Vossische Zeitung
- The Steel Cartel Is Complete
- Chamberlain Meets Mussolini
- Protect Freedom of the Vote!
The Vossische Zeitung of 1 October 1926 reported that German, French, Belgian and Luxembourg industrialists had concluded the international steel cartel once German and French concessions overcame Belgium's demands. It gave Belgium's quota figures and relayed a Temps report that Poland and Czechoslovakia might later join a five-year arrangement. From Rome it reported that Austen Chamberlain's talks with Mussolini aboard yachts off Livorno had lasted over an hour, and it printed the Stefani agency's semi-official account of them. A signed column by Ministerialrat Dr. Häntzschel cited threats of dismissal and boycott intended to keep people from voting in the recent referendum. It called for a review of the laws protecting the freedom to vote.
Translation
The Steel Cartel Is Complete
[?] This afternoon, at a joint session of German, French, Belgian and Luxembourg industrialists, the international iron cartel was concluded. The agreement, which until the very end seemed to be jeopardized by the Belgian demands, was made possible by concessions on the German and French side. The Steel Cartel Is Complete Under the present arrangement Belgium receives 12.56 per cent of the total production to be allocated, that is, 295,000 tons out of a total of 27,528,000 tons. Belgium shares in any further increases in production at a rate of only 2.85 per cent. If, on the other hand, production falls below the initial figure of 27,528,000 tons, the quota will be reduced uniformly for all participating countries.
Paris, 30 September
According to a Brussels report in the "Temps" on the agreement on the steel-cartel question, it was France and Germany that made certain concessions in order to grant Belgium, immediately, 25,000 tons more than originally promised. According to the same paper, provision is also said to have been made for Poland and Czechoslovakia to be able to join the cartel, which is reportedly planned for five years. [?]
Chamberlain Meets Mussolini
mp Rome, 30 September
News service of the "Vossische Zeitung"
The conversation between Chamberlain and Mussolini took place today aboard Chamberlain's yacht "Delphin" off Livorno. The conversation lasted more than an hour. The "Agenzia Stefani" has issued the following semi-official report on it: "Mussolini and Chamberlain met today at Livorno. The talks between the two statesmen, who, as is known, are bound to each other by ties of mutual personal friendship, proceeded in a most cordial manner. In the discussions aboard the yacht "Delphin" and later aboard the yacht "Giuliana", following the luncheon given by Mussolini for Chamberlain, the two ministers examined the most important international questions of the hour and had the satisfaction of confirming the intimacy of Anglo-Italian relations and the identity of the line followed by the two governments towards the solution of the most important European problems." [?]
Protect Freedom of the Vote!
[?] The question of whether the exercise of civic rights, and above all the individual citizen's freedom to vote in elections and ballots, is adequately protected has once again moved to the forefront of interest since the experiences of the last referendum. The press has reported numerous cases of electoral terror. Workers and salaried employees were threatened with dismissal, tradesmen and craftsmen with economic boycott, if, contrary to the party slogan calling for abstention, they took part in the vote. A deputy of the German People's Party has admitted to having publicly called for the identification of those persons who would make use of their right to vote contrary to his party's slogan. This call, however, had been made only "for reasons of party discipline."
In view of such conditions it appears urgently necessary to review the existing statutory provisions as to whether they adequately guarantee the exercise of civic rights. After all, we no longer live in a constitutional monarchy, in which the individual subject is merely governed from above, but in a democratic-parliamentary republic. All power emanates from the people, says Article 1 of the Weimar Constitution. If this fundamental principle of our present-day state is to be a reality, care must also be taken that the will of the people can find free and unfalsified expression.
The deputy of the Right who considers monitoring of the vote permissible for reasons of electoral discipline would probably find it very strange if some day, in a referendum demanded by the Right at which the Left proclaims abstention, the trade unions or the Communists were in similar fashion to monitor the comings and goings at the polling stations merely "for reasons of party discipline." [?]
Context
Belgium's price for joining the steel cartel
The paper presented the cartel as rescued at the last minute. Belgian demands had threatened the deal until Germany and France gave way, and according to the Temps the concession meant an immediate 25,000 tons more for Belgium than first promised. A later historical account suggests that the allocation was political: Germany's quota was set below its share of production and Belgium's above it, a solution adopted for political reasons. The same account dates the cartel's creation to 20 September 1926, ten days before the session the paper describes. The 30 September meeting may therefore have settled the remaining Belgian dispute rather than founded the cartel, but the available evidence does not settle the point. The quota figures cannot all be correct as they appear in the text. 295,000 tons is roughly 1 per cent of 27,528,000 tons, not 12.56 per cent, so either the two tonnages refer to different periods or the figures were garbled in printing or text recognition.
