GERMAN SOCIAL DEMOCRACY AND LABOR UNIONS
I
Before we proceed to describe the present organization of the Social
Democratic Party it will be necessary to say a few words about the
organization of labor in Germany.[1] There are four kinds of labor
unions: the Social Democrat or free unions, the Hirsch-Duncker or
radical unions, the Christian or Roman Catholic unions, and the
Independent unions. All except the last group have special political
significance; and only the Independents confine themselves purely to
economic activity. The Socialist unions are called "Reds," the
Independents "Yellow," the Christians "Black."
The Hirsch-Duncker unions were the first in the field. They were
organized in 1868 by Dr. Hirsch and Herr Franz Duncker, for the
purpose of winning the labor vote for the Progressists. Dr. Hirsch
went to England for his model, but the political bias he imparted to
the unions was very un-English. They have grown less political and
more neutral in every aspect, probably because political radicalism
has dwindled, and because they contain a great many of the most
skilled of German workmen, the machinists. They are a sort of
aristocracy of labor, prefer peace to war, and hesitate long before
striking.
The Christian unions are strongest in the Rhine valley and the
Westphalian mining districts. They are the offspring of Bishop
Kettler's workingmen's associations, organized to keep the laborer in
harmony with the Roman Catholic Church. They have undergone a great
deal of change since the days of the distinguished bishop, and are now
modeled after strict trade-union principles. They retain their
connection with the Church and the Center Party (the Roman Catholic
group in the Reichstag). For some years there has been a restlessness
among these unions. The more militant members are protesting against
the influence of the clergy in union affairs, and demand that laborers
lead labor.
The "Yellow" unions stand in bad repute among the others. They are for
peace at any price. Their membership is largely composed of the
engineering trades; and they are usually under contract not to strike,
but settle their differences by arbitration. The employing firms
contribute liberally to their union funds.
By far the largest unions are the Social Democratic or "Free" unions.
They embrace over eighty per cent. of all organized labor. Their
growth has been very rapid during the last twenty years. In 1890, when
the Socialist law was lifted, they numbered a little over 250,000; in
1910 they numbered nearly 2,000,000.
As organizations, the Social Democratic unions possess all the
perfection of detail and painstaking craftsmanship for which the
Germans are justly celebrated.[2] Not the minutest detail is omitted;
everything is done to contribute to the solidarity of the working
classes. The theory of the German labor movement is, that physical
environment is the first desideratum. A well-housed, well-groomed,
well-fed workman is a better fighter than a hungry, ragged man; and it
is for fighting that the unions exist. The bed-rock of the German
workingman's theory is the maxim: "First, be a good craftsman, and all
other things will be added unto you."
These unions strive to do everything within their power to make,
first, a good workman; second, a comfortable workman. This naturally,
without artificial stimulants, brings the solidarity, the class
patriotism, which is the source of the zeal and energy of these great
fighting machines. In all of the larger towns they own clubhouses
(Gewerkschaftshaeuser), which are the centers of incessant activity.
They contain assembly halls, restaurants, committee rooms, and
lodgings for journeymen and apprentices (Wander-bursche) seeking work.
There are night classes, public lectures, educational excursions, and
circulating libraries. In Berlin the workingmen have organized a
theater.[3]
The workingman has a genuine sympathy for his union. It enlists his
loyalty as much as his country enlists his patriotism. He finds social
and intellectual intercourse, sympathy and responsiveness in his
union. He saves from his frugal wages to support the union and to
swell the funds in its war-chest. He is never allowed to forget that
he is first a workingman, and owes his primary duties to his family
and his union.[4]
This vast and perfect organization of labor has a complete
understanding with the Social Democratic party, but it is not an
integral part of the party. When the unions began to revive, after the
repeal of the anti-Socialist law, there was a short and severe
struggle between the party and the unions for control. The victory of
the unions for complete autonomy was decisive. Since then good feeling
and harmony have prevailed. The governing committees of the two bodies
meet for consultation, the powerful press of the party fights the
union's battles, and often party headquarters are in the union's
clubhouse. They are virtually two independent branches of the same
movement.
In the national triennial convention of the Social Democratic unions
at Hamburg, 1908, a speaker said: "We can say with truth that to-day
there are no differences of a fundamental nature between the two great
branches [the Social Democratic unions and the Social Democratic
Party] of the labor movement."[5]
Bebel has said of the relation between the unions and the party:
"Every workingman should belong to the union, and should be a party
man; not merely as a laboring man, but as a class-conscious
(Classenbewustsein) laboring man; as a member of a governmental and a
social organization which treats and maltreats him as a laboring
man."[6] This is the class spirit of Socialism, carried into practical
effect.
In Germany, then, the vast bulk of organized labor is co-operating
voluntarily with the Social Democratic Party.
II
And what is the present organization of the Social Democratic Party?
It is the most perfect party machine in the world. It is organized
with the most scrupulous regard for details and oiled with the
exuberance of a class spirit that is emerging from its narrowness and
is finding room for its expanding powers in the practical affairs of
national and municipal life. The only approach to it is the faultless,
silently moving, highly polished mechanism devised by the English
gentry to control the political destinies of the British Empire. Our
American parties are crude compared with the noiseless efficacy of
the English machine, or the remorseless yet enthusiastic and entirely
effective operation of the German Social Democracy.
Every detail of the workingman's life is embraced in this remarkable
political organization. Every village and commune has its party
vigilance committee. A juvenile department brings up the youth in the
principles of the Social Democracy. The party press includes
seventy-six daily papers, some of them brilliantly edited, a humorous
weekly, and several monthly magazines. This press co-operates with the
trade journals. Some of these--notably the masons' journal and the
ironworkers' journal--have a vast circulation, numbering many hundred
thousand subscribers.
The party propaganda is stupendous. In 1910 over 14,000 meetings were
held, and over 33,000,000 circulars and 2,800,000 brochures were
distributed. Every workingman, every voter, was personally solicited
during the campaign just closed (January, 1912). Committees and
sub-committees were everywhere in this national beehive of workers.
Women and children were enlisted in the work.
The national party is controlled by an executive committee, elected by
the national convention, who govern its many activities with the
gravity of a college faculty, the astuteness of a lawyer, and the
frugality of a tradesman. They issue annual reports, as full of
statistics and involved analyses as a government report. And they have
no patience for party stars who are ambitious to move in the orbit of
their own individual greatness.
