The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 1912. THE GERMAN ELECTIONS.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1333, 10 January 1912, Page 4

The Dominion. WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 10, 1912. THE GERMAN ELECTIONS.

The election contest which is now going on in Germany happens 1 to resemble that.which was lately raging in New Zealand in one point, but differs from it very widely in anThe second ballot system is in force in both countries, and after the general polling day, which is next Friday, the intriguing, trimming, and readjustments of attitude which too often accompany, second ballots will begin. We do not know whether Germany in time is likely to become as much disgusted as New Zealand is with this clumsy electoral device, but it such is the case, perhaps the parallel will be carried on to its abolition in both countries. But the contrast between our political contests and those of Germany is far more important than the accidental similarity in electoral methods. We have no foreign policy; our election issues and party cries are confined to our own internal affairs. The German voter has to look much further afield. While we discuss the roading of the back-blocks, he must pass judgment upon the intervention in Morocco, and say whether he wishes Germany to become the mistress of the Continent and the sea. However, admirably this may broaden his horizon, or however pleasantly it may minister to his sense of importance, there are disadvantages. Measures for promoting his individual wellbeing as a citizen are liable to be postponed in favour of the more imposing concerns of Imperial policy; andwhen he hears his Emperor* declaring, in magnificent, if somewhat misleading, metaphor,' that Germany must have her placo in the sun, he may come to thirik that the only way of saving his country, and incidentally himself, from some disaster bordering on annihilation is to support the_ Government. That is the feeling which the dominant party in Germany is just now trying to create. The object is to thwart the Socialists at the elections. Instead of showing where the Social Democratic ideals are wrong, or offering something more attractive, the Government tries to throw the whole community into a, state of patriotic alarm. This is no new stratagem. It was employed with marked success in the election campaign of 1907. A wave of national sentiment was worked up and exploited by the Government, ■with the result that the progress ol the Social Democratic party received, for the first time in many years, a serious check. At the 1893 election, 44 Social Democrats were re turned, and the number was increased to 56 in 1898* and 82 in 1903. It fell in 1907 to 43. Every other party gained at the expense of the Socialists, and their loss, which was the outstanding feature of the elections, was attributed to the success of the Chancellor, Prince Bulow, in stirring up patriotic sentiments. But the tide has turned again. The Social Democrats, by winning a series of by-elections, have brought their numbers in the Reichstag up to 53 and tho Government therefore is very much alarmed. Its statisticians have been at work, and it is reported that the Chancellor, Dn. von BethmanxHouweo, accepts their calculations as a warping that he may have to face in the new Reichstag HO or perhaps 150 Socialist deputies. In a House of 307 members, with half a dozen separate parties, a solid phalanx of 150 might exercise a controlling influence. The Government sees in the Social Democrats its most formidable political enemies, and adopting a process of reasoning which will not seem wholly unfamiliar to New Zealand readers, it declares that its opponents are the enemies of the country. According to the Government manifesto, "the final defeat of the Socialists, whose existence imperils national unity, is a, question (if vital interest to the Fatherland." In tho same manner, General Liehert, so the cable tells us, "advocates the annihilation of the Socialist party, thereby preventing tliciri from further _ hampering Germany's aspirations.' . Translated from electioneering language into cool English, the meaning of this exhortation is that tho Social Democrats arn out of sympathy with the policy of German ejejmnsion. j

They do not care about Morocco or Portuguese Africa, they are not anxious for the growth of tho Navy, and they stand for peace. Their ascendancy might revolutionise! the relations of Germany with iitlk-r Powers, audput an end to the series of "pill pricks' , ' and graver menaces which have annoyed or alarmed England and her Continentnl friends. Hence, it is part of the Conservative electioneering tactics to stir up the popular feeling against Britain. The Conservative press would make ''the English peril , ' the watchword of the Government's supporters. Of course, English people realise that this is merely electioneering. They do not take it altogether seriously. They may set against it Lord Loxsdalf.'s representation of the Kaiser as the great upholder of peace and friend of England, and whatever importance they may attach to this declaration of tho English Peer, who is known as the German Emperor's personal friond and host, they will humorously appreciate the discomfiture it must have caused in tho election committee rooms of the German "Conservatives. It would however, be quite a mistake to assume that Englishmen, as such, must wish for tho triumph of the Social Democrats at the polls. England, as Sir Edwahd Grey has made clear, n ready for friendship with Germany, provided it does not involve dropping her elder friends. She might find less community of interest, and Miercforo a less firm basis for friendship, in a Germany whose policy was swayed by the Socialists than in the Germany she knows. On the other hand, she cannot be blind to the present Chancellor's intention to raise the tariff and to tho leanings of the Socialists and Radicals towards a Free-trade ■ policy, which would be beneficial to British commerce. The German elections may have very far-reaching results, and the Government party will probably need all their tactical skill to avert a severe blow to their prestige.