One hears the most exquisite stories of the scramble there is on the
part of the bourgeoisie to get across the frontier. But where are they
to go to? Socialism is now dominant in all European countries, with the
exception of England and Switzerland. The American steamers are unable
to meet the demand there is on them. Those who can once reach the
American shores are all right, as the revolution there was very soon
quelled, and all hope of success cut off for a long time to come. Let
all such plunderers clear out, say I. It is a good thing that, thanks
to the suddenness with which the revolution came at last, they have not
been able to take much with them. All State bonds, mortgages, shares,
bills, and bank-notes have been declared void. These bourgeois gentry
may as well at once begin papering the walls of their ship cabins with
this trumpery. All landed and house property, means of communication,
machinery, tools, stores, and such like, have been impounded for the
benefit of the new socialistic State.
The _Onward_, which has hitherto been the leading organ of our party,
now takes the place of the old _Imperial Advertiser_, and it is
delivered at every house free of cost. All printing establishments
having now become the property of the State, all the other papers have,
as a matter of course, ceased to appear. In all other towns a local
edition of the _Onward_ is issued with a sheet of local matter for each
separate place. Provisionally, and until such time as a new Parliament
shall have been elected, the conduct of affairs is in the hands of the
socialistic members of the late Parliament, who, in the shape of a
Committee of Government, have to decide on those numerous laws it will
be necessary to enact in order to establish the new era.
The old party programme which was settled upon at the Erfurt Conference
in 1891, has been promulgated as an outline of the fundamental rights
of the people. This promulgation proclaims that all capital, property,
mines and quarries, machinery, means of communication, and all
possessions whatever, have henceforth become the sole property of the
State, or as it is now better called, the Community. Another decree
sets forth the universal obligation there is on all persons to work;
and all such persons, whether male or female, from the age of 21 to 65
years, are to enjoy precisely the same rights. Those who are below 21
years of age will be educated at the expense of the State, whilst those
who are above 65 will be maintained in a similar manner. All private
enterprise and productivity have, of course, ceased. Pending, however,
the new regulations as to supply, all persons are to retain their old
posts, and to go on working for the State, as their master. Each person
has to render an inventory of all such things as may have remained
to him after the embargo just spoken of; things which some might be
tempted to regard as private property, such as furniture, old clothes,
bank-notes, and the like. In particular, coins of all kinds are to be
delivered up. New money certificates are shortly to be issued.
The new Government, thanks to the smart Chancellor at its head,
proceeds with no less energy than directness of purpose. Every
precaution in the first place is to be taken against any possibility of
capital ever regaining its old ascendency. The army is disbanded; no
taxes will be collected, as the Government proposes to raise that which
is required for public purposes out of the revenue yielded by State
trade transactions. Doctors and lawyers are supported by the State, and
they are required to render their services gratis whenever needed. The
days of the revolution, and of the celebration of the same, have been
declared holidays established by law.
It is quite evident that entirely new and glorious times are in store
for us.