The Daily Worker Newspaper, May 22, 1926, Page 14

The War of the Flags |S aneratipcrcrch ezae Or, Red-Gold? of the Hohenzollerns or the national | standard of the Weimar republic? Black-|state thru legal adjudication, and so The imperial emblem |OVercome the unpleasantness of the x-rulers’ estates being expropriated entirely by the popular referendum, twelve and a half millions of votes Over sugh vital questions do German |for which hung over his head like the cabinets seem to fall! The cabinet of Herr Luther pro- posed that the merchant marine flag, which contained in its upper left-hand corner the emblem of the carpenter of Doorn, should fly side by side with the Black-Red-Gold banner of the republic | on German diplomatic buildings abroad. It was necessary to placate the citizens of the Reich in other countries whose royalist tastes could not stomach the sight of the republi- can flag with its implications of ex- fled monarchs and scorned princes. Or so the cabinet maintained. And while all the partie’ jockeyed for po- sition the widespread monarchist-fas- eist plot was unearthed, the support Luther expected from the nationalist followers of Count Westarp was alien- ated and the cabinet fell in a vote of lack of confidence. Interesting as the war of the flags may be, our story must go a little deeper. As the name Achilles as- sumed when he hid with the women during the Hellenic wars may never become known, so we may have to remain forever ignorant about the real preferences of the elusive German cit- izens living abroad on the flag that should wave over German diplomatic buildings. But the efforts of Herr Luther are not so unfathomable.” At least, we may venture a good guess, The empire which was crowned at Versailles in 1871 is in a sad state. All that is left of it is Wilhelm at Doorn, a crown-prince who is hooted by mobs when he ventures into the streets, and a determined band of monarchist officers. Nor is the cher- ished republic of the ancient priest of Social-Democracy, Kautsky, with its constitution of Weimar, in a much better conditions. The Reichstag has disintegrated imto a dozen parties. The republic of Hindenburg and Stressemann and Scheidemann is threatened from one side by the revo- lutionary proletariat and from the other by monarchist and fascist plots. And every cabinet reats upon a tem- porary turn of fortunes, the wish of American or allied finance capital coalitions, and other unstable phe- nomena, The cabinet of Mr. Luther, like that of his predecessors, was beginning to feel the ghastly hand of oblivion. Made up of a dubious combination of four of the center parties it had to reply not only to the accusing finger of the nationalists for its Dawes Plan- Locarno-Geneva adventures, but to the tremendous demand of the broadest sections of the people for the confis- cation of estates of the ex-princes. With the former, a gentleman of the accomplishments of a Luther, whose words and deeds smack of the spirit of the founder of the Society of Jesus, might without much difficulty come to an agreement. With the latter it was next to impossible. In the face of the twelve and a half millions of names signed to a peti- tion demanding a popular referendum on the expropriation of the ex-princes, Herr Doktor Luther, like Lot, ‘turned his face definitely from the left and to the right. What better way, under the difficult ciroumstances, of secur- ing a good Reichstag majority for a cabinet than to woo and win the votes of the Nationalist bloc? For Spring has come even to unfortunate Ger- many. And what better posies might @ lover present to his fierce national- ist lady than the proposal to legalize and make obligatory the use of the old imperial emblem, which is as sweet to the heart of the Nationalists as the memory of a sighing maiden’s first love? But no proposal is an unmixed bless- ing—if you will pardon the scrambled metaphor. With the arms of the Na- tionalists coyly supporting him, the dear’ Doktor Luther calculated upon securing the passage of a measure in the Reichstag to provide for sgettle- ‘ment of the royal claims against the sword of Damocles. However much he might love this new amour, our poor Herr Doktor had already pledged his fidelity to another, At London and*Locarno and Geneva the reluctant groom’ had thrice been wedded to the,.American and allied bankers. And “this vulgar marriage for money was never approved by the virtuous Nationalist spinsters. They snubbed Dawes as mercilessly as they did Briand; even the aristocratic Chamberlain received just as little consideration. What to do? Our Don Juan Luther is in a quandary, a mess, a pickle, so to speak. On the very eve of the vote for his flag proposal, chortling at the thought that the republican motion for a vote of lack of confidence will be snowed under by a Nationalist rally to the cabinet, the police of our un- fortunate premier uncover the mon- archist plot. The love-sick Nationalist damsel was wearing armor under her brassiere! The Nationalists are furious at the expose! They denounce the past crimes of Luther and his cohorts at Locarno, London and Geneva! They . By Marsh abstain from voting! “The cabinet falls! So does the curtain. The German masses still walt pa- tiently for a referendum on the ex- propriation of the princes, The semt fictitious foreign German citizen who demanded that the monarchist flag be flown on the diplomatic buildings abroad has been lost inthe shuffle, The only serious casualty was Don Juan Luther. It 1s rumored that he is soon to replace Herr Oeser as pres- ident of the Germany Railway Com- pany. In his retirement he will, doubtlessly, often muse over the amours of his youth; his wooing of the Nationalists will be one episode in his loves that he will hardly ever forget. The workers and peasants of Germany on their march to victory. The war of the flags now taking place in the fatherland of the “Kaiser” is only a reflection of the deep disintegration in the capitalist system of Germany. The moment is approaching when the landlords and capitalists will no longer be able to rule. At the same time the workers and peasants will become ready to take power into their own hands, Then, and only then, will the conditions be created for a successful solution of the difficulties of the German masses, " TO EXPLOITED WOMEN . By H. G. WEISS. OME, you women from the hovel, Come you outcasts from your lair, Drop the broom and drop the shovel, Let the loom stand idle there. Can't you hear our legions marching To the battle with a song? Can't you see the red flag arching O’er ten million workers strong? From the slums and from the mill- shops, From the ocean and the mine, From the sowing of the wheat crops They are coming—fall in line! For the pregnant day approaches, The immortal First of May, When the slave no longer crouches To a fetich called “obey.” But will swell the ranks of labor Marching to the fray as one, Though the masters bare the sabre * And their henchmen load the gun, Oh, the martial, martial music Of the “International,” And the “Marseillaise” music Will be sounding over all, And the fighting “Red Flag” chorus, And the Transport Workers’ song— Oh, you will, you must be for us, Fall in line and march along! ' TO OUR READERS! Beginning with this issue, the New Magazine will be edited by Alexander Bittelman. Robert Minor, the former editor of the magazine, has been ap- pointed as editor of the Workers Monthly. “ee FEATURES OF THE NEXT ISSUE. A story on Sacco and Vanzetti, South America thru the eyes of a Communist from the United States. Why the American capitalists per secute the foreign-born workers, A story on the convention of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers, A special women’a section, Other features to be announced later, Cartoons by Fred Ellis, William Gropper and others, te ; a » ’ ¥ o a fe y