"December 18th. A well-dressed German who stands beside me in the diplomatic gallery insists on explaining to all occupants of the gallery that it is intolerable that the speaker now in the tribune should be permitted to speak of the late 'revolt.' 'It was not a revolt; it was a revolution, and they ought to compel him to call it that,' he says. How typical of the mentality of a great number of the delegates themselves! They have spent precious hours discussing Marx and Bebel and the brotherhood of man--which, however, appears to extend only to the proletariat--but only two or three clear heads have talked of practical things. The failure of the Socialists generally to realize that it is not now a question of doing what they would like to do, but what they must do, is extraordinary and amazing. One speaker has read nearly a chapter from one of Bebel's books. Only a few leaders are clear-sighted enough to insist that it is more important just now to save Germany from disintegration and the German people from starvation than to impose the doctrines of internationalism upon a world not yet ready for them. The members of the average high school debating club in any American city have a keener sense for practical questions than has the great majority of this Congress.[58] [58] This may appear to be an extravagant comparison, but it is so near the truth that I let it stand. "December 19th. The Congress tonight changed the date for the National Assembly from February 16th to January 19th. Hardly forty of the delegates opposed the change. These forty--Independents and Spartacans--tried vainly to have a resolution passed committing Germany to the Russian Soviet system, but the vast majority would have none of it. Haase spoke in favor of the National Assembly. If he maintains this course his cooperation with the three Majority members of the cabinet will be valuable, but he is a trimmer and undependable. "The Congress was enabled by a bolt of the Independents to accomplish another valuable bit of work, viz., the appointment of a new central _Vollzugsrat_ made up entirely of Majority Socialists. It includes some excellent men, notably Cohen of Reuss, whose speech in advocacy of the National Assembly and of changing its date has been the most logical and irrefutable speech made during the Congress, and Leinert, first chairman of the Congress. With the support of this new executive committee the cabinet will have no excuse if it continues to shilly-shally along and fails to exhibit some backbone.