Page:Karl Liebknecht - Militarism (1917).djvu/15

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
INTRODUCTION
v

ployed for the most part in government ammunition works, selected him as their representative in the Reichstag. I saw Liebknecht during the great campaign preceding his election. He described the methods employed by the government to defeat him. The government endeavored to show that he was anti-patriotic, because he had failed to uphold its hands in the Morocco affair. To this the workers gave a deaf ear. The next move was an attempt to terrorize the state employes. The authorities even went so far as to make a ruling prohibiting them from voting for him—on the ground that he was an enemy of the state. However, the dissatisfaction with the government was great. The campaign of intimidation failed and Liebknecht was elected by an overwhelming vote, to the intense joy of those who knew and loved him.

I saw the surging crowd before the office of the Berlin Vorwärts the night of the election, and heard the wild applause when announcement of his election was made. A young workingman exclaimed to those who were around him: "The