To-day I will begin by reiterating what has already been stated. _I beg
you to remember that the government and the masses are satisfied with
visible results in politics._ How can they examine the inner meaning
of things when their representatives consider that pleasure is above
everything? It is important to know one detail in our policy. It will
help us in discussing division of authority, freedom of speech, of the
press, of religion (faith), the right of assembly, equality before the
law, inviolability of property and of the home, indirect taxes and the
retrospective force of law. All such questions should never be directly
and openly discussed before the masses. When it becomes necessary for
us to discuss them, they should not be elaborated but merely mentioned,
without going into details, pointing out that modern legal principles are
being accepted by us. The significance of this reticence lies in the fact
that a principle which has not been openly declared gives us freedom of
action to exclude unnoticed one point or another, whereas if elaborated
the principle becomes as good as established.
The people feel an especial love and admiration towards the political
genius, and they always react to their acts of violence as follows:
“Yes, of course it is villainy, but how clever!—It is a trick
but cleverly done! So majestically! so impudently!...”
We count upon attracting all nations to the construction of the
foundations of the new edifice which has been planned by us. It is for
this reason that it is necessary for us first of all to acquire that
spirit of daring, enterprise, and force which, through our agents, will
enable us to overcome all obstacles in our path.
_When we accomplish our coup d’état, we will say to the peoples:
“Everything went badly; all of you have suffered. We will abolish the
cause of your sufferings, that is to say, nationalities, frontiers, and
national currencies. Of course you are free to condemn us, but would your
judgment be just if you were to pronounce it before giving a trial to
what we will give you?” Thereafter they will exalt us with a sentiment
of unanimous delight and hope. The voting system which we have used as
a tool for our enthronement, and to which we have accustomed even the
most humble members of humanity by organizing meetings and prearranged
agreements, will have performed its last service and will make its last
appearance in the expression of a unanimous desire to become more
closely acquainted with us before having pronounced a judgment._
To attain this we must force all to vote, without class discrimination,
to establish the autocracy of the majority, which cannot be obtained
from the intellectual classes alone. Through this method of accustoming
every one to the idea of self-determination, we will shatter the GOY
family and its educational importance. We will not allow the formation of
individual minds, because the mob, under our guidance, will prevent them
from distinguishing themselves or even expressing themselves. The mob
has become accustomed to listen only to us who pay it for obedience and
attention. We will thus create such a blind power that it will be unable
to move without the guidance of our agents, sent by us to replace their
leaders.
The masses will submit to this régime because they will know that their
earnings, perquisites, and other benefits depend upon these leaders.
The plan of government must emanate already formed from one head, as it
would be impossible to put it together if disintegration by many minds
into small pieces is allowed. That is why we only are allowed to know the
plan of action; but we must not discuss it in order not to affect its
ingenuity, the correlation between its component parts, the practical
force of the secret meaning of its every clause. Were such a plan to be
submitted to and altered by frequent voting, it would reflect the stamp
of the misconceptions of every one who has not penetrated its depth and
the correlation of its aims. For this reason our plans must be strongly
and clearly conceived. Consequently, the inspired work of our leader must
not be thrown to the mercy of the mob or even of a limited group.
These plans will not immediately upset contemporary institutions.
They will only alter their organization, and consequently the entire
combination of their development, which will thus be directed according
to the plans laid down by us.
More or less the same institutions exist in different countries under
different names, such as representative bodies, ministries, senate, state
council, legislative and executive bodies. It is not necessary for me to
explain to you the connecting mechanism of these different institutions,
as it is well known to you. I only call to your attention that every
one of the aforesaid institutions fulfills some important governmental
function, and, moreover, I beg you to notice that the word “important”
refers not to the institution but to the function. Consequently,
it is not the institutions that are important but their functions.
Such institutions have divided among themselves all the functions of
government, namely, administrative, legislative, and executive powers;
therefore, their functions in the state organism have become similar
to those in a human body. If one part of the governmental machine is
injured, the state itself falls ill, in the same way as the human body,
and then it dies.
When we injected the poison of liberalism into the state organism, its
entire political complexion changed; the states became infected with
a mortal disease, namely, the decomposition of the blood. It is only
necessary to await the end of their agony.
