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May. The meat ration can be continued indefinitely at the cost of slaughtering all milch cows and breeding stock.

Bavaria

ASSASSINATION OF EISNER The threatened revolt in broke out with startling results Feb. 21. Kurt Eisner, the Bavarian Premier, was passing through Pramerstrasse with his Secretary, Herr Merkle from the Foreign Ministry, to attend the opening of the Landtag. Suddenly Lieutenant Count Arco Valley, formerly an officer in the Prussian Guard, shouted "Down with the Revolution! Long live the Kaiser!" and fired at Eisner from behind at a distance of a few yards. Two bullets entered the Premier's head and he fell dead on the pavement. A sailor

promptly shot and mortally wounded the assassin.

News of the tragedy was brought to the Landtag by a Bavarian soldier. He rushed into the Chamber with Eisner's blood-stained spectacles in his hand and shouted, "Eisner has been murdered." Consternation at once seized upon the Deputies. Subsequently, while Herr Auer, Minister of the Interior, was officially announcing the tragedy, a volley of firing swept from the public gallery. Herr

Auer was severely wounded, Deputy Osel killed, and two other officials wounded. A panic ensued among the Deputies, who fled the building. The panic communicated itself to the crowds gathered in the streets.

Chancellor Scheidemann in announcing the assassination of Eisner to the National Assembly at Weimar said:

With the greatest sorrow and indignation I have to inform you that the Bavarian Premier, Kurt Eisner, champion of the revolution, has been shot by a fanatic. Munich is the scene of a bloody civil war and my friends Rosshaupter and Auer are said to be dead.

The Government expresses the deepest sorrow and condemnation of these shameful acts of murder. Nothing shows the breakdown of order more clearly than when murder becomes a political weapon. If the sacrificial death of Herr Eisner has good results, they will be in bringing us all together to do away with evil conditions. It would mean the ruin of Germany if all did not take this view and join in this condemnation.

The career of Premier Eisner since the downfall of the old régime had been sen

sational in several aspects. His fearlessness in revealing Germany's guilty part in the war had raised for him many enemies. His frequent denunciation of the weakness of the Ebert Government, his unqualified repudiation of Bolshevism, no less marked his strength of character. Julian Grande cabled from Berne Feb. 22:

Premier Eisner's murder has cast deep gloom over Switzerland, especially over Berne, where he recently spent a week attending the International Labor and Socialist Congress, and over Basle, where only a few days ago he addressed a meeting of university students. What made Eisner so much detested recently in Bavaria and Germany generally was his straightforward speech at the In ternational Congress here admitting Germany's responsibility for the war.

TURMOIL IN MUNICH

Two insurrections accompanied the Eisner tragedy. The Reactionaries, with the aid of demobilized Bavarian bluejackets, attacked the Diet House and occupied the telegraph office, but were eventually dislodged by Government troops. The Spartacans stormed the Munich Police Headquarters and arrested the Chief of Police. Ministers known to have been wounded, besides Herr Auer, were Herr Timm, Minister of Justice; Herr Unterleitner, Minister of Social Affairs, and Herr Rosshaupter, Minister of War.

Advices of the 22d showed that Munich had, for the moment, become the storm centre of revolutionary activity. The murder of Eisner had roused the populace to fury in the belief that it was the outcome of a monarchist-military plot. All stores and factories were closed, while motor cars bearing red flags and placards which read "Revenge for Eisner" hurried through the streets. Armed demonstrators began firing guns and looting shops. Numerous arrests among the aristocracy were made, including Prince Joachim, youngest son of the ex-Kaiser. The dethroned King Ludwig took alarm and fled from one castle to another through forests reminiscent of the vagaries of mad kings until he later succeeded in reaching the Austrian Tyrol with other members of the former royal family. The revolt spread to

Augsburg, where cavalry and sailors were used in clearing the streets of rioting mobs. At Nuremberg the prisons were opened and street fighting took place. The entire Bavarian delegation to the National Assembly left Weimer for Munich, thus threatening to postpone debate on the Constitution.

From out this chaos the Central Soviet Council gained control. The Frankfurter Zeitung of Feb. 23 stated that the Committee of Eleven of this body had met the remainder of the old Ministry on the preceding morning and informed them that the new Government would be on the Bolshevist model and that the committee would assume supreme power. Only three of the Ministers were retained, Herren Frauendorff, Jaffi and Unterleitner. By the 24th conditions had settled down to a fair measure of order. A message of the 25th was responsible for the statement that Herr Scheid had been named Bavarian Premier in succession to Kurt Eisner, and Herr Segitz, a Majority Socialist, was Bavarian Minister of the Interior in place of Herr Auer.

A cable from Geneva to The New York Times of the same date gave further information of the tragic events in Munich. It revealed the origin of the plot as follows:

The plot of the Monarchists and the military party to do away with Eisner was planned some time ago. Eisner's attitude at the Berne Socialist Congress, where he intrepidly exposed the war guilt of the Central Powers, sealed his doom. After his second speech at the Berne conference, in which he revealed the inhuman treatment inflicted by the German military authorities on allied prisoners of war, Eisner remarked to friends who congratulated him on his courageous frankness: "You don't know what Germany is like today. By making this speech I have probably signed my death warrant."

But it was above all another statement of Eisner's at Berne, made this time not in a public session but in a committee meeting of Socialist leaders, which goaded the military party to take murderous action, for in this committee meeting, at which the Bolshevist question was the subject of discussion, the Bavarian Premier solemnly declared he had documentary evidence in his possession proving that the German General Staff continued, even

today, to entertain secret relations with Lenine and Trotzky and the Russian Soviet Republic. Thus fear of the terrible revelations this solitary, upright German statesman might make armed the assassin's hand against him.

On Feb. 26 the Soviet Congress in Munich adopted several radical measures. The Housing Commissioner received dictatorial power to seize palaces, villas, and barracks and convert them into lodgings for the working people. The non-Socialist newspapers were compelled to publish proletariat propaganda. The Workmen's and Soldiers' Council sent a wireless dispatch to the proletariat of all countries appealing for support.

At Weimar the work of the National Assembly on the Constitution progressed much more slowly than had been expected, owing to the volubility of most of the members who spoke and the delays caused by interruptions by the Independent Socialists on technical points. Much personal bitterness was injected into the debates, especially in verbal conflicts between the Majority and Independent Socialists.

REVOLT IN SAXONY

The fire of counter-revolt which had blazed up in Munich quickly spread to other places. A message was received by the commander of the American Army at Coblenz from General Gouraud at Strasbourg Feb. 25, which stated that the Spartacans were sweeping the streets of Manheim with machine-gun fire and had blown up a number of buildings. General Gouraud requested authority to remove a number of Americans from danger in Mannheim, where they were engaged in Red Cross and Y. M. C. A. work. On the other hand, an attempt of the Bavarian Spartacans to establish a Soviet Government in Baden failed. The energetic action of the Baden Government in rushing troops into Karlsruhe killed the movement. As an indication, however, of the drift of popular sympathy toward the radical groups, the municipal elections of Greater Berlin, as disclosed on Feb. 24, showed a remarkable increase in the vote of the Independent Socialists. They led the poll with several thousand more votes than

the regular Socialists, who made a far poorer showing than in the national and Prussian elections.

More ominous was the movement launched by the Spartacans to overthrow the Government in Saxony. A Berlin dispatch of Feb. 25 stated that railway communication with Halle, one of the principal junctions in Saxony, had been cut. The Spartacans had taken possession of Plauen and other industrial centres. Independent Socialists in Leipsic issued a manifesto demanding the retirement of the Weimar Government as 66 impediment to socialism and the liberation of the proletariat." After demonstrations at Pirna and Plauen the Radicals seized the plants of the non-Socialist newspapers and ordered the officers of the seized plants to leave. Work was stopped in many Saxon factories by the seizure of electric power stations.

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The spread of the railroad strike in Saxony theatened to cut off the Leipsic route to Weimar, thereby practically isolating the National Assembly from Berlin. The strike in the lignite mines was virtually complete. Failure of the Government to introduce promised socialization of the mining industry was said to be the cause of the miners' movement. Berlin advices of the 27th announced that, while industrial disorder in the Ruhr district was receding, it was growing in intensity in Central Germany. A general strike prevailed in Saxony and Thuringia. Leipsic was without gas, electricity, or railroad communication with the outside world. A non-Socialist counterstrike of professional men brought the business life of the city to a standstill. The strike at Halle continued absolute and broke out at Erfurt and many other cities of Central Germany. The Frankfurter Zeitung reported that Communist activity was increasing in the whole of East Prussia, where a large number of Russian Bolsheviki had arrived.

