Salt Lake Tribune | 1918-10-30 | Page 6 | Reichstag Debates

REICHSTAG DEBATES. H The debates in the German reichstag these days are interesting. Members who have always vbeen opposed to junker control are now free to throw ttones at the Hohenzollern family and they are doing so without danger of imprisonment. Dr. Cohn, the Independent Inde-pendent Socialist, has declared that the question for Germany to decide is whether it is to be war under the Hohenzollerns or peace without the Hohenzollerns. While there have been changes in the government at Berlin it is not even pretended that the kaiser has been eliminated, and all that the reichstag orators can do is to declaim against him. Mere declamation and mild-mannered notes written by Dr. Solf fail to give the assurance demanded de-manded by President Wilson. The kaiser and the tough old junkers still participate in th.e government and so far every peace proposition put forth -has carried the implication that the Germans are still tarred with the imperial im-perial stick. Tt may be that the soldiers in the field are willing to die for the dynasty and that the civilians fear to attempt to oust Wilhelm II on account of the -attitude of the army. Yet it. must be done sooner or later. The allies know that the Hun troops are fighting desperate des-perate rear-guard actions in order to give the Berlin officials time to attempt at-tempt further peace negotiations, but they also know that the Huns are playing play-ing a losing game at tremendous cost, and that there is no hope for them. Debate De-bate in the reichstag, no matter how plainly spoken some of the members may be, will not solve the difficulties which Germany is now facing. And, after all, some of the very men who are now denouncing the Pan-Germans and all their acts were more than willing will-ing to enjoy the spoils at the time of the Russian debacle when it was thought probable that Germany would win the war. The same is true of the Socialist newspapers which are once more arrayed against imperialism. So when Dr. Solf speaks up fair, and the so-called liberal element in the reichstag and the socialistic press join 1 in singing "peace on eartk good will to man," the suspicions of the allies are naturally aroused and they wonder what all these manifestations of brotherly broth-erly love are worth when simmered down. Under such circumstances it is certain that if armistice terms are formulated for-mulated by the war council at Versailles they will not leave a loophole through which the Germans may crawl after a peace treaty is signed. There is no gainsaying the fact that the Germans will not be trusted to fulfill any promises prom-ises tbey may be forced to make. They have not been honorable enemies and it is their own fault that the allies will not treat with them as they would with an enemy observing tho rules of civilized warfare and one having respect re-spect for treaties solemnly made and signed. So far as observable tho reichstag reichs-tag discussions have not brought peace any nearer to the German people.