That would be the inevitable result if the Socialists
were deprived of the security of the common law. He considered the
Socialist doctrines false and mischievous, and their aims senseless
and--fortunately--unattainable, and for that very reason he did not
fear them. But deprive the Socialists of the possibility of
expressing themselves freely in word and print, and their
grievances, which now found vent in harmless speechifying, would
assume the form of practical violence.
His speech made an impression, but that of a rival candidate a still
greater, for he succeeded in rousing the deepest and most powerful
emotions of his hearers, by the plain statement that whoever refused
the government the right of adopting such measures as it thought
necessary for the safety of the public, simply delivered the life of
their aged and beloved sovereign into the hands of assassins. At the
election, Schrotter had on his side only a small number of
independent-minded voters, who were able to remain unmoved by
sentimental arguments. The workingmen would not vote for him,
knowing him to be an opponent of Socialism. The rival candidate was
returned by a large majority.
The Reichstag assembled, the Socialist Act was passed, Berlin
declared to be in a state of semi-siege, and a great number of
workmen dismissed from the city.
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