HERR LIEBKNECHT.
[To THE EDITOR OP TIRO " SPECTATOR."] 8111,-1n a recent number the Spectator is led to do a grievous injustice to Herr Karl Liebknecht. the leader of the German Minority Socialists, whose reputation deserves a better fate. The occasion is a review of Professor Ramsay Muir's National Self- Government, and the reviewer quotes a passage from it which describes the cynical immorality of the German Socialist Deputies who came to Brussels in September, 1914, to remonstrate with the Belgian Socialists for resisting the invaders. Professor Muir adds : "What especially ought to be noted is that one of the German delegates was Karl Liebknecht." Then the Spectator's reviewer adds his own comment: "Herr Liebknecht has been Praised in this country for opposing the later developments of the Emperor's war policy, but the part he played in that dis- graceful episode at Brussels should not be forgotten." Professor Muir is mistaken, and the reviewer has been misled. The full story of that visit is given in a pamphlet, German Socialists and Belgium, by Emile Royer, member of the Belgian Parliament, with a Preface by Emile Vaudervelde, published in this country by Messrs. Allen and Unwin. It is quite clear from this narrative that only two German Socialists were present at the Maison du Peuple, Brussels, in September, 1914—viz., Noske, member of the Reichstag, and Koster, editor of the Hamburg Echo. M. Royer also gives, in an appendix, the version of this interview published in the Paris Humanite of December 16th and 17th, 1914, and I imagine that it was from this source that Professor Muir tran- scribed the speeches of Noske and Koster. But the Humanite narrative makes it quite certain that there were only two visitors, and that Liebknecht was not one of them.
The origin of the mistake is clear from M. Royer's booklet. Herr Liebknecht did visit Belgium, but it was in August and not September, 1914. So far from taking the line of Noske and Koster, he inquired into the cases of German atrocities, and, according to M. Royer, was satisfied both at Andenne and at Namur that massacres by the Germans had been committed without legitimate cause. This visit has been confused with that of September, 1914, with which Karl Liebknecht had absolutely nothing to do. Ho played no part in that "disgraceful episode," as your reviewer rightly describes the mission of these Socialists to Brussels.—I am,
[We hope that our correspondent's version of the incident is correct. Herr Liebknecht, unlike the vast majority of German Socialists, has maintained his old principles and suffered for them.—ED. Spectator.]
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