THE " FRF.TE ZE1TUNG "—A DEMOCRATIC POLITICAL

ORGAN.

UNDER the foregoing title on April 14th, 1917, there appeared in Berne a newspaper which rapidly succeeded in ,differen- tinting itself from other Swiss newspapers by its hardihood and regard for precision. It -differed also in that it was not the mouth- piece of intrigue or of business interests, hut was, on the contrary, inspired solely by a single purpose : to express and spread ideas of liberty and democracy. There were no weather prognostics and no

torrent of lies surging over the world at present, and to put a willing shoulder to the wheel in the effort to achieve a just peace and a new universal order of things. By the mere fact of its existence this paper opened the way to the regeneration of the whole daily Press. The first " leader " read as follows:—

" The principles which will be upheld by us in our paper have never found a champion where the German tongue is spoken. But they are the principles of democratic republicanism, the principles of popular rights, the principles proclaimed by the great French Revolution. Theoretically they are the foundation-stone of our Swiss Confederation, but in practice they are considered, neither here nor elsewhere, a really vital point in politics. The war is being fought for the victory or defeat of these principles. Our belief is that victory will come neither to Germans nor French, Austrians, Turks, nor Bulgarians, Russians, English, nor Americans, as such, but to these principles alone."

The founders of this newspaper were German and Swiss demo- crats, for whom the cause of humanity and liberty overshadowed all else—even their own personal well-being ; men who protested against the terrible all-destroying absolutism of the German regime; men driven out of their country, tragic idealists whose consciences could not be druggel by falsified documentary propaganda ; men whose innermost convictions revolted against the humiliations exacted to-day by the German policy of might. It is said that an- influential German official, whose democratic leanings are not to be checked, pulls the strings which direct the Freie Zeitung with a firm

and decided hand. Further, a well-known Swiss Professor of Inter- national Law has been named as one of the founders, ss man whose

German antecedents and former diplomatic activities seemed to pre- destine him to assist in some such enterprise. Be that as it may, the paper, appearing in Berne and signed by a Swiss editor, achieved. an instantaneous andoverwhelming memos. Every new issue caused a sensation, .and its courageous attitude made of it an indispensable ally to fighters for the cause.

The efforts of the first contributors were directed against the in- tellectual" Hindenburg line," against that danger threatening our country which was emanating from certain "friendly and neigh- bourly" connexions. Among the first German collaborators must be mentioned Dr. Hermann Roesemeier, up to 1914 on the staff of the Reporters' Gallery in the Reichstag, and of the Berliner Morgen Post; Hermann Femme whose book, Break Through—to Democracy, forms one of the first documents of German opposition in Switzerland; and last, but by no means least, Dr. Hans Schlieben, Imperial Consul up to 1914 in Belgrade, Serbia, the highly esteemed Mentor of the German Democrats in Switzerland, and one of the best- informed men alive on the subject of German foreign policy.

The founding of the Freie Zeitung was contemporaneous with the entrance of America into the war, and with the beginning of the Russian Revolution. Two powerful States drew up programmes of liberty which reached far into the future, causing the war to take on an entirely different aspect. The Freie Zeitung threw itself heart and soul into the course indicated by these programmes, and in its columns, for the first time since 1848, German emiesis obtained a

hearing. The primary line of action decided upon was a more or less developed attack on the regime of German Junkerdom. The Austrian question, although of equal importance, remained at first in the

background. The Freie Zeitang set out to fight the immorality of German politics ; to uphold the theory that the feeling of solidarity should dominate over the activities of the public life of nations ; and to find out the reason why the entire civilized world has turned against the Prussian regime as represented by the insufferable Prussian domination, which, to quote Bismarck, had found in the German people not only an ally but a victim ! One of the most important points in the programme of the ',vie Zeitung, however, was as follows : "A peace is impossible which does not establish the responsibility for the war." This point served to divide sharply the true democrats of the Freie Zeitung from the Socialistic 7,immer- weld Pacificists, whose indifference to the question of responsibility has always been regarded by the Freie Zeitung as a concession to the Central Powers, and, as such bitterly criticized by it.