Because the keynote of the party is solidarity, which is a synonym for
discipline, "We have no factions, we are one. Personally any Social
Democrat may believe as he pleases and do as he pleases. But when it
comes to political activity, we insist that he act with the party."
These are the words in which one of the younger leaders of the party
explained their unity to me.
In 1890, when the Bavarian rebels were under discussion in the
national congress, Bebel told the delegates that "a fighting party
such as our Social Democracy can only achieve its aims when every
member observes the strictest discipline."[7]
Evidences of party discipline are not lacking. The Prussian
temperament is rough, dogmatic, implacable; the South German is
mellow, yielding, kind. The two temperaments often clash. The one
loves individual action; the other, military unity. The southern
Socialist votes for his local budgets in town council and diet, and he
receives the chastisement of the northern disciplinarian with mellow
good-nature. But solidarity there is, whatever the price; and a
class-consciousness, a brotherhood: they call each other
"Comrades."[8]
The membership of the party includes all those who pay party dues and
will oblige themselves to party fealty, to do any drudgery demanded of
them.[9] In six parliamentary districts the membership equals thirty
per cent. of the Social Democratic vote cast; in twenty-four other
districts there is a membership of over 10,000 per district.[10] It is
difficult to say what proportion of the members of the union are
members of the party. The vast bulk of the party members are laboring
men, and no doubt the majority of them are members of the union.
In the last imperial elections (January, 1912) this party cast
4,250,000 votes, almost one-fourth of the entire federal electorate,
and elected 110 members to the Reichstag, over one-fourth of the
entire membership.[11] In nineteen state legislatures the Social
Democrats have 186 members, in 396 city councils 1,813 members, and in
2,009 communal councils 5,720 members.[12]
The supreme authority of the party is the annual national convention,
called "congress." Here detailed reports are made by the various
committees; and the parliamentary delegation make an elaborate
statement, detailing every official act of the group in the Reichstag.
Everything is discussed by everybody; the speeches made by the members
in the Reichstag, the opinions of the party editors in their daily
editorials, the party finances, everything is freely criticised. The
most insignificant member has the same privilege of criticism as the
party czars; and the criticism often becomes naively personal. No
doubt the party patriotism is largely fed by this frank, fearless,
aboveboard airing of grievances, this freedom from "boss rule." Every
one has his opportunity, and this robs the plotter and backbiter of
his venom.
Having listened to the faultfinder, they vote; and having voted, they
rarely relent. When a decision is reached, the members are expected to
abide by it faithfully and cheerfully. They make short work of
traitors.[13]
Every year a detailed report on the imperial budget is read, showing
how the money is spent on armaments, on police, on courts, and every
other department of the empire; and how the money is raised. The
convention resolves itself into a school of public finance. This
analysis is sent broadcast, as a campaign document. So yearly a report
is read of the number of arrests made and the fines and penalties
ensuing, on account of _lese-majeste_ and other laws infringing upon
the liberty of the press and of speech. Also, every year the central
committee report, in great detail, every party activity in every
corner of the empire. A well-knit hegemony of party interest is
created. The mass is willing to listen to the individual, to bend to
the needs of the smallest commune.
Throughout their frank discussions and involved debates there runs a
certain polysyllabic flavor that is characteristically German. They
often choose, a year in advance, some important national question,
such as the tariff, mining laws, the agrarian situation, and discuss
it in great detail, more like an academy of universal knowledge than a
political party. The learned blend their involved phraseology and
store of facts with the refreshing frankness and ignorance of the
unlearned.
III
We will now return to the present activities of this party that was
born in revolution and nurtured by persecution. In order to
understand this activity, it is necessary to review the present
attitude of the government toward democracy and Socialism. The repeal
of the anti-Socialist law could not suddenly alter the spirit of
opposition. It merely changed the outward aspect of the opposition.
The government indicates in many ways its distrust of Social
Democrats. No member of the party has ever been invited by the
government to a place of public honor and responsibility. Indeed, to
be a Social Democrat effectively closes the door against promotion in
civil life.[14] This silent hostility is not confined to political
offices and the civil service; it extends into the professions. Judges
and public physicians, pastors in the state church, teachers in the
public schools, professors in the great universities are included in
the ban. A pastor may be a "Christian Socialist," a professor may
nourish his "Socialism of the chair," and a judge or a government
engineer may be inclined toward far-reaching social experiment. But
with Social Democracy they must have absolutely nothing to do.[15]
The government's attitude is based on the theory that the Social
Democrats are enemies of the monarchy, and are designing to overthrow
it and declare a republic the moment they get into power. The Kaiser,
on several public occasions, has expressed his distrust and
disapproval for this vast multitude of his subjects. A number of
years ago he is reported to have said that "the Social Democrats are a
band of persons who are unworthy of their fatherland" ("Eine Bande von
Menschen die ihres Vaterlands nicht wuerdig sind"). And more recently:
"The Social Democrats are a crowd of upstarts without a fatherland"
("Vaterlandslose Gesellen"). The Kaiser joined in the public rejoicing
over the check that had apparently been administered to the growth of
the Social Democracy by the elections of 1907, and in a speech
delivered to a throng of citizens gathered for jubilation in the
palace yard in Berlin, he said that the "Socialists have been ridden
down" ("niedergeritten"), a military figure of speech.
Retaliation is not unnatural. The pictures of the Hohenzollerns and
the high functionaries of state and army do not adorn the walls of the
homes of the Social Democrats. There are seen the portraits of Marx
and Lassalle, Liebknecht and Bebel. The members of the party never
join in a public display of confidence in the government. They
exercise a petty tyranny over their neighbors. Instances are told of
shopkeepers who were compelled to yield to the boycott instituted
against them because they voted against the Social Democrats, and of
workmen coerced into joining the union.
This feeling of bitterness is most clearly marked in Prussia. In
southern Germany a feeling of good will and co-operation is becoming
more marked every year. The King of Bavaria is not afraid to shake
hands with Von Vollmar. Some years ago a Bavarian railway employee was
elected to the Diet on the Social Democratic ticket, and his employer,
the state, gave him leave of absence to attend to his legislative
duties. In Baden the leader of the Social Democratic Party called at
the palace to present the felicitations of his comrades to the royal
family on the occasion of the birth of an heir.
