Source

a. Draft.

The new elections are generally about ensuring that men are voted into the Reichstag who are determined to actively support the government in its fight against Social Democracy.

Therefore the government’s attitude towards the candidates put up by the various parties first of all depends on the position the respective party took during the debate on the recently rejected draft for a law for the defense against Social Democratic rioting and is likely to take during debates on similar draft laws in the next Reichstag session.[1]

The candidates of the German-Conservative party group and the German Reich Party therefore are to be supported provided the further circumstances are appropriate in each case; the candidates of the Progressive Party, the Center Party and the Polish caucus are to be opposed.[2]

The first two party groups, with the exception of two or three members of the German Reich Party, have voted for the government draft, and it is to be expected that they will take the same position even more expressly towards future drafts presented by the government. The latter parties have uniformly voted against the draft, and the systematic opposition they put up against the government does not suggest that they will take a different position in the future. It goes without saying that the Social Democratic candidates must be opposed.

The National Liberal party group, with a few exceptions, has voted against the earlier draft.[3] This occurred mainly under the influence of its left wing. This part of the party group really belongs to the Progressive Party in character; like the latter, it values abstract principles that give freedom to the individual but constrain and paralyze the state above consideration for the common good. On previous occasions, especially during debates on the press law and criminal justice reform, experience has taught us that in critical moments this part of the National Liberal party group easily triumphs over the moderate elements of the party who are gifted with more practical-political sense. This weakens the party from within; it has lost in political relevance and statesmanship what it has gained in votes through those progressive doctrinaires hiding under the banner of National Liberalism. The more reasonable party members also feel this way since the terrible seriousness of the new assassination attempt has exposed all arguments used against the earlier proposal in their full meaninglessness. Undoubtedly, many National Liberals, if reelected, will better appreciate the danger of the current situation under present circumstances and vote accordingly.

Therefore, the National Liberal candidates must not be treated[4] offhand as hostile to the government. It is even desirable that the party’s moderate elements (*which the government will also depend on in the future in order to have a majority in the Reichstag[5]) are reelected. One has to avoid the misapprehension that the election campaign was directed against the National Liberal Party as such. We fight only against the misguided direction the party has taken due to the influence of its left wing.[6] Those among the National Liberal candidates who can be expected to vote for the government’s new proposals for the defense against threats to state and society are therefore not (*repeat not)[7] to be opposed but to be supported absolutely[8].

(*After the preceding remarks the government authorities will be able to gauge their legitimate influence on the course of the election. For public rallies it is advisable not to describe our relationship towards the various parties in the above-mentioned manner, but to frame our campaign slogan as simply as possible, roughly as sketched above, as strong support of the government in its fight against Social Democracy and to use this to probe whether a candidate can safely be considered to show a government-friendly stance based on his position within the party or his individual statements.[9]