200 201 THE CLASS STRUGGLE BANKRUPTCY OR REVOLUTION of his life, to have stood by Marx side for forty years, even at the price of being completely overshadowed by Marx gigantic form. Nor did he consider it to be a belated form of satisfaction, to be permitted, after the death of his friend, to be the first man of the international workers movement, to play the first violin, as it were, undisputed, in this movement; on the contrary, he considered this to be an honor that was too great for his merits.
As each of the two men was completely absorbed in the common cause, and each made an equally great sacrifice to it, although not an identical sacrifice, without any disagreeable reservation of objection or of boast, their friendship became an alliance which has no parallel in human history.
Bankruptcy or Revolution. Which?
By ANDRE COURLAND richer. According to the same statement of Klotz it would be relatively easy to meet the 168, 000, 000 Francs. 34, 000, 000)
of war expenditures, with a deficit of over 21, 000, 000 for 1919, by an increase in direct taxes, an income tax, receipts from liquidating war stocks and a revision of the law governing the transportation of troops over French railroads by charging the allies for the transportation, as the French are charged. Concerning a proposition to tax capital, Klotz, spokesman of the financiers, said: The French capitalist taxpayer will not be called on to pay 1c. of additional taxes until Germany indemnity figures to France are settled upon and guaranteed. But even should Germany pay completely for damages and the restoration of the devastated provinces, it would not be sufficient to balance future budgets after 1919.
The atmosphere of the Chamber of Deputies was during this debate fully suited to the occasion, crowded as it was with army officers of all ranks, who had gained admittance by virtue of personal privilege, the usual custom in French democratic institutions. As was to be expected, these heroic defenders of plutocratic democracy loudly expressed their sentiments of approval at this part of the Ministers speech, and fairly hissed Victor Dalbiez (bourgeois radical) when be shouted, Long live Caillaux. referring to the former Minister of Finance and French Premier who is being held under arrest, charged with having had dealings with Germany. In concluding his address, Klotz mentioned a future Financial League of Nations, the plans of which have been discussed and will be given out shortly!
as the only means whereby France may hope to balance her budgets in the future.
When one studies the symptoms that are leading to revolutionary upheavals in the various countries, it will usually be found that the economic and financial condition of the country is of vital significance in the analysis. This is one of the reasons that prompt us to approach this question from its capitalist angle, in order to impress upon the minds of our readers some realities that are rarely mentioned in the bourgeois press.
Only one liberal bourgeois editor found imperative to acquaint his radical readers, in a somewhat hazy way, with the true conditions actually prevailing in France, Oswald Garisson Villard writing in the Nation of March 15, under the title France in a Hurry. indicates some of the reasons why the French ruling classes are so very anxious to see the peace pourparlers come to an early end. He deals with the question of the false interpretation of the dissatisfaction of the French toiling masses Beginning with a mass manifestation on March 16, in spite of the prohibition of the government of Georges Clemenceau, under the guise of a demonstration in favor of the long forgotten 14 principles of Woodrow Wilson, the workers of Paris seem to be decided to take matters into their own hands, fully resolved to put to a test the revolutionary consciousness of the French proletariat. The occasion will arise out of a three day debate on the financial situation of France to take place at the Chamber of Deputies, on March 13, 14, 15.
The yearly budget for France will be four times greater than the one of the year prior to the war, with a deficit of somewhere between 4, 250, 000 and 4, 500, 000 that must be met. Yet the Minister of Finance Klotz, the puppet of the big interests of France, particularly of the Rothschilds, is said to have made the statement, only a few days ago, that France has become richer since the war. Later the Minister of Finance denied this fact in a reply to the Chamber of Deputies in his opening speech in the long deferred debate on the French financial situation. From the fiscal point of view more resources have been created, but it would be absurd to say that any country with departments in such a condition as the invaded regions of France had become