The principal immediate issue of the Social Democrats in Germany is
electoral reform. None of the states or provinces are on a genuinely
democratic electoral basis. In Saxony a new electoral law was passed
in 1909 which typifies the spirit of the entire country.[16] The
electorate is divided into four classes according to their income. The
result of the first election under this law in the city of Leipsic was
as follows: There were 172,800 votes cast by 79,928 voters.
32,576 voters in the one-vote class cast 32,576 votes
20,323 " " " two- " " " 40,646 "
8,538 " " " three- " " " 25,614 "
18,491 " " " four- " " " 73,964 "
There are ninety-one members in the Saxon Diet. The law provided that
only forty-three of these should be elected from the cities. The three
leading cities of Saxony, Chemnitz, Dresden, Leipsic, are strongholds
of Social Democracy, while the country districts are Conservative. The
Social Democrats feel that the property qualifications and the
distribution of the districts impose an unfair handicap against them.
In spite of these obstacles they elected so many deputies that they
were offered the vice-presidency of the Chamber of Deputies. The
offer, however, was conditioned upon their attending the annual
reception given by the King to the representatives. They had hitherto
refused to attend these royal functions and were not willing to
surrender for the sake of office.[17]
The ancient free cities--Hamburg, Bremen, Luebeck--have election laws
as ancient and antiquated as their charters. In Luebeck a large
majority of the legislative body is elected by electors having an
income of over 2,000 marks a year. In Hamburg the nobles, higher
officials, etc., elect 40 representatives, the householders elect 40,
the large landholders elect 8, those citizens having an income of over
2,500 marks a year elect 48, those who have an income from 1,200 to
2,500 marks a year elect 24, those who have an income of less than
1,200 marks have no vote. In Bremen the various groups or kinds of
property are represented in the law-making body. Property, not the
person, is represented.
Prussia is the special grievance of the Social Democrats. Here the
three-class system of voting prevails. The taxpayers are divided into
three classes, according to the amount of taxes paid, each class
paying one-third of the taxes. Each class chooses one-third of the
electors who name the members of the Prussian Diet. By this
arrangement the large property class virtually controls the
elections.[18] By this system the Social Democratic representation is
held down to 6 in a membership of 420. In 1909 the party polled
23-9/10 per cent. of the entire Prussian vote. Here again the
districts are so arranged that the majority of the members are elected
from the Conservative rural districts, while the cities, which are
strongholds of Social Democracy, must content themselves with a
minority, although nearly 60 per cent. of the population of Prussia is
urban. These examples are sufficient to indicate the general nature of
franchise legislation in Germany.[19] For the past several years
universal suffrage demonstrations have been held throughout the
empire. The general strike has not been used as a method of political
coercion. It is doubtful whether the German temperament is adapted to
that kind of warfare. Mass-meetings, however, and street
demonstrations are the favorite means of the propaganda. Sometimes
there are conflicts with the police, but these are diminishing in
number every year. The government has not diminished its vigilance,
and its jealous eyes are never averted from these demonstrations.[20]
An incident occurred in March, 1910, which illustrates the temper of
the people and the government. A gigantic demonstration was announced,
to be held in Treptow Park, Berlin. The Police-president forbade the
meeting and had every street leading to the park carefully guarded.
One hundred and fifty thousand demonstrants met in the Thiergarten, in
the very heart of the city, and so secretly had the word been given,
so quietly was it executed, and so orderly was this vast throng of
workingman, that the police knew nothing of it until the meeting was
well under way. Permission for the Treptow meeting was not again
refused.
The immediate issue, then, of the German Social Democracy is universal
suffrage. Lassalle's cry is more piercing to-day than when that
brilliant and erratic agitator uttered it: "Democracy, the universal
ballot, is the laboring man's hope." The name of the party is
significant. The accent has shifted from the first to the second part
of the compound--from the Marxian to the Lassallian word.
The German Social Democrats have never had a Millerand or a Briand or
a John Burns; their participation in imperial and provincial affairs
has been strictly limited to parliamentary criticism. Even in local
government, in the communes and cities, they have been allowed only a
small share in actual constructive work. But in spite of these facts
the party has undergone a most remarkable change of creed and tone.
IV
We will concern ourselves only with the most significant changes.
These follow two general lines: (1) the attitude of the party towards
legislation and practical parliamentary participation; (2) the
internal changes in the party. We will follow these changes through
the official reports of the annual party conventions.
First we will briefly see what change has taken place in their
attitude toward parliamentary activity. The Social Democrats began as
revolutionists and violent anti-parliamentarians. They entered
parliament, not to make laws, but to make trouble. In 1890 they
changed their name from the Socialist Labor Party to the Social
Democratic Party; and when some of the older members thought that this
was a compromise with their enemies, one of the leaders replied that
"a Socialist party must _eo ipse_ be a democratic party."[21] In 1890
Liebknecht said: "Formerly we had an entirely different tactic.
Tactics and principles are two different things. In 1869 in a speech
in Berlin I condemned parliamentary activity. That was then. Political
conditions were entirely different."[22] Gradually tactics and
principles have coalesced until their line of cleavage is obscured.
The earlier reports of the parliamentary delegation are tinged with
apology--they are in parliament as protestors, as propagandists, not
as legislators. They seem to say: "Fellow-partisans, excuse us for
being in the Reichstag. We don't believe in the bourgeois law-making
devices. But since we are here, we purpose to do what we can for the
cause. We will not betray you, nor the glorious Socialistic state of
society that we are all working for."
From the first, Social Democrats have voted against the imperial
budget, have opposed all tariffs, indirect taxes, extension of the
police power, increase in naval and military expenditure, and colonial
exploitation. They took no part at first in law-making, held
themselves disdainfully aloof from practical parliamentary efforts,
and especially avoided every appearance of coalition with other
parties.
But gradually a change came over them. In 1895 they nominated one of
their number for secretary of the Reichstag.[23]
Gingerly they dipped their fingers into the pottage of reality. Soon
they began to introduce bills. In 1901 they proposed a measure that
increased the allowance of the private soldier. Their bill became a
law. In the next national convention, when they were called to task
for their worldliness, they excused themselves by saying that ninety
per cent. of the private soldiers were proletarians and their parents
were too poor to supply them with the money necessary for army
sundries, and the allowance of the state had been inadequate. This was
therefore a law that actually benefited the poor.
