Reichstag

“ The splendid building of the Reichstag, where the Socialist party of Germany, to-day, makes its almost vain attempt toward securing to the people a freer exercise of man’s natural rights, is thus menaced by the colossal military group which stands before it, as though to teach the lesson that the sword still rules the Fatherland. ”

“ What journalist or what patriot indeed can take seriously a majority that has no power? What people can call itself free to whom its rulers are not responsible? The Social Democrats, at the moment of writing, have won one hundred and ten seats in the Reichstag, but the army and navy estimates are beyond their reach, the taxes are fixtures, a constitution is a dream, and if they are cantankerous or truculent the Reichstag will be dismissed by a wave of the hand. ”

“ In Parliament, the resistance of the country, instead of being a legitimate opposition intended to enlighten the sovereign, becomes revolutionary. So now the Reichstag is compelled either to vote the scheme of military reform, or to be dissolved; Germany must either confirm her representatives in their obedience, or take the consequences of her hostility towards the Emperor and his army. The Reichstag will submit, and Germany will humbly offer to her Sovereign an additional million of troops in the next five or six years. ”

“ The members of the Reichstag, or Diet, are elected by universal (more properly manhood) suffrage and by direct secret ballot, in proportion to the population of the several States [75] . On the average, each of the 397 members represents rather more than 100,000 of the population. The proceedings of the Reichstag are public; it has the right (concurrently with those wielded by the Emperor and the Bundesrath) to propose laws for the Empire. It sits for three years, but may be dissolved by a resolution of the Bundesrath, with the consent of the Emperor. ”

“ The President shall exercise powers of discipline and police within the Reichstag building. The administration of the building is under his control; he has control over the income and. expenditures for the building within the limits laid down by the national budget, and he represents the Reich in all legal business and legal actions involved in his administration of the building.
Article 29. The sittings of the Reichstag shall be public. On the demand of fifty deputies the public may be excluded by a two-thirds majority vote. ”

“ The new Reichstag is a popular representative assembly, based on wide suffrage and elected by ballot; and, above all, it is an assembly representing, not the several states, but the whole Empire, which is divided for this purpose into electoral districts. Both as a popular assembly, and as an assembly which represents the whole of a united Germany, the new Reichstag goes back, one may almost say, beyond the diet even of the middle ages, to the days of the old Teutonic folk-moot. ”

“ Nobody at this stage can insist on his vested rights and all must know that today there are only duties to be fulfilled. Therefore, I ask all the German Reichstag the definite assurance that I possess the legal authority to see to it that every individual performs his duty and that I may condemn such cases which in my opinion do not fulfill their duties to be imprisoned or to be deprived of their office and position no matter who they be or what rights they may have acquired and especially because there are only very few exceptions among millions of decent people. ”

“ I am convinced that the manner in which the directing government has been formed to-day with the collaboration of the Reichstag is not temporary in its nature and that in times of peace hereafter no government can be formed that has not the support of the Reichstag, that does not lean on the Reichstag, and that does not take from the Reichstag its principal chiefs. ”

“ Only a day or two ago one of the most respected National Liberals in the Reichstag, relating to me with a certain pride the compliments paid to him by the Emperor at his Majesty's late dinner to the members of the Reichstag, remarked that recognition of this kind was about all that this party, in spite of its vast deserts, could expect from the Government. ”

“ Of what avail is the increase in our influence, and our power in the Reichstag, when the Reichstag itself is without influence and power? Power must first be conquered for it. A genuine parliamentary regime must be established. The imperial government must be a committee of the Reichstag. ”

“ One fact strikes us most painfully and might at first disturb our minds. The bills presently submitted to the Reichstag are going to increase in a formidable manner the armaments of Germany, and to necessitate on the part of France an extraordinary effort, and sacrifices to which we must manfully and promptly consent. ”

“ The linguistic map of Germany, widespread wherever German is spoken, reveals very clearly what are the ambitions of "Alt-Deutschland." The lion's maw of the "Slav-eaters" is always wide open. Sometimes the devouring beast walks delicately, at others he hurls himself savagely on his prey.
The opening of the Reichstag has provided us with a very important speech from the throne by William II, for it emphasises the lack of agreement which prevails between Sovereign, Parliament and people. ”

“ The Reichstag at Berlin is by no means powerful in the sense that Parliament is in London or Congress in Washington. It is a convention of spectacled professors, country nobles, and professional men desirous of advertisement or the pretence of employment, with a sprinkling of smart financiers and professional politicians who have personal ends to serve. They play at legislation—some seriously, others not—but as a rule what they do and say makes next to no difference whatever. They have not even the power of initiating legislation. ”

“ Five of the six Reichstag members elected from Greater Berlin in 1912 were Social-Democrats, and the sixth was a Progressive with advanced democratic ideas.
With the shifting population and the consequent distortion of the election districts, a tremendous advantage accrued to the rural communities; in other words, the forces opposed to democratic reforms and in favor of maintaining and even increasing the powers of the King and Emperor steadily increased proportionately their representation in the Reichstag at the expense of the friends of democracy. ”

“ Any number of projects were presented in the November debates of the Reichstag for changing the Constitution, to bring about co-operation between the Reichstag and the Emperor in the appointment and dismissal of Chancellors and declarations of war, and for introducing a law to bring about ministerial responsibility. Nothing [269] came of these, however, and we shall see from the Königsberg speech (August 25, 1910) that the chastening which the Emperor had received on this occasion had no particularly lasting effect. ”

