“Faithfully observing the obligations which all Socialist parties are bound to respect, the German Socialist Party, from the very first days of this awful tragedy, has striven to further the cause of a speedy peace. When the first war loan was voted, in August, 1914, the Socialist group in the Reichstag, through its spokesman, Herr Haase, said: ‘We demand that as soon as guarantees of national safety are secured and the enemy shows an inclination to make peace, the war be brought to an end on conditions admitting of friendly relations with neighboring nations.’ “This demand, which was accompanied by an expression disapproving any policy of conquest, was repeated when the new war loan was voted on December 2. On May 29, after Italy had intervened, the statement was made in the Reichstag in behalf of the Socialist Party that the desire for peace was increasing and that the Socialists wanted no policy of conquest. At a meeting in Vienna on April 12 and 13 representatives of the German and Austro-Hungarian Socialist Parties again adopted a resolution in favor of peace. But the German Socialists have not been content with such measures. In spite of opposition and suspicion, they have striven for a renewal of international relations with the Social-Democrats of all countries, and when the executive committee of the international Socialist organization made a proposal to hold a meeting at The Hague to discuss the possibility of peace negotiations, the German Socialist leaders agreed, under condition that the French Socialist Party participate. All efforts at an international agreement, however, were thwarted by the attitude of the French Socialists. “We recognize with satisfaction that in England, as well as in France, there are Socialists who are working for peace. That cannot blind us to the deplorable fact that the majority of the Socialists, both in England and France, favor continuing the war until Germany is completely conquered. “The Socialists in the Reichstag and the official leaders of the Socialist Party have constantly and unitedly fought against a policy of conquests and annexation. We protest again with all possible emphasis against all efforts looking to the annexation of foreign territory and the oppression of other peoples—measures now demanded by the great business organizations and influential political leaders. The mere fact that such efforts are being made tends to postpone the day of peace, which the whole public is now so earnestly awaiting.