In 1906 and 1908 they were compelled to face the practical question of
an inheritance tax. The delegation supported the measure, after
prolonged deliberation over what action to take. This action
precipitated a heated discussion in the party congress; the veterans
feared the party was surrendering its principles. They were assured by
Bebel that the vote was orthodox.[24]
In 1906 the party instructed its delegation to introduce bills for
redistricting the empire for Reichstag elections; to reduce the
legislative period from five to three years; to revise the laws
relating to sailors and provide for better inspection of ships and
shipping. These instructions mark a revolution in German Social
Democracy, a change that can best be illustrated by the shift in its
attitude on state insurance. In 1892 the party resolved: "So-called
state Socialism, in so far as it concerns itself with bettering the
conditions of the working people, is a system of half-reforms whose
origin is in the fear of Social Democracy. It aims, through all kinds
of palliatives and little concessions, to estrange the working people
from Social Democracy and to cripple the party.
"The Social Democracy have never disdained to ask for such
governmental regulations, or, if proposed by the opposition, to
approve of those measures which could better the conditions of labor
under the present industrial system. But Social Democrats view such
regulations as only little payments on account, which in nowise
confuse the Social Democracy in its striving for a new organization of
society."[25]
They are now not above collecting even small sums on account. In 1910
their convention declares that state insurance is "the object of
constant agitation. For what we have thus far secured by no means
approaches what the laborer demands."[26]
The committee on parliamentary action reported, a few years ago, that
"no opportunity was lost for entering the lists in behalf of political
and cultural progress. In the discussion of all bills and other
business matters, the members of the delegation took an active part in
committee as well as in _plenum_."[27] There is no longer half-abashed
juvenile reluctance at legislative participation. The reports boast of
the work done by the party in behalf of the workingman, the peasant,
small tradesman, small farmer, and humbler government employees.
Eleven bills were introduced by the delegation in 1909-10, relating to
factory and mine inspection, amending the state insurance laws, the
tariff laws, the redistricting of the empire for Reichstag
elections--i.e., all pertaining to labor, politics, and finance.
Twenty resolutions were moved by the delegation, and many
interpellations called.
Interpellation, however, is not very satisfactory in a government
where the ministry is not responsible to parliament. In 1909 the
Social Democrats introduced a bill to make the Chancellor and his
cabinet responsible to the Reichstag. Ledebour, who made the leading
speech for the Social Democrats, gave a clear exposition of his
party's contention. He wanted a government "wherein the people, in the
final analysis, decided the fate of the government. For, in such a
government, only those men come into power who represent a program,
represent conviction and character; not any one who has succeeded, for
the moment, in pleasing the fancy and becoming the favorite of the
determining kamarilla." If the election should turn on this issue,
"whether there shall be a perpetuation of the sham-constitutional,
junker bureaucracy, or the establishing of a democratic parliamentary
authority," the parliamentary party would win. "The will of the people
should be the highest law."[28]
In January, 1912, this party of isolation entered the Reichstag as the
strongest group: 110 members acknowledge the leadership of Bebel. By
co-operating with the Radicals and National Liberals, the progressive
elements had a majority over the Conservative and Clerical
reactionaries for the first time in the history of the empire. Here
Bebel consented to become a candidate for president of the Chamber. He
received 175 votes; the candidate of the Conservatives, Dr. Spahn,
leader of the Clerical Center, received 196. Enough National Liberals
had wavered to throw the balance in favor of Conservatism. A Socialist
was elected first vice-president, and a National Liberal second
vice-president. The President-elect refused to act with a Socialist
vice-president and resigned. The Radical member from Berlin, Herr
Kaempf, was then elected President.[29] Thereupon the National Liberal
second vice-president also resigned, and a Radical was chosen in his
stead. The Social Democrats and the Radicals were made responsible for
the leadership of the new Reichstag.
It is customary for the President and the vice-president of the
Chamber to announce to the Kaiser when the Reichstag is organized and
ready for business. The Kaiser let it be known that he did not care to
receive the Radical officers. The Socialist first vice-president
refused to join in the proposed official visit. The Prussian temper is
slow to change.
These illustrations clearly indicate the trend of Social Democratic
legislative and political policy. It is the universal story--ambition
brings power, power brings responsibility, responsibility sobers the
senses.
V
The second development that we are to trace relates to the program, or
platform, of the party. The official program has not undergone any
change, but the interpretation, the spirit, has mellowed. The Erfurter
program of 1891 is still their party pledge. The program is in two
parts; the first an elaborate exposition of Marxian economics, the
second a series of practical demands differing only slightly from the
Gotha program.
Only one speech was made in the national convention on the adoption of
this bifurcated platform, that attempted to link Marxian theory to
Lassallian realism. This speech was made by Liebknecht, friend of
Marx, who elaborately explained his friend's theory of value, doctrine
of class war and social evolution. The program was adopted _en bloc_.
The chairman ignored a few protesting "noes" when the vote was called,
and declared it unanimously adopted. These few voices of protest soon
swelled to considerable volume. Within one year after the repeal of
the Socialist law the party had entered upon the difficult task of
being both critic and parliamentarian, constructive and destructive,
under rigid military discipline.
To the few protesters at Erfurt, it seemed as though the party had
entered the lifeboat, manned the oars, and neglected to untie the
painter.
When the elections of 1897 recorded a severe setback for the party the
progressives were told to keep the eyes of faith on the "ultimate
goal" of Socialism. One of the reformistes replied: "The whole idea of
an ultimate goal is distasteful to me. There is no ultimate goal; for
beyond your ultimate goal is another world of striving."[30] And
another critic said: "Nothing wears threadbare so rapidly by constant
use as words of faith. Constantly spoken or heard, they become
stereotyped into phrases, and the inspired prophet creates the same
offensive impression as a priest who has nothing else to offer but
words." The interest of the workingman "finds its expression in the
practicalness of the second part of the Erfurter program, and the
wholly practical work of the party."[31] It was at this time that
Edward Bernstein, friend and literary heir of Engel, published a
series of critical papers in the party journal, _Die Neue Zeit_,
attacking especially the catastrophic and revolutionary postulates and
saying "the movement is everything, the goal is nothing." Kautsky, the
dogmatist of the party, replied to these articles and a feverish
discussion followed in all the party press.[32]
In the party conventions of 1898 and 1899 this controversy was waged
with considerable energy. Von Vollmar made merry over Kautsky's
"inquisition" and called the debate "a noisy cackling over nothing."