On the other side of this gloomy picture, Government troops entered Düsseldorf on Friday and occupied the railway station and public buildings without opposition. At Hamborn the Spartacans offered but feeble resistance to the Gov

ernment troops, relinquishing two cannon, 8,000 rifles, and a quantity of munitions; 130,000 volunteers were reported to have enrolled throughout Germany to aid the Government.

THE WEIMAR ASSEMBLY

Berlin newspapers reflected the threatening trend of events. Vorwärts printed prominently a warning to the Socialist elements of the Scheidemann Cabinet that unless they were able to produce something better than negative results they ought to "withdraw unconditionally, leaving the political wreck to the bourgeois parties." The Vossische Zeitung complained that Germany was drifting toward a heap of wreckage, while the speeches delivered at the Weimar Assembly dealt with the interior decorations of a house not yet built.

At Weimar the Government decided that, owing to the serious political situation, the National Assembly would not take a recess, but would continue its sessions indefinitely to work off the mass of business in the shortest possible time. The draft of a general socialization law was published. By this step the Government hoped to take the wind out of the sails of the Radicals, as one of the most effective appeals to the working class had been based on the delay in the socialization plan. The bill was drawn in brief and general terms, and reserved for the National Government the field of legislation covering the socialization of industry, particularly coal mines and water, electric, and other power plants. It adopted the principle that the control of industries by bodies of a self-administrative character under national supervision was of common importance. The Idraft did not indicate that socialization would be applied for the present to any branches of industry except mines and power development. The first reading of the Constitution was concluded March 4, and it was referred to a committee of twenty-eight.

On March 2 members of the Government arrived in Berlin to confer with the Workmen's Council. A manifesto had previously been issued denouncing terrorist attempts to abolish the Na

tional Assembly. "Greater than the political danger is the economic distress," the Government manifesto read in part. "We cannot feed ourselves from our own The "supplies until the next harvest. "blockade is eating away the vitals of "our people. Thousands perish daily "from ill-nourishment. Every strike "brings us nearer to the abyss. Only "work can save us." The manifesto promised the socialization of suitable industries and the establishment of industrial councils representative of all the It closed workers and freely elected.

"Who

with a strong note asserting the determination of the Government to wage relentless war against terrorism. ever assails the life of the nation," it concluded, "is our enemy."

CRISIS IN BERLIN

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A four days' party conclave opened in Berlin March 2 by the Independent Socialists. The Independents did not conceal their intention to overthrow the Ebert Government. Hugo Haase, leader of the Independents, was the first speaker. He asserted that although the National Assembly had gone to sleep, "the proletariat revolution was “wide awake and marching independent "of its leaders and discussing the imme"diate future political developments in "Germany." He added that the Soviet principle must be adhered to in the new form of State. "And we propose to establish it firmly in our revolutionary "The prinGovernment," he continued. ciples of Bolshevism cannot be suppressed. They are bound to prevail."

The general strike called for Berlin went into effect at 8 P. M., March 3. All traffic was stopped on the street cars, the elevated and underground lines. The big cafés and restaurants closed early. The Prussian Government promptly declared a state of siege in the police districts of Berlin, Spandau, Treptow, Neiderbarman, and other suburbs in order "to protect the bulk of the working people from famine and the terror of the minority." Minister of War Noske assumed executive power. Troops of the army corps of General von Luttwitz were brought into Berlin late in the night to

assist in maintaining order and were bivouacked in the open spaces of the city. By the 4th it was said 28,000 troops were concentrated in the vicinity of Greater Berlin. Minister Noske issued an order to arrest all strikers or leaders of strikers who were guilty of rioting or intimidating workmen. In the morning Government troops occupied the printing plant of The Red Flag, the Spartacan organ, and arrested the editor, Dr. Hans Meyer. Efforts were made by the Strike Committee, presided over by Herr Müller, to close down the light and power plants of Greater Berlin.

On March 5 fighting took place on Alexanderplatz. A pen picture of the scene was cabled by a correspondent:

All this cold afternoon I stood in the Alexanderplatz watching the battle between the revolutionaries and the Government forces. The Red Army was made up mostly of sailors, who were trying to drive the police and Government troops out of the police station. The defenders of the situation wore white bands on their arms. When I left the zone at 6 o'clock the police had been driven into corner of the red brick building, which they had turned into a fort.