The democratic Swiss Constitution has served the paper as an ideal starting-point. S. Zurlinden wrote :—

"We German-Swiss democrats would consider ourselves fortunate if we could conscientiously adhere to the cause of Germany without thereby running the risk of lending our moral support to a Great Power whose principles stand in glaring opposition to the vital interests of independent Switzerland.'

No wonder, then, that the Freie Zeitung enthusiastically hailed the recent great democratic demonstrations as formulated in the speeches of Mr. Lloyd George and President Wilson ! President Wilson, with the simplicity of an Evangelist, has introduced into the struggle

the idea of a democratic Europe. Switzerland, had she been true to her Constitution, should have received his propositions with jubila- tion—but the great hour came and went in vain. The Freie Zeitung, however, made the question of Swiss national honour its own, and President Wilson's policy became its guiding fear, but not its entire doctrine. It wrote :—

" There can no longer be any doubt as to the issue of this gigantic struggle. The Hohenzollern dynasty, the Hapsburgs, the Bulgarian Cobtugs, and the Osmans are facing to-day the universal coalition of the democratic idea. The war has developed into the question as to whether or not those kingdoms shall disappear from the earth, which exist' through the Grace of God,' and which, in the middle of the twentieth century, can make war or peace without consulting the people, thus exercising absolute rights over the lives and pro- perty of men, and, taking refuge behind the heavenly mandate, refusing to submit to any control or to answer any questions."

It was inevitable that a conflict should arise between the Freie Zeitung and the powerful German propaganda service in Switzerland, which began to find the paper highly inconvenient and annoying. This took the form of a domiciliary visit from the Swiss authorities. The police appeared one day in the editorial rooms of the paper, demanding information as to the collaborators and requesting that

the account-books be opened to their inspection. This action of the police only served as a glaring example of those conditions against which the Freie Zeitung had launched a warning in its very first issue. The whole affair dxew down generaldisapproval on to the head of the

Swiss Attorney-General. The Freie Zeitung-emerged mare popular than ever. New subscriptions poured in by the thousand.. Dr. George D. Herron, America's former representative at the International Socialistic Bureau in Brussels, and for years President Wilson's right- hand man in his fight against the Imperialistic agitations of Capital in America, wrote a series of articles for the paper on "Woodrow Wilson and Universal Peace," articles which did much to clear up various misapprehensions that had lodged in the mind of the public. A further number of German writers offered their services, in par- ticular the anonymous author of .1' Accuse ! whose epoch-making examination into the question of responsibility was directed as much against Austria as against Germany.

The new line of the paper, the sharp attack on Austria, deserves especial mention. In October and November, 1917, there appeared articles calling for the dismemberment of Austria as a political and historical necessity. A series of Serbian appeals followed, materially widening the horizon of the paper. When in January, 1918, the Freie Zeitung brought out articles describing the monstrous cruelties inflicted on the Southern Slav civil populations by Austro-Hun- garians and Bulgarians, the solidarity between Swiss and German democrats was assured, and it was a notable coincidence that just at this time the first beginnings of an understanding between the Italians and the Southern Slays appeared.

Looking over the file of the Freie Zeitung's first year, one is struck by the ideal character of its activities. Articles on the shortening of the war, articles on peace and liberty, appeals for Belgium, Alsace-Lorraine, Armenia, Serbia, Poland, Luxembourg, and the Russian Esthonians, are noted. It is seen how the cudgels are taken up for all phases of maddened and persecuted mankind, and an iron determination to follow to the end the chosen line of action is evident. Neither the perverted violence of outgrown institutions nor the cunning deviations of a mediaeval policy, neither disappointment nor impatience, have been able to hinder the Freie Zeitung from maintaining itself, with all the optimism and enthusiasm of youth,