TWELVE DAYS IN
GERMANY
. . . I am off to Germany.
The first question, which naturally arises in the minds of all of us is: how has it happened that the German Government has given me permission to enter the country? Various guesses have been made. Those comrades who are most in touch with the "diplomatic" world suppose that this is due to the desire of the German Government to do something towards a rapproachment with Soviet Russia. More practical minded comrades, who are in touch with the All-Russian Extraordinary Commission, express the view that the German White Guards desire simply to inveigle me into Germany, and there, under the pretext that some part of my speech is bound to constitute an "offence" against the German laws,—arrest me. Other comrades suppose that I am allowed to enter Germany chiefly because the bourgeoisie desires to split the Independent Party of Germany, and hopes that my arrival will precipitate that split. There are also comrades who suppose that the decision of the German Government is due to all the above-mentioned considerations taken together.
However this may be—I am going.
Now, after all that I have seen and heard in Germany, I am convinced that the decision of the German Government to allow me to reside ten days in Germany was dictated by two considerations. The first and principal one: the position of the leaders of the Right Wing of the German bourgeoisie,—Hilferding, Dittmann, Moses, Dissmann, Kohn, and Company,—have for a long time past been personæ gratæ in the most influential government ("socialist" and "democratic") circles.