The mass of the party, he said, did not trouble their heads about
theories, but plodded along unmindful of hairsplitting.[33] Bebel made
a herculean effort to reconcile both elements. To the revisionists he
said, "We are in a constant state of intellectual moulting,"[34] to
the orthodox he said, "We remain what we have always been."[35]
It was at Dresden, 1903, that the revisionist tempest reached its
height in the party teapot. The Germans' love for polysyllabic
phrase-making, for which Jaures taunted them at the Amsterdam
congress, was here given full play. Von Vollmar repeated that nobody
except a few dull theorists read Kautsky's or Bernstein's views; the
mass of voters cared for practical results, and "revisionists and
anti-revisionists are nothing but a bugbear."[36]
Here the matter rested until the elections of 1907 opened the eyes of
the party high priests. They gained only 248,249 votes and lost
one-half of their seats in the Reichstag. A number of the leading
Socialists promptly began to attack the dogmas of the party program as
illusions and pitfalls. The class war, the revolutionary method, the
theory of an ever-increasing proletariat and decreasing bourgeoisie
were attacked as unscientific, and illusory. "The Erfurt program
recites a vagary, it repels the intellect, it must be changed;" that
was the opinion of the advanced thinkers of the party.
No party congresses, no priestly pronunciamentos have been able to
check the spread of revolt. As long as Kautsky and Bebel live the
program will probably not be re-phrased. But even Kautsky is mellowing
under the ripeness of years and circumstances; and Bebel, shrewd
politician, knows the campaigning value of appearing at the same time
orthodox and progressive.[37]
To-day one hears very little of Marx and a great deal of legislation.
The last election, with its brilliant victory for Social Democracy,
was not won on the general issues of the Erfurter program but on the
particular issue of the arrogance of the bureaucracy, and ballot
reform. A large mass of voters cast their ballots for Social
Democratic candidates as a protest against existing governmental
conditions, not as an affirmation of their assent to the Marxian
dogmas. The truth is, Marx is a tradition, democracy is an issue.[38]
Another indication of the notable changes that have come over Social
Democracy is seen in the Socialists' relation to other parties. Here
their dogmatic aloofness is the most tenacious. During the years of
their bitter persecution by the government they found their excuse in
an isolation that was forced upon them. Von Vollmar told his
colleagues, immediately after the repeal of the anti-Socialist law,
that the South Germans were ready to co-operate with every one who
would be willing to give them an inch. In reply to this Bebel
introduced a resolution affirming that "the primary necessity of
attaining political power" could not be "the work of a moment," but
was attained only by gradual growth. During the period of growth the
Social Democrats should not work for mere "concessions from the ruling
classes," but "have only the ultimate and complete aim of the party in
mind." The Bebelian theory linked the ultimate goal with ultimate
power, both to be attained by waiting until the flood tide.
This question became practical when the Social Democratic members of
the provincial legislatures voted with other parties for the state
budget. The national party claimed authority over the local party, a
claim which was resented by the Bavarians and other South German
delegations.[39]
In 1894 the South Germans were chastised by a vote of 164 to 64 for
voting for their state budget. They were rebuked again in 1901 and in
1908. In the latter year Bebel told them "three times is enough,"
indicating that there would be a split in the party if they insisted
on voting for their local budgets. The South Germans defended their
action by saying that they had always agitated for more pay for state
employees, and that they were willing to vote the funds that would
make this possible. A new champion appeared for the reformistes--Dr.
Frank of Mannheim, a brilliant speaker who is called by his following
a "second Lassalle." He made a withering attack on the Marxian school,
but Bebel's censure was carried by 256 to 119.
Finally at Magdeburg, 1910, the budget question reached its climax.
Bebel boasted that his policy of negation had wrought great changes in
Germany. "I say it without boasting, in the whole world there is no
Social Democracy that has accomplished as much positive good as the
German Social Democracy."[40] He claimed the insurance laws, factory
laws, and the repeal of special and oppressive legislation as the
fruits of his policy. Bebel then warned the Badensians that this is
the last time they will be forgiven; one other offense, and they will
be put out of the party.
Dr. Frank made an elaborate reply. He said that there was a working
agreement between the Social Democrats and Liberals whereby they
co-operated against the Conservatives. In the state legislature they
had a "bloc" with the Liberals and had elected a vice-president and
secretary and important chairmanships by means of this coalition. They
had, moreover, reformed the public school system, secured factory
legislation, and had secured direct elections in all towns of 4,000
or over. The reformistes' principles are so clearly stated in this
speech that I quote several paragraphs:
"I tell you, comrades, if you think that under all the circumstances
you can win only small concessions; with such a message of
hopelessness you will not conquer the world, not even the smallest
election district. [_Great commotion and disturbance._] But what would
be the meaning of this admission that small concessions can be
secured? In tearing down a building dramatic effects are possible. But
the erection of a building is accomplished only by an accumulation of
small concessions. Behold the labor unions, that are so often spoken
of, how they struggle for months, how they suffer hunger for months,
in order to win a concession of a few pennies. Often one can see that
a small concession contains enormous future possibilities, and in
twenty or thirty years will become a vital force in the shaping of the
society that is to come."
"Nor will I examine the question whether in parliamentary activity
only small concessions can be won. Is it not possible, through
parliamentary action, to take high tariffs and business speculations
from the necks of the workingmen? Is it not possible to modify police
administration, and the legislative conditions that profane Prussia
to-day? Are these conditions necessary concomitants of the modern
class-state (Klassenstaat)? Is it not possible to create out of
Prussia and Germany a modern state, where our workingmen, even as
their brethren in Western Europe, can fight their great battles upon
the field of democratic equality and citizenship? If you wish to view
all that as 'small concessions' you are at liberty to do so. I view it
as a tremendous revolution, if it succeeds, to secure, through such a
struggle, liberty for the Prussian working class."[41]
The censure was carried, the Baden delegation left the hall during the
voting. On the following day it returned to declare its loyalty to the
party, but with the proviso that they would by no means promise how
they would vote on their state budget in the future.