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The Reds had obtained a tank and brought it up, ready for action. It chugged at the curb like a waiting taxi. The Reds had threatened to turn loose with the tank if the Government forces did not agree to their demand for surrender. It was an orderly, well-conducted battle. When one of the Reds would fall, as the result of a well-directed shot from the police station, soldiers with a Red Cross flag would run out, stand over the man that was down, and wave the flag. Instantly the battle would stop, as football game does when the centre sprains his ankle and the referee takes him out. Four or five soldiers and sailors would run out, pick up the wounded man, and carry him to an improvised hospital in the lobby of a hotel in Alexanderplatz overlooking the square. The wounded man taken inside, the Red Cross flag would disappear and the crack of rifles and the splutter of machine guns would begin again.

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No newspapers appeared in Berlin on March 6, as all the compositors had joined the general strike the previous night. What was described as "the worst battle Berlin had seen" took place for possession of the telegraph office. Women members of the American Red Cross, endangered by the shooting, were

ordered by Colonel Taylor to seek safety in the Palace Hotel. The American mission for the welfare of prisoners intrenched itself in the Hotel Adlon behind a battery of machine guns. Late in the day Government troops began a converging movement toward the centre of the city. By the afternoon of the 7th all important buildings were in the hands of Government troops. The dead and wounded during the two days' fighting were estimated to exceed 1,000. It was announced on the 8th that the revolt had been suppressed.

Meanwhile an aviator flying over Halle during its occupation by Government troops on March 5 reported that thirty civilians had been killed there in the street fighting. The rioters seized officers of the Government forces and threw them into the River Saale, where they were left to drown. Extensive destruction was caused by the artillery and mine-throwers which the troops used in their conflict with the Spartacans. Advices from Bremen stated that the political prisoners there had been released by insurgents, and that the electric and gas works were in their hands. Anarchy was said to reign at Zeitz, southwest of Leipsic. Both the workmen and bourgeoisie were on strike, and a number of persons had been killed or wounded in the street fighting. A general strike with rioting was in progress in Jena and Eisenach. Virtually all the miners were out at Hamborn. A plot at Königsberg to open East Prussia to Russian Bolshevist forces was frustrated after severe fighting.

THE GOVENMENT'S VACILLATION

A movement at Weimar to recognize the Soviets in the Constitution caused terror among the conservative newspapers. The Tägliche Rundschau told the Government that, though its halfcapitulation might avoid an immediate catastrophe, the outcome would be bloody civil war, as all such concessions would be rejected with scorn by the "Radikalinskis." Edwin L. James, The New York Times correspondent, cabled from Coblenz on March 8:

The course of the Ebert Government in making concession after concession to the

Radical, Independent Socialist, and even Spartacan element, is disgusting this part of Germany, and there is a growing sentiment in favor of the Centrist Party withdrawing from all participation in the present Government's activities and lining up with the Nationalists to make the German political situation the simple one of radicalism against reaction.

The Centrist Party predominates in the Rhineland, and here, too, the Nationalists, who are out-and-out royalists, are strong and are fast growing stronger, as was shown in the recent local elections.

This section is the greatest workshop of Germany, and it wants to resume business activity, and that quickly. It is in good shape industrially and regards itself as an object lesson for the ill-behaved parts of Germany, although not all of the Rhineland's good behavior is due to the Germans residing therein. One must count the effect of the armies of occupation. The Germans know this, and are eager to get back to normal conditions before the allied armies depart and leave a fair field for the work of the Bolsheviki.

Ever loud in their praise of the Kaiser and what he did for Germany, the big business men hereabout want some one else like him. They do not care now whether the Chancellor is responsible to the Kaiser alone or not; they do not care for details. They want a strong person to lead in the agitation for him and prompt action in the Catholic Church, represented in politics by the Centrist Party.

ENDING THE BERLIN RIOT

Later developments of the revolt in Berlin indicated that the Spartacans were resorting to acts of Russian Bolshevist atrocity. Sixty Government detectives and eighteen soldiers were dispatched in the most brutal manner. These and similar cruelties moved Minister of War Noske to order that any armed person found fighting against the Government be shot immediately. Many rioters were thus summarily executed. As in the previous revolt, scattered fighting went on after the Government had gained control of the centre of disturbance. Dispatches of March 10 reported that murder, fighting, and plunder had continued throughout Sunday, the 9th. On the same date a reign of terror prevailed in the Lichtenberg district. The Spartacans, supported by the criminal element, stormed Police Headquarters and murdered all the officers on duty. While soldiers were summoned from the Ruhleben prison camp to suppress riot

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