The Social Democrats, who, of course,
have declared themselves against the existing system of government
and in favour of a republic, can receive no distinctions from
the government because they dared to lift their voices and their
pens in criticism of the existing order. For them there is the
fear of the law. Convictions for the crime of _Lese-Majeste_
are of almost daily occurrence and, at the opening of the war, an
amnesty was granted in many of these cases, the ministry of war
withdrawing many prosecutions against poor devils waiting their
trial in jail because they had dared to speak disrespectfully of
the army. The following quotation from a German book, written
since the war, shows very clearly that this state of affairs
existed: "In the beneficent atmosphere of general amnesty came the
news that the Minister of War had withdrawn pending prosecutions
against newspapers on account of their insults to the army or
its members." (Dr. J. Jastrow, "Im Kriegszustand.")
Besides the _Rat_ system and the military system, there
exists the enormous mass of Prussian officials.
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