“ The conviction, unanimously shared by my corulers, that in the face of the development of the military arrangements of the other powers this government could no longer put off such a shaping of its military status as should guarantee its safety and its future led to the decision to dissolve the Reichstag and, by the calling of new representatives to attain the end recognized as necessary. Since the proposal of this law the political situation of Europe has undergone no change. ”

“ In 1912 he was elected representative to the Reichstag by the people of Potsdam-Osthavelland, under the very window of the Kaiser. The announcement of his success was met with wild demonstrations of delight. The sentiments of the surging crowds before the office of the Berlin Vorwärts when the result of the election was made public were voiced by a young workingman, when he exclaimed, "The new voice of freedom will be heard from now on in the Reichstag." ”

“ The appearance of the Reichstag to the stranger is notable for the presence of military, naval, and clerical uniforms. It is, as one looks down upon them, an assembly where at least one-fourth are bald or thin-haired, and together they give the impression of being big in the waist, careless in costume, slovenly in carriage, and lacking proper feeding, grooming, and exercise. ”

“ The Reichstag, or Imperial Parliament, corresponds to our House of Representatives. The members are elected by manhood suffrage of those over twenty-five. But in practice the Reichstag is nothing but a debating society because of the preponderating power of the Bundesrat, or upper chamber. ”

“ Side by side with the Council we have the Reichstag; this was, in accordance with the proposal made in the spring of 1866, to be elected by universal suffrage. And now we see that this proposal, which a few months ago had appeared merely as a despairing bid for popularity by a statesman who had sacrificed every other means of securing his policy, had become a device convincing in its simplicity ”

“ In addition to the provisions for referendum already referred to, the President can decree, within one month after its passage, that any law enacted by the Reichstag shall be referred to the people.
The law-giving powers delegated to the Reichstag can also be exercised directly by the people. One-twentieth of the registered voters can require that a referendum be held on any Reichstag enactment against whose formal proclamation as law at least one-third of the Reichstag members shall have protested. ”

“ But a change was notable in Germany before the war began, and will be far more notable after it has ended. The socialistic movement waxes strong throughout the nation, and the proceedings of the Reichstag show us that the nation is marching steadily, though perhaps slowly, toward a real democracy. ”

“ The triumphal return of the Prussian troops to Berlin was followed on the 24th of February, 1867, by the opening of the first North German parliament,--three hundred deputies chosen from the various allied States by universal suffrage. Twenty-two States north of the Main formed themselves into a perpetual league for the protection of the Union and its institutions. Legislative power was to be invested in two bodies,--the Reichstag, representing the people ”

“ Once appointed, there is no way of getting rid of them against the will of the President, no matter how inefficient or even harmful they may be to the best interests of the country. The German constitution confers much more effective power upon the people and the people's representatives. Its article 54 provides:
"The Chancellor and the ministers of the Reich require the confidence of the Reichstag for the conduct of their offices. ”

“ In view of the revolutionary activities of the Independent Socialists even before that date and of the occurrences of the succeeding year, which culminated in the overthrow of the government, this attitude of supposedly loyal and patriotic parties of the Reichstag appears at first sight astonishing and almost inexplicable. There were, however, two reasons (in the case of the Majority Socialists three reasons) for it. ”

“ In December, on the night of the day of the peace interpellation in the Reichstag a call was issued by placards for a meeting on the Unter den Linden. I went out on the streets during the afternoon and found that the police had so carefully divided the city into districts that it was impossible for a crowd of any size to gather on the Unter den Linden. There was quite a row at the session in the Reichstag. Scheidemann, the Socialist, made a speech very moderate in tone; but he was answered by the Chancellor and then an endeavour was made to close the debate. ”

“ Meanwhile, internal troubles developed in the German empire. Weary of the war, with hopes of final victory dwindling month by month, a strong peace party arose in the Reichstag, committing itself to the policy of a peace without annexations or indemnities, and for a brief time the Reichstag refused to vote a war credit. This brought the Kaiser, Von Hindenburg, and Von Ludendorff in hot haste to Berlin, to exert the utmost possible pressure of the military party on the recalcitrants. ”

“ On April 14 this Reichstag ratified the constitution of the German empire, with but three dissenting votes; and on May 4 the constitution went into operation. By the peace of Versailles Germany recovered the province of Alsace and the German-speaking district of Lorraine. ”

“ He bullied the leaders of the opposition factions with such open coarseness, imputing evil and dishonest motives, introducing details of personal life which his spies had gathered, and using all the great powers at his command to insult and injure, that a large proportion of the educated and refined gentlemen of Germany, who should have been its natural political leaders, either declined to enter the Reichstag at all, or withdrew, disheartened and humiliated, after a brief term of service. ”

“ Does anyone really believe that the situation will remain there, that the Democratic parties will continue to grow in numbers and be content for ever to be ridden down by the "booted Prussian," and that German democracy will indefinitely accept a situation in which it will be always possible—in the words of the Junker, von Oldenburg, member of the Reichstag—for the German Emperor to say to a Lieutenant, "Take ten men and close the Reichstag"? ”

“ In the Reichstag, the national parliament of Germany, many have been the heated debates and scorching has been the bitter satire passed during recent years upon the German army of to-day. And not only the solid phalanx of Socialists did the criticising on such occasions, but also not a few members of every other party, even including those of the Conservative Faction, composed of men who are the very representatives of the caste from which the Empire’s corps of officers have sprung. ”