Events are shaping themselves rapidly in Germany. Ministerial
responsibility cannot much longer be denied. The elections of 1912
should serve as a plain portent to the reactionaries. That Bebel is
willing to be a candidate for President of the Reichstag is a
significant concession; that the Radicals and many National Liberals
are willing to vote for him, would have been deemed impossible ten
years ago.
Such conditions as prevail between the government and the Radicals and
Social Democrats cannot long continue. The break with the past must
come, sooner or later. The pressure of Radical and Democratic votes
will become so powerful, that not even the strong traditions of the
empire can wholly withstand it.
In May, 1911, I visited the Reichstag on an eventful occasion. The
Social Democrats had voted with the government for a new Constitution
for Alsace-Lorraine containing universal manhood suffrage. Herr Bebel
was jubilant. He said: "It marks a new epoch. We have voted with the
government. Not that we have capitulated. But the government have come
to our convictions, they have granted universal suffrage to Alsace,
now they cannot long deny that right to Prussia and the other
states."[42]
We have now seen that politically a great change has come over the
German Socialists; that they are participating in legislation, and are
especially solicitous about all acts that pertain to labor and
political liberty; that they are gradually moving toward co-operation
with other parties; that they are gradually sloughing off the
inflexible Marxian armor, and are assuming the pliable dress of
modernism.
All this is to be expected of a party that began as a vigorous,
narrow, autocratic party of revolution and protest, and is emerging
from its hard experiences, a self-styled "cultural party" ("Kultur
Partei"). Dr. Suedekum, editor of Communal Praxis, in his report of the
parliamentary group, in 1907, wrote: "We have in the Reichstag two
kinds of duties; first, the propaganda of our ideas and program;
second, practical work, i.e., to enhance, not alone the interests of
the working class, but the entire complex, so-called cultural
interests. The problems that the Social Democratic party as a
'cultural party' has to solve, which are assigned to it as the
representative of cultural progress in every realm of human activity,
must increase in the same proportion that the bourgeois parties allow
themselves to be captured by the government and neglect these
problems."[43]
It is a far cry from "class war" to "human cultural activities." Such
an expansion of purpose requires a greatly enlarged electorate. The
majority of the workingmen are already in the party, where will the
increase come from?
There are two directions in which the party can hope to gain new
recruits--the small farmer and the small tradesman. The small farmer
is peculiarly hard to reach. He is well guarded--the Church on the one
side, the landlord and _junker_ on the other. To step in and steal his
heart is a very difficult task. The work is pushed steadily, with
tenacity, but results are slow in coming.
Among the tradespeople and business men, there is more rapid progress,
especially in southern Germany. In Munich a great many tradespeople
vote for Von Vollmar.[44]
Primarily it will always be a workingman's party. Its soul is the
labor movement. Its political aim is democracy, and its hope is the
power of sheer preponderance of numbers. What it will do when it has
that power is a speculation that does not lure the prosaic Teutonic
mind. "We will find plenty to do," one of them said, "when we have the
government. We have plenty to do now, that we haven't the government."
This is wisdom learned of France.
This means that the party have given up their "splendid
isolation"--what Von Vollmar called their "policy of sterility and
despair"[45]--a policy which they acknowledged by words long after
they had abandoned it in fact. They abandoned it the moment they
championed labor legislation, and sought the sanitation of cities and
the opening of parks, in their municipal councils.
The pressure of things as they are has been too powerful for even the
German Social Democracy, with its dogmatic temper and strength of
millions. Revolution has, even here, been replaced by a slow and
orderly development.
The rapidity with which the medieval empire will be democratized will
depend upon the formation of a genuine liberal party that will enlist
those citizens who are inclined toward modernism but cannot be enticed
into the Social Democratic or Radical parties. When such a party is
formed, and an alliance made with the Social Democrats, then the
transformations will be rapid.[46] Among the most significant
accessions to the Social Democracy are many professional men: lawyers,
physicians, engineers, etc. This augurs a change in party spirit and
method. Dr. Frank of Mannheim told me that he considered the extent to
which the party could lure the intellectual element the measure of the
party greatness and power.
VI
A word should be added upon the attitude of the Social Democrats
toward militarism. The standing army and the increasing navy of
Germany are a heavy tax upon the people. The Germans for centuries
have been military in ambition, soldiers by instinct.
The Social Democrats, in common with all Socialists, are opposed to
war. But the German is a patriot. In the International Congress at
Stuttgart, the French and Russian delegations imposed an extreme
anti-military resolution upon the Socialists, against the protest of
the Germans. Bebel called their anti-patriotic utterances "silly
word-juggling."[47]
The Berlin congress, 1892, adopted the following resolution, in view
of the added military burdens proposed by the Reichstag: "The
prevailing military system, not being able to guarantee the country
against foreign invasion, is a continual threat to international peace
and serves the capitalistic class-government, whose aim is the
industrial exploitation and suppression of the working classes, as an
instrument of oppression against the masses.
"The party convention therefore demands, in consonance with the
program of the Social Democratic platform, the establishment of a
system of defense based upon a general militia, trained and armed. The
congress declares that the Social Democratic members of the Reichstag
are in complete accord with the party and with the politically
organized working classes of Germany, when they vote against every
measure of the government aimed at perpetuating the present military
system."[48]
During a debate in the Reichstag in 1907, Bebel declared, in the
defense of the Fatherland, _if it were invaded_, even he in his old
age would "shoulder a musket." He demanded military drill for youths
as a preliminary to the shortening of military service in the standing
army; if this were not done the defense of the country would be
weakened whenever the service shall be reduced to one year.
The Chancellor had on this occasion introduced a bill making all
military service uniformly two years, and abolishing the privileges
that had been granted to a few favored classes.
For this action they were severely criticised in the next party
convention. Bebel replied: "I said, _if the Fatherland really must be
defended_, then we will defend it. Because it is our Fatherland. It is
the land in which we live, whose language we speak, whose culture we
possess. Because we wish to make this, our Fatherland, more beautiful
and more complete than any other land on earth. We defend it,
therefore, not for you but against you."[49] This patriotic
declamation was received with "tremendous applause."
Von Vollmar, himself a soldier of distinction, said, in the Bavarian
Diet, a few years ago:
"If the necessity should arise for the protection of the realm against
foreign invasion, then it will become evident that the Social
Democrats love their Fatherland no less than do their neighbors; that
they will as gladly and heroically offer themselves to its defense. On
the other hand, if the foolish notion should ever arise to use the
army for the support of a warring class prerogative, for the defense
of indefeasible demands, and for the crushing of those just ambitions
which are the product of our times, and a necessary concomitant of our
economic and political development,--then we are of the firm
conviction that the day will come when the army will remember that it
sprang from the people, and that its own interests are those of the
masses."
This makes their position very clear.
VII
The party that for years held itself in disdainful aloofness, was so
defiant of co-operation, in the national parliament, is ductile,
neighborly, and eager to help in the municipal and communal councils.
It has a communal program of practical details, and no small part of
the splendid progress in municipal administration in Germany is due to
the Social Democrats. Everywhere you hear praise from officials and
from political rivals for the careful work of the Social Democratic
members of municipal bodies.
Owing to the unfavorable election laws, the Social Democrats do not
elect a large number of members to local councils. In no important
city do they preponderate. If universal manhood suffrage were enacted,
they would control the majority of the local legislative bodies. As it
is, they are an active minority, and guard jealously the interests of
the working classes.
Munich may be taken as the type of city in which the Social Democrats
are active.[50]
In 1907 there were 130,000 qualified electors for the Reichstag
election in Munich, in 1905 there were only 31,252 qualified electors
for the municipal elections. This shows the restrictive influence of
property qualifications for local elections.
In a city council of 60 members, the Social Democrats elected only 9.
And of 20 elected members of the chamber of magistrates they elected
only 3.
This minority is an active committee of scrutiny. It carefully and
minutely scrutinizes all the acts of the municipal authorities,
especially pertaining to labor, to contracts for public work, and to
the conditions of city employees. They vote consistently in favor of
the enlargement of municipal powers; e.g., the extension of parks, of
street-car lines, the building of larger markets. For a number of
years the Social Democrats of Munich have urged the utilizing of the
water power of the Isar, which rushes through the city. And the
municipality is now utilizing some of this power.
The Social Democrats also favor every facility for the extension of
the art and culture for which Munich is justly celebrated. They take
no narrow, provincial views of such questions, and set an example that
might with profit be followed by parties who claim for themselves the
prerogative of culture. They are constantly working for better public
educational facilities, and are especially hostile to the
encroachments of the Church upon the domain of public education.
They are in favor of increased public expenditures; opposed to all
indirect taxes, especially those that tend to raise the price of food.
Their special grievance is the property qualification required for
voting. They say that a law which allows only one-fifteenth of the
citizens (30,000 out of over 500,000) a right to vote is "shameful,"
and they are bending every effort to change the law.
What is true in Munich is true in other cities: democratic election
laws are denied them. But they are active everywhere, and do not
despise the doing of small details, doing them well and with zest. It
is obvious that Socialism in Germany cannot be put to a constructive
test until the election laws are democratized and the higher
administrative offices are opened to them. That will bring the real
test of this colossal movement.
* * * * *
We may sum it all up by saying that Social Democracy in Germany is
first of all a struggle for democracy. The accent is on the second
part of the compound. It is, secondly, a struggle for the
self-betterment of the working classes; and it is, thirdly, a protest
against certain conditions that the present organization of society
imposes upon mankind.
An American sojourning among the German people must be impressed with
the painstaking organization of the empire. Every detail of life is
carefully ordered to avoid waste and to secure efficiency, even at the
cost of individual initiative. This military empire, of infinite
discipline, is now undergoing a political metamorphosis. The force
that is bringing about the change is being generated at the bottom of
the social strata, not at the top. This signifies that a change is
sure to come.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] See MEYER, _Emancipations-Kampf des Vierten Standes_, Chap. V;
also J. SCHMOELE, _Die Sozial-Demokratische Gewerkschaften in
Deutschland, seit dem Erlasse des Sozialistischen Gesetzes_, Jena,
1896, et seq.
[2] The following table compiled from _Statistisches Jahrbuch_ shows
their growth in recent years:
Year Members
1902 733,206
1903 887,698
1904 1,052,108
1905 1,344,803
1906 1,689,709
1907 1,865,506
1908 1,831,731
1909 1,892,568
In 1909 their income was 50,529,114 marks, their expenditure
46,264,031 marks. See Appendix, p. 295, for membership of all the
unions.
[3] When I visited the Berlin _Gewerkschaftshaus_, a model three-room
dwelling--living room, kitchen, and bedroom--had been furnished and
decorated in simple, durable, and artistic fashion. This exhibit was
thronged with workingmen, their wives and daughters.
Some years ago it was discovered that the youth of the working people
were reading cheap and unworthy literature. The Central Committee of
the Unions now issues cheap editions of the choicest literature for
children and young people.
These two incidents show the vigilance of the unions, in looking after
all the wants of their people.
[4] The number of strikes in recent years are given as follows: 1902,
1,106; 1903, 1,444; 1904, 1,990; 1905, 2,657; 1906, 3,626; 1907,
2,512; 1908, 1,524.--From _Statistisches Jahrbuch fuer das Deutsche
Reich_.
[5] _Protokoll: Sozial-Demokratische Partei-Tag_, 1908, p. 14.
[6] See Bebel, _Gewerksbewegung und Politische Parteien_: Preface.
[7] See _Protokoll des Partei-Tages_, 1890, pp. 156-7.
[8] "_Genossen_": the word really means "brethren."
[9] Party membership has grown as follows: 1906, 384,527; 1907,
530,466; 1908, 587,336; 1909, 633,309; 1910, 720,038; 1911, 836,562.
[10] _Bericht des Partei-Vorstandes_, 1909-10.
[11] See Appendix, p. 296, for complete election returns.
[12] _Bericht des Partei-Vorstandes_, 1909-10.
[13] In 1891-2 the "Berliner Opposition" threatened a revolt. They
were given every opportunity of explaining their grievances, were told
what to do, and, disobeying, were promptly shown the door.
[14] "It has been truthfully said that in Germany a Social Democrat
cannot even become a night-watchman."--PROF. BERNHARD HARMS
(University of Kiel), _Ferdinand Lassalle und Seine Bedeutung fuer die
Sozial-Demokratie_, 1909, p. 103.
[15] "Do you enjoy freedom from political interference?" I asked a
high official in the civil service. "Absolutely. We think as we
please, talk as we please, and do as we please. But we must let the
Social Democrats alone."
