Incidentally we have observed that German civilians were permitted to bear arms and did not hesitate to use them "in defence of the Fatherland," as Edmund Edel put it. The civilians were doubtless inspired by the noble desire to grab French gold. Yet when Belgian civilians--as Wolff's Bureau alleges--dared to defend their homes, wives and children against the most treacherous and dastardly invasion in the world's history--then, of course, Germany was perfectly justified in murdering all and sundry, burning towns and hamlets and laying waste a fertile land. CHAPTER VI THE DÉBÂCLE OF THE SOCIAL DEMOCRATS In the second paragraph of the Social Democratic programme published after the Halle Congress in 1890, we read: "The German workmen's socialistic party, although working for the present on national lines, is aware of the international character of the workmen's movement, and is determined to fulfil all duties accruing thereby to the working classes, in order to make the brotherhood of all men a reality." At that meeting--the first to be held after the repeal of Bismarck's anti-socialist law--the president claimed that they had secured more votes at the Reichstag election than any other party; they were the strongest political party in Germany. Since that year they have consistently increased their power, till in the present Reichstag they have no fewer than one hundred and eleven members, giving them almost an absolute majority. It seems an irony of fate that at Halle in 1890 one of the speakers who dilated on international brotherhood and the inseparable bonds which bound Belgian and German workmen--was a Belgian delegate! Singer, in reporting on the doings of the representatives in the Reichstag, said: "We consider peace among the nations to be an indispensable preliminary for the improvement of social conditions. We vote against expenditure for military purposes, because we are convinced that this continuous arming, accompanied by the constant improvement of murderous weapons, must be ended. It is contradictory to the civilizing task of the nations for them to be armed to the teeth, lying in wait for the moment when they can devour each other. "Militarism is an evil for the nations; its burdens cannot be borne for ever, and even to-day the nations are collapsing under them. Modern conditions are unbearable; out of them spring ever-increasing armaments, and at last a time will come when war must break out, because the state of modern armed peace will one day have become impossible." Another authoritative pronouncement from the report[63] of the Social Democratic Congress in Erfurt, 1891, deserves mention. It is a passage from a speech delivered by the elder Liebknecht in the Reichstag: "As regards the defence of the Fatherland all parties will be united when it is necessary to meet an outside enemy. In that moment no party will shirk its duty."