BEFORE THE ABDICATION.

Marlborough Express, Volume LII, Issue 285, 20 November 1918, Page 6

BEFORE THE ABDICATION.

HATRED OF THE KAISER. MISERY IN GERMANY. LONDON, Nov. 1. The Hague correspondent of the. Times says that a hat was placed on the Kaiser's statue -at Duisburg, and a travelling bag in. his hand, while the words "A pleasant journey" were pasted underneath the statue, which was then stoned. Travellers report riots and misery in the R-hineland provinces, where there have been serious conflicts with the police, and demonstrations for Dt Liebkne.cht and against the Kaiser. The police charged repeatedly at Oberhausen Avith drawn swords. The Allied air raids and the dropping of numerous well-directed bombs add to the depression. Crowds constantly assemble in the streets crying for peace, while pneumonia is racking the semi-starved constitutions >of the people, and filling the morgues. Many, dying unattended, are buried without coffins. Thousands of women and children at Essen paraded the streets screaming hysterically '.'We are starving." A fight ensued, four women and two lads being killed, . and many girls injured. Dutch travellers insistently1 foretell a revolution. The Berlin Tageblatt likens the Kaiser's position to that of, - the Attican King Kodros, adding: "But it cannot be guaranteed that, the oracle at Washington has spoken truly, or that much can be attained by any sacrifices now that the British and French are framing their demands."

Dt Liebkneeht's demonstrations on Sunday collected enormous crowds, and there was thunderous cheering. Dr Liebknecht preached revolution and the over Li. row of tho people's tormentors,, concluding "Down with the HohenzoUerns!" An Amsterdam messages states that the Tages Zeitung reports that Prince Lichnowsky is taking up an important diplomatic position, and that the ban on his memoirs has been lifted. The movement for clearing out the old regimen grows apace. The Daily Mail, in to-day's leader, says: "Germany stands isolated and utterly alone. " Her armies are not yet broken, but their position of grave exhaustion is obvious. Her man-power is failing, and her materials for war are giving out. The General Staff has declared its inability to hold the front, and. the Allies in the West are at last in aposition to deliver the fatal blow."