202 203 THE CLASS STRUGGLE BANKRUPTCY OR REVOLUTION and the very evident rebellious mood of the class conscious workers, launching an alarming warning to the powers that be to take cognizance of the fact that France is resting on a volcano far more dangerous than even Italy or England.
Some time ago, Louis Sellier, socialist alderman of Paris but not yet a Bolshevist. wrote an editorial in le Populaire, dealing with the financial position of France, under the head: Capitalism dying of the war. After a long exposé, largely in conformity with the very recent official statements, he went on to say: But when our militant workingmen, interested as they may be in the economic realities, grasp the real significance of these figures, of which we have cited only the most suggestive, when their minds once realize the fact that the entire income of France, before the war, was slightly above 6, 000, 000, what conclusion will they reach?
No conceivable rate of production, no matter how prolific, can hope to cover the public debt of nearly four and a half billion dollars, and at the same time feed the mouths of over 37 million souls. There, we think, is a clear demonstration of the material impossibility, mathematically proven, of performing such a task. Private capitalism, already unbearable before the worlddrama began, will take on the hideous form of an enormous monster, inflated tenfold in proportions and appetites. There are other considerations, on which we will dwell in the near future, militating in favor of and urgently preparing, the liberating event which will secure for the working class the full returns of their productive efforts.
Henry Guilbeaux was born at Verviers (Belgium. in 1884.
He speaks French perfectly and before the war was a regular contributor, between 1909 1914 to the following newspapers. La Guerre Sociale, la Battaille Syndecaliste, and le Libertaire.
Besides he acted as foreign correspondent to a number of German rewspapers, among them the Berliner Tageblatt and the Vossische Gazette, during the same period. At that time he was already considered a dangerous agitator and notorious anarchist.
He traveled extensively and paid frequent visits to Germany. In 1913 he published an anthology of German lyrics for which Emil Verhaeren, the great Belgian poet, wrote the foreword.
At the beginning of the war, Guilbeaux was discharged from inilitary duty. His discharge was later renewed before the revision council in 1915. He then went to Switzerland, reaching Geneva penniless. Soon afterwards he became associate editor of la Guerre Mondiale (World War. later he went into the employ of the International Red Cross in Geneva, earning 250 francs (about 50. 00) per month.
In his charges Captain Thibaut accuses this paper of being openly pro German, insisting that the German authorities, after March 1916, showed a keen interest in its publication, and implying that its editor (Guilbeaux. having no personal resources, must have been in the pay of the German government. He affirms that the testimony of Louis Dumur and Marcel Provence proves him to be a German agent.
He further declares his intention of proving that Guilbeaux was under suspicion by the French secret service even before the outbreak of the war, but fails to show why the police did not refuse to give a man whom it considered notoriously German before the war, a passport to Switzerland in 1915. mass meeting in favor of Romain Rolland at which Guilbeaux spoke, also enters into the testimony and the Zimmerwald Conference is likewise mentioned. The accusation notes that, in 1916 the Demain changed its character from a literary organ to one of intense political propaganda, that it then ceased to appear until the first of May, 1917, when it resumed its propaganda work. In the mind of the prosecutor there was no doubt as to its anti French character, for among its editors there were men like Romain Rolland, Lenin, Trotzky, Zinoviev and Radek.
Furthermore Guilbeaux is charged with being in frequent communication with Maximalists residing in Switzerland, alleged fugitives from French justice.
The remainder of the report is an attack upon the Bolsheviki.
CONDEMNED TO DEATH Only a few weeks ago, on February 22 to be exact, there occurred another significant incident that shows the frenzied state of mind actually prevailing among the French rulers. The third Court Martial, still disposing of cases dealing with labor disturbances that occurred during 1917 1918, ceremoniously tried our comrades Henri Guilbeaux and Hartmann, dangerous syndicalist agitators, and after three minutes of deliberation condemned both to death. In view of the significance of their trial, the charges made against them are interesting enough to warrant attention. In his 65 page report of the case, Captain Thibaut, public prosecutor, makes the following accusations: