metal-worker by trade, was a rabid Independent Socialist, a fiery agitator and bitter opponent of a constituent assembly. It was largely due to his leadership and to the support accorded him by Ledebour and certain other radical members of the _Vollzugsrat_ that this council steadily drifted farther and farther toward the Independent and Spartacan side and ultimately became one of the greatest hindrances to honest government until its teeth were drawn in December. [45] Germany would have accepted almost any kind of peace in November. This is but one of many things indicating it. [46] There is something both characteristic and pathetic in the German Socialists' confidence that the proletariat in the enemy countries would follow their example. The wish was, of course, father to the thought, but it exhibited that same striking inability to comprehend other peoples' psychology that characterized the Germans throughout the war. The council, however, started out well. Its first act, following the Circus Busch meeting, was to order the _Lokal-Anzeiger_ and the _Norddeutsche Allgemeine Zeitung_ restored to their lawful owners, and this was done. The council formally confirmed the choice of the six _Volksbeauftragte_ and established rules for their guidance. Neither the council nor the people's commissioners could claim to have their mandate from the whole Empire, but they assumed it. Revolutionary governments cannot be particular, and Berlin was, after all, the capital and most important city. There was, furthermore, no time to wait for general elections. The Circus Busch meeting had good revolutionary precedents, and some sort of central government was urgently necessary.