The Spartaeus or Bolshevik Party in Berlin began Lent with
a general strike and a new insurrection. The correspondents describe the street fighting as severe, and say that the Govern- ment troops under the direction of Herr Noske, the one Socialist leader who knows his own mind, employed trench mortars, bombing planes, and the other devices of modem warfare. The Bolsheviks fought well for their Russian paymasters, but were gradually overpowered, and by Tuesday Berlin was fairly quiet. It may be noted as a grave sign that both sides began to shoot their prisoners. The feeble Socialist Ministry of Herr &beide- mann is sa id to be still negotiating with the Independent Socialists for the establishment of Workmen's and Soldiers' Councils, or Soviets. in concurrence with the Government and the National Assembly. That way madness lies, as 31. Kerenaky found in Petrograd in 1917. Herr Seheidemann has proposed to nationalize the mines, as a sop to the extremists. But nothing will satisfy the Bolsheviks.
