THE GERMAN ELECTOR.

Press, Volume LXVIII, Issue 14289, 27 February 1912, Page 8

THE GERMAN ELECTOR.

"DEUTSCHER MICHEL" AT THE

HUSTINGS

PHILOSOPHY AND POLITICS

A PEOPLE OF PEACE

(FROM OT.K LONDON CORIIESPOKDEXT) BERLIN, January 12.

Is this German general election—tho Reichstagswnhl—really a contest in which the German peonl© shall decide for peace or war? Undoubtedly not. The hope of seeing these people soberly come to that decision is blasted as soon as ono becomes in tho slightest degree acquainted with tho machinery of election and the method of government. The Germ-vi Reichstag represents th© people of Germany much less than the House of Commons that of tho United Kingdom; perhaps as littl© as the Australian Parliament represented Australia, when only one-half of tho electors went to the polls and three parties were returned. Even if the Social Democrats wiped out completely too balance of parties which is maintained by tho separate blocks of Clericals Free Conservatives, National Liberals and what not. each has a sumptuous suit© of rooms in tho Reichstag building—tho German Government and tho Kaiser would still hold the ixiwer of veto on the question of peace and war. Therefore let us not .talk of war. It is vain. Let us talk of men. "DEUTSCHER MICHEL." I us© this expression because it is not the right one, thcreforo appropriate for election time. "Deutscher Michel" is a fanciful individual representing here a sort of composite of John Bull and Farmer Hodge. Ho is tho German analogy of the individual called "Tho British Public," and, as far as I can see, ho is strikingly like in his virtues. His faults are apparently shy and unobtrusive, for I havo seen nono of them yet.

Oh, yes! In the Unter den Linden to-day four " men wero stretched, wounded and bleeding, in the. snoAv, from a rather hefty traffic collision Tho British Public would have rushed in with help and sympathy; blundered, perhaps, but still not lacked heaps of humanity. The Germans stood off, not less sympathetic, I am sure, but evidently waiting for tho interposition of the proper uniformed authority. They wero soldiers who rushed in and laid the sufferers in a more comfortable position. That little incident illustrates what I havo most noticed in th© German character —th© deference <to authority, the secondary position of tho civilian. And it walks, somewhat strangely, side by side with a distinct tendency to collectivism; There you hay© tho Eocial life of Germany.

But to return to "De.utecher Michel" as we see him engaged to-day. Wo cannot say truly that there is any great excitement over tho elections. Somehow, the political activity of tho nation seems to reside in the camps o£ tho Social Demokratischen Partei. . ; They aro the people who are doing tho work. They claim to have registered, in previous elections, more than half the votee of the nation.,of the'fruits of which they, have been cheated by an archaic, electoral system. -Entrenched betr.ad this system, the "parties of .reaction"— dear old name, of world-wide relish!— rest secure. There is no need for them to work at the hustings. Tho Kaiser and the Government have already damned tho Sozial Demokraten, the former in general terms, the latter to the tune of the British Peril. So why bother to do more. The Konscrvative is frankly indifferent as to the campaign, and his meetings draw tens where those of tho Socialists draw himdreds. AN ELECTION MEETING. The first election meeting which T attended in Germany • was organised , by, tho Centrum, or Clerical Party, at Osnabruck, a rather important town and railway junction in the west not far from, the Dutch frontier. Osnabruck is a stronghold of tho . Clericals, and four priests sat close to myself on the stage, where the committee and the more important members of the party locally were displayed, drinking coffee, light pilscner and dark Munich equally harmless beverages—and smoking Oorman cigars. ' They were chiefly professional and business men of tho town, and dour, bearded farmers from tlw vicinity, and they numbered quite a hundred. The hall itself, though a large one, was tilled to overflowing. AW tho audience sat at small tables, m.d throughout the meeting waiters'bustled in and out with beer and coffee. Despite all this flow of beer, those who understand these people will easily believe that there was no'merriment, noise or interruption. It was a. quier, orderly gathering, requiring no cEairnian at all. It stood en masse when that superfluous individual named tho Kaiser, and relieved itseif of threo full, hoarse "hochs": then subsided, quite contentedly to hear the speech. The speaker—they call them disingenuously "agitators" if they do now happen to be candidates themselres— was a Dr. Niedor, a young* dark, clean-shaven man with a self-confidence that was the evident growth of expeiience. Ho wore a frock suit, opened a book of notes on the rostrum, and commenced his addrees. "LADIES AND GENTLEMEN." There were a few ladies in the hall, and I was struck to notice that ho addressed this partly unenfranchised audienco "Damen und Herren," just as I have • been struck in England by the frequent omission of the ladies/ even when there are many of them in the room. I cannot say, of course, whether this elision of courtesy in "England is the result of recent .years of ttouKesome meetings in which ladies have not always deserved better. It is curious, though, to find the. courtesy- so common where ladies not only have no votes, but are not demanding them.

Dr. -'N.iedor laid Bar© tbo German ! character for mc. For a solid hour—l yawn now at the recollection —ho spoke sheer cold philosophy—tho family and the State. For a solid hour, none said yea or nay, or uttered a r word. Not a German turned a hair. " All remained motionless and pensive, staring fixedly at the speaker, and evidently taking it all in. I hay« never seen an Eng-lish-speaking audience that would have endured so much. It was a study in the philosophic temperament of tho German people. And I thanked heaven for the sight. • Such a people could not go to war in anger or lightheartedly. For one hour more Dr. Niedor maintained tho assault. At the end of '-ho first hour and a-half came the first exclamations of feeling., ''Sehr.rechtigJ" (very true); and "Pfui! Pfui!" ("fie," but sounding more like "Oui Oui") when the speaker read, in pleasantly ni=dninful tones, from a book of Herr Bebel. The meeting was quite cut and dried, like an annual meeting of shareholders when the dividend exceeds 12* per cent. It was a decent, well-to-do, middle-class audience, for all tho world like a masonic lodge. English in appearance and manners, essentially noi™al, but quieter than any similar gathering I have seen, either in. England or New Zealand. AMONGST TEE SOCIALISTS. Bremen, the old Hansa town, the headquarters of such maritime' enterprises as the Xord JT>eutseher Lloyd, is one of those largo commercial centres of Germany, which belong politically to the Sccfalists. I attended one of their meetings in the company

of a leading business man of this ajpi f 'cicnt free city, his wife and daughter*!! \ Tuny are not Socialists, but they perfectly willing, to venture out in snow to attend the meeting. It ifa iM held, in tho Cnfo Concordia, a rooni fitted with trees and trellises Uke*** a winter Harden. Banners of politan colour and non-committal paU " ri s; tern decorated tho gallery. The iaS ?c and white stripes ol tho Voxial Demo- Y ' K kraten were prominent, but tho only "- i----natinnnl banners. 1 noticed with pleaa." **- ure, were two British rod ensigns. / •: