The speaker then once more rehashed the incidents
of the Zabern matter, referred to the attitude of the Emperor,
who, he said, had evidently been too busy with hunting and
festivities to devote time to such trivial matters as the Zabern
Affair, and also said that, if the Chancellor had refused to
withdraw, the only possible conclusion from the vote of the two
hundred and ninety-three Reichstag members, who were certainly
not influenced by personal feelings against the Chancellor, was
that the Chancellor must be sticking to his post only because
of the mistaken idea of the Emperor's authority and because he
must believe in the fetish of personal government. Scheidemann
begged that the same majority which had passed the vote of censure
should now follow it up by voting down the Chancellor's salary
and thus force him out of office.
The Chancellor immediately replied, saying that he needed no
advice from Herr Scheidemann, and that when the government had
consented to change the rules of the Reichstag he had expressly
reserved the authority either to regard or disregard any resolution
passed after an interpellation, and that formerly, after discussing
an interpellation and the answer of the government, no vote could
be taken to approve or reject a resolution expressing its opinion
of such course of action.
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