstag, which is supposed to be a legislative body, is in reality during war times only a closed corporation which does the bidding of the Government.  The attitude of the Reichstag on any question is not determined at the party caucuses nor during sessions.  Important decisions are always arrived at at Great Headquarters between the Chancellor and the military leaders.  Then the Chancellor returns to Berlin, summons the party leaders to his palace, explains what the Government desires and, without asking the leaders for their support, tells them that is what von Hindenburg expects.  They know there is no choice left to them.  Scheidemann always attends these conferences as the Socialist representative because the Chancellor has never recognised the so-called Socialist Labour Party which is made up of Socialist radicals who want peace and who have reached the point when they can no longer support the Government.

One night at the invitation of an editor of one of Berlin’s leading newspapers, who is a Socialist radical, I attended a secret session of the Socialist Labour Party.  At this meeting there were present three members of the Reichstag, the President of one of Germany’s leading business organisations, two newspaper editors, one labour agitator who had been travelling to industrial centres to mobilise the forces which were opposed to a continuation of the war, and a rather well known Socialist writer who had been inspiring some anti-Government pamphlets which were printed in Switzerland and sent by mail to Germany.  One of the business men present had had an audience of the Kaiser and he reported what the monarch told him about the possibilities of peace.  The report was rather encouraging to the Socialists because the Kaiser said he would make peace as soon as there was an opportunity.  But these Socialists did not have much faith in the Kaiser’s promises and jokingly asked the business man if the Kaiser did not decorate him as a result of the audience!

The real object of this meeting was to discuss means of acquainting the German people with the American organisation entitled the League to Enforce Peace.  An American business man, who was a charter member of the American organisation, was there to explain the purposes of the League.  The meeting decided upon the publication in as many German newspapers as possible of explanatory articles.  The newspaper editor present promised to prepare them and urged their publication in various journals.  The first article appeared in Die Welt Am Montag, one of the weekly newspapers of Berlin.  It was copied by a number of progressive newspapers throughout the Empire but when the attention of the military and naval authorities was called to this propaganda an order was issued prohibiting any newspaper from making any reference to the League to Enforce Peace.  The anti-American editorial writers were inspired to write brief notices to the effect that the League was in reality to be a League against Germany supported by England and the United States.