Who actually joined the cartel, and how quotas were enforced
The Temps report relayed by the paper said that Poland and Czechoslovakia would be allowed to join a cartel planned for five years. According to the later account, the countries that did join a year later were Austria, Czechoslovakia and Hungary, each with its own production quota. Poland is not named among them. The percentage shares reported by the paper were backed by financial penalties: each national group had to pay the cartel 4 dollars for every ton it produced above its quota. This quickly became a burden for Germany, one of the two parties that had made concessions to Belgium. From September to December 1926 German output systematically exceeded its quota by 9 to 25 per cent, costing about 2.7 million dollars in penalties. German steelmakers then demanded that the quotas be revised and threatened to leave the agreement. The compromise that the paper greeted as "perfekt" (complete) therefore came under strain almost at once.
How the Livorno meeting was staged for the public
The paper's Rome report relied entirely on the semi-official communiqué of the Agenzia Stefani. The communiqué emphasized personal friendship, cordiality and an identical line on European problems, but did not name a single issue that was discussed. An Istituto Luce newsreel filmed in 1926 confirms the setting. It shows the meeting aboard Chamberlain's yacht, spelled "Dolphine" in the Luce catalogue and "Delphin" in the paper, and a luncheon in the British minister's honour aboard the Italian yacht Giuliana in the Livorno roadstead, with the ships dressed overall. The newsreel also records a visit to the Tigre, which it describes as a brand-new ship of the Italian navy. Its captions present the conversation as "the Lion of England and the Fasces of Italy in friendly fraternity." Both the communiqué and the film were Fascist publicity. They show how Rome wanted the meeting to be seen, not what the two ministers actually discussed.
The princes' referendum and why abstention became a weapon
The "last referendum" Häntzschel refers to was the vote of 20 June 1926 on expropriating the property of Germany's former ruling houses. The Luther government had confirmed President Hindenburg's view that the measure was unconstitutional, so it needed the support of 50 per cent of all eligible voters, about 20 million people, rather than a simple majority of those voting. Opponents therefore called for a boycott, because every abstention had the same effect as a "no" vote. As the historical account puts it, the boycott practically turned the secret ballot into an open one, since anyone seen going to the polls could be presumed to be voting yes. East of the Elbe in particular, farm workers were threatened with economic and personal sanctions if they took part. In the end only 39.3 per cent of the roughly 39.7 million voters cast a ballot, and the proposal failed. Häntzschel's examples of threatened dismissals and boycotts, and of a deputy who called for non-compliant voters to be identified, describe exactly how this worked. That is why he argued that watching who entered polling stations struck at the heart of free voting.
Original
Das Stahlkartell perfekt
[?] Heute nachmittag ist in einer gemeinsamen Sitzung der deutschen, französischen, belgischen und luxemburgischen Industriellen das internationale Eisenkartell abgeschlossen worden. Der Abschluß, der bis zuletzt durch die belgischen Forderungen in Frage gestellt schien, ist durch Entgegenkommen von deutscher und französischer Seite ermöglicht worden. Das Stahlkartell perfekt Nach der jetzigen Regelung erhält Belgien 12, 56 v. H. der zur Verteilung gelangenden Gesamtproduktion, das sind 295 000 Tonnen von insgesamt 27 528 000 Tonnen. An weiteren Produktionserhöhungen nimmt Belgien nur mit 2, 85 v. H. teil. Sinkt hingegen die Produktion unter den Anfangssatz von 27 528 000 Tonnen, so wird die Quote gleichmäßig für alle beteiligten Länder herabgesetzt. Paris, 30. September Nach einer Brüsseler Meldung des " Temps " über die Einigung in der Frage des Stahlkartells sind es Frankreich und Deutschland, die einige Zugeständnisse gemacht haben, um Belgien sofort 25 000 Tonnen mehr, als anfangs versprochen, zu bewilligen. Nach dem gleichen Blatt soll auch vorgesehen sein, daß Polen und die Tschechoslowakei sich dem Kartell, das für fünf Jahre vorgesehen sei, anschließen können. [?]
Chamberlain bei Mussolini
mp Rom