“Ladies and gentlemen! I have said, and still maintain, that essentially, when considered objectively, the Jew is an excellent individual. But is not the rose-beetle with its iridescent wings essentially also a beautiful, excellent creature? And notwithstanding this is it not destroyed by the careful gardener who is more interested in the rose than in the beetle?--Is not the tiger a splendid animal, strong, fearless, intelligent? And do we not hunt it down because the struggle for our own existence necessitates it? Only from this standpoint can we Austrians view the Jewish problem. Either we, or the Jew! Either we, who make up nine-tenths of the population, must perish, or the Jew must go! And now, when at last we have the power, we would be fools--nay, criminals--we would be sinning against ourselves and our children were we not to make use of this power to expel the small minority that is destroying us. Here we cannot consider high-sounding words like humanity, justice, and tolerance--for our existence, our very lives and the lives of future generations are at stake! The past few years have increased our wretchedness a thousandfold; our state is completely bankrupt, we are headed for disaster,--in a couple of years our neighbors, under pretense of restoring order here, will pounce upon us and tear our little country to pieces. But the Jews, unaffected by all these events, will continue to thrive and flourish and to be the masters of the situation. And as they have never been Germans in their heart and soul, they will remain the masters when conditions will have changed and we are slaves!” Fearful agitation prevailed throughout the house. Savage cries burst forth: “That must never be! Let us save ourselves and our children!” And from the street came the echo, from ten thousand throats: “Throw out the Jews!” Dr. Schwertfeger let the excitement run its course, shook hands with his colleagues in the ministry, and then spoke on the enforcement of the law. For the sake of humanity, and in compliance with the conditions specified by the League of Nations, great consideration and absolute justice would be the rule. Everyone was to have the right to take along as much of his property as consisted of cash, valuable papers, and jewelry, as well as to sell his real estate and business as he pleased. Enterprises that could not be sold would be taken over by the state, the net profits for the past year, as entered in the tax report, being taken as five per cent of the total value. Thus, if an enterprise had produced a net profit of half a million in the past year, it could be redeemed for ten million. The Chancellor’s lip curled in a malicious smile.