EX-KAISER’S SON TAKES PLATFORM AS LABOUR MAN.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 18469, 22 May 1928, Page 10

EX-KAISER’S SON TAKES PLATFORM AS LABOUR MAN.

DECLARES FATHER’S BLUNDER WAS IN NOT KNOWING THE MASSES. (United Press Assn.—By Electric Telegraph.—-Copyright.) BERLIN. May 20. It is estimated that 80 per cent of the electors in Berlin voted, and there has been heavy polling elsewhere. The returns will be estimated tomorrow. The earliest indications are that the Socialists and Communists have strengthened their hold in Berlin proper. Potsdam is firmly Nationalist. A hundred arrests have been made. There was a sensation at Potsdam, the ex-Kaiser’s fourth son, Prince August Wilhelm, appearing on the platform to speak on behalf of the Lar bour Party. He assured the audience of his own democratic principles and added that the dynasty to which he belonged made a fatal mistake in holding aloof from the masses. Had his father not committed a blunder he might still be ruling. It is interesting to note that 2,000,000 new voters have sprung up since the 1924 elections with no knowledge. of pre-war Germany, and they are unable to contrast republican with monarchial conditions.— Australian Press Association.

SOCIALISTS LEADING AT GERMAN ELECTIONS.

LONDON, May 21. The latest election returns from Berlin indicate that the Nationalists and the German People’s Party are losing, the former heavily, and that the Socialists and Communists are making considerable gains. An unofficial forecast of the constitution of the new Reichstag is:— Socialists 160 Nationalists 70 Centre Party 69 Communists 58 People’s Party 54 Democrats 25 Economic Party 23 Fascists 16 Bavarian People's; Party .... 19 Other Parties 6 The Nationalists lost heavily in the big cities, the Socialists and Communists gaining about 15 per cent compared with the last elections, at the expense of the Nationalists.—Australian Press Association—United Service. NATIONALISTS SUFFER HEAVY LOSSES AT POLLS. BERLIN, May 21. Assuming that predictions of the distribution of the surplus are fulfilled the state of the parties will be:— Socialists 150, a gain of nineteen; Nationalists 72, a loss of 39: Centre Party 60, a loss of nine; People’s Party 52, a loss of seven; Bavarian People’s Party 16, a loss of three; Economic Party 25, a gain of six; Facists 13, a loss of one. (The Communist figures are omitted.) The Socialists polled over 9,000,000 votes, compared with the Nationalists’ 4,344,000, and the Centre Party’s 3,612,000, Peoples’ Party 3,094,000, and Communists 3.080,000. Dr Stresemann, Minister of Foreign Affairs, was actually defeated in Bavaria, polling only 7000 instead of the necessary 60,000, but he will be elected on the party’s national list. The “ Allgemeine Zeitung ” points out that the Socialists’ triumph is considerably diminished by their failure to crush the Communists. Australian Press Association—United Service. The Reichstag elected in 1924 was composed as follows:—Socialists 131. Centre Party 69, Nationalists 110, People’s Party 51, Democrats 32, Bavarian People’s Party 19, Communists 45, minor parties 36. The present Cabinet is composed of members of the Centre, Nationalist, People’s and Bavarian People’s Parties.