[16] See Appendix, p. 293, for synopsis of this law.
[17] The vote for the Saxon legislature at this time was as follows:
Party Voters Votes
Social Democrats 341,396 492,522
Conservatives 103,517 281,804
National Liberal 125,157 236,541
Independents (Freisinnige) 41,857 100,804
Anti-Semites 20,248 55,502
The Social Democrats included over one-half of the voters, cast about
one-third of the votes, and elected only one-fourth of the members.
[18] Some curious instances of inequality appear in the cities. In
Berlin in one precinct one man paid one-third of the taxes and
consequently possessed one-third of the legislative influence in that
precinct. In another precinct the president of a large bank paid
one-third of the taxes, and two of his associates paid another third.
These three men named the member of the Diet from that precinct.
[19] For the struggle for ballot reform in Bavaria, see _Der Kampf um
die Wahlreform in Bayern_, issued in 1905 by the Bavarian Social
Democratic Party Executive Committee.
[20] February 13, 1910, was set aside as a day for suffrage
demonstration throughout the empire. In Berlin alone forty-two
meetings were announced. These provoked the following edict: "Notice!
The 'right to the streets' is hereby proclaimed. The streets serve
primarily for traffic. Resistance to state authority will be met by
the force of arms. I warn the curious. Berlin, February 13, 1910.
Police-president, VON IAGOW." The Social Democratic papers called
attention to the fact that these notices were printed on the same
forms that the Police-president often used to announce that the
streets would be closed to all traffic on account of military parades.
[21] _Protokoll_, 1890, pp. 119-120.
[22] _Protokoll_, 1890, pp. 96-7.
[23] There are eight secretaries elected. They are distributed, by
custom, among the parties, according to their voting strength. The
Social Democrats had always refrained from taking part in any of the
elections; now they enter the lists, abstaining from voting for any
candidate except their own--who, in turn, received no other votes.
[24] Bebel was not present in the Reichstag at the time this vote was
taken, but he told the convention that, had he been present, he should
have supported the Tax Bill. _Protokoll_, 1908, p. 364.
[25] _Protokoll_, 1892, p. 173.
[26] _Protokoll_, 1910, p. 469.
[27] _Protokoll_, 1910, p. 95.
[28] Reichstag Debates, December 2, 1908.
[29] In the election of January, 1912, the Social Democrats carried
every district in Berlin excepting the one in which the Kaiser's
palace is situated. Here a spirited contest took place. A second
ballot was made necessary between the Radicals and Social Democrats,
and the Conservatives, throwing all their forces on to the Radical
side, succeeded in keeping this last stronghold from their enemies.
But Herr Kaempf's majority was only 6 votes.
[30] _Protokoll_, 1898, p. 89.
[31] _Supra cit._, p. 90.
[32] This controversy is known as the "revisionist movement." The
revisionists' position is set forth in Bernstein's book, _Die
Voraussetzung des Sozialismus und die Aufgaben der Sozial-Demokratie_.
The Marxian position is set forth in Kautsky's reply, _Bernstein und
die Sozial-Demokratie_. An English edition of Bernstein's book has
been published in the Labor Party series in London.
[33] _Protokoll_, 1899.
[34] _Supra cit._, p. 94.
[35] _Supra cit._, p. 127.
[36] _Protokoll_, 1903, pp. 321-45.
[37] In the congress of 1907 Bebel tried to dispel the gloom by a long
and optimistic speech in which he declared that their success was not
to be measured by the number of seats they won, but by the number of
voters. He closed by saying, "We are the coming ones, ours is the
future in spite of all things and everything."--_Protokoll_, 1907, p.
323.
[38] One of the veteran party leaders answered my question as to the
present-day influence of Marx as follows: "The bulk of our party have
never read Marx. It takes a well-trained mind to understand him.
Conditions have entirely changed since his day, and we are busy with
questions of which Marx never dreamed and of which he could not
foretell. He laid the philosophical basis for our party, but our party
is practical, not philosophical."
[39] In 1900 Bebel proposed the necessity of a working coalition with
other parties in Prussia to gain electoral reform. He said: "We cannot
stand alone. We must attempt to go hand in hand with certain elements
in the bourgeois parties--without, however, endangering our identity."
But the party was not willing to go as far as the veteran, and a
resolution was adopted limiting such co-operation strictly to Prussia
and giving the central committee full power to veto the acts any
electoral district might take in this direction.
[40] _Protokoll_, 1910, p. 249.
[41] _Protokoll_, 1910, p. 272.
[42] In November, 1911, Berlin's new city hall was dedicated. The
members of the city council were invited to be present. The Social
Democrats cast a large majority of all the votes in Berlin. But the
Social Democrats refused to attend the ceremonies. The program, as
published, called for a "Hoch!" to the Kaiser, and the Social
Democrats never joined in public approval of the government.
_Vorwaerts_, the leading Social Democratic daily, said that Social
Democrats have nothing to do with such a display of "Byzantinism." "If
any one thought it necessary to shout 'Hoch!' he could shout 'Hoch!'
to the working population of Berlin."
[43] _Protokoll_, 1907, pp. 227-8.
[44] Amongst the business people of Mannheim, Munich, and other cities
in Baden, Bavaria, and Hesse, there are many who support the Social
Democratic candidates, because, they say, there is no genuinely
liberal party. It should, however, be borne in mind that the Social
Democrats of these southern districts are liberal and progressive, not
the unbending, orthodox variety of Prussia.
[45] VON VOLLMAR, _Ueber die Aufgaben der Deutschen Social-Demokratie_.
[46] The _Hansa Bund_ (Hanseatic League), organized a few years ago,
may be the nucleus of such a party. It is composed of smaller
manufacturers and business men opposed to tariffs and the trusts, and
in favor of a more liberal government.
[47] _Protokoll_, Social Democratic Party, 1907, p. 228.
[48] _Protokoll_, 1892, p. 132.
[49] _Protokoll_, 1907, p. 255.
[50] See _Die Sozial-Demokratie im Muenchener Rathaus_, issued by the
Bavarian party executive committee, 1908. Also _Die Sozial-Demokratie
im Bayerischen Landtag, 1888-1905_, 3 vols., issued by the Party Press
in Munich; and E. AUER, _Arbeiterpolitik im Bayerischen Landtag_.