Constitutional governments were born of liberalism, which replaced the
autocracy that was the salvation of the GOYS, for the constitution, as
you well know, is nothing more than a school for dispute, discussion,
disagreement, fruitless party agitation, dissension, party tendencies—in
other words, a school for everything which weakens the efficiency of
government. The platform no less than the press condemned the authorities
to inaction and impotency and thereby rendered them useless and
superfluous, for which reason they were overthrown in many countries. The
rise of the republican era then became possible, and then we substituted
for the ruler a caricature of government—a president chosen from the mob,
from among our creatures, our slaves. This was the kind of mine we laid
under the GOYS, or, more correctly, under the GOY nations.
In the near future we will make the president a responsible officer,
whereupon we will no longer stand on ceremony in carrying out the things
for which our dummy will be responsible. What difference does it make
to us that the ranks of those aiming at authority will thin out, that
confusion will result from inability to find presidents, confusion which
will definitely disorganize the country?
To accomplish our plan, we will engineer the election of presidents
whose past record contains some hidden scandal, some “Panama”—then
they will be faithful executors of our orders from fear of exposure,
and from the natural desire of every man who has reached authority
to retain the privileges, advantages, and dignity connected with the
position of president. The Chamber of Deputies will elect, protect, and
screen presidents, but we will deprive it of the right of initiating
laws or of amending them, for this right will be granted by us to the
responsible president, a puppet in our hands. Of course then the power
of the president will become the target of numerous attacks, but we
will give him the means of self-protection by giving him the right of
directly applying to the people, for their decision, over the heads of
their representatives. In other words, he will turn to the same blind
slave—to the majority of the mob. Moreover, we will empower the president
to proclaim martial law. We will justify this prerogative under the
pretext that the president, as chief of the national army, must control
it in order to protect the new republican constitution, which he, as a
responsible representative of this constitution, is bound to defend.
It is obvious that under such conditions the keys to the shrine will
be in our hands, and nobody except ourselves will be able to guide the
legislative power.
We will also take away from the Chamber, with the introduction of the
new republican constitution, the right of interpellation in regard to
governmental measures, under the pretext that political secrets must
be preserved. With the aid of this new constitution we will reduce the
number of representatives to the minimum, thus also reducing to the same
extent political passions and passion for politics. If, in spite of this,
those remaining are recalcitrant, we will abolish them completely by
appealing to the majority of the people.
The appointment of the president and vice presidents of the Chamber and
Senate will be the prerogative of the president. Instead of continuous
parliamentary sessions, we will shorten them to a few months. Moreover,
the president, as chief executive, will have the right to convene
or dissolve parliament, and in the case of dissolution, defer the
appointment of a new parliament. But to prevent the president from
being held responsible before our plans are matured for the results of
all these essentially illegal actions inaugurated by us, we will give
the ministers and other high administrative officials surrounding the
president the idea of circumventing his orders by issuing instructions
of their own. Consequently, they will be made responsible instead of
him. We recommend that the execution of this plan be given especially
to the Senate, State Council, or Council of Ministers, and not to
individuals. Under our guidance the president will interpret in ambiguous
ways such existing laws as it is possible so to interpret. Moreover, he
will annul them when the need is pointed out to him by us: he will also
have the right to propose temporary laws and even modifications in the
constitutional work of government, alleging as the motive for so doing
the exigencies of the welfare of the country.
By such measures we will be able to destroy gradually, step by step,
everything that, upon entering into our rights, we were obliged
to introduce into government constitutions as a transition to the
imperceptible abolition of all constitutions, when the time comes to
convert all government into _our autocracy_.
The recognition of our autocrat may come even before the abolition of the
constitution; the moment for this recognition will come when the people,
tormented by dissension and the incompetency of their rulers, incited by
us, will exclaim: Depose them, and give us one universal sovereign who
will unite us and abolish the causes of dissension—national frontiers,
religion, state indebtedness—and who will give us the peace and quiet
which we cannot find with our rulers and representatives.
But you know well that to render such a universal expression of desire
possible, it is necessary continuously to disturb the relationship
between the people and the government in all countries, and so to exhaust
everybody by the dissension, hostility, struggle, hatred, and even
martyrdom, hunger, inoculation of diseases, and misery, as to make the
GOYS see no other solution than an appeal to our money and complete rule.
Should we give the people a rest, however, the longed for moment will
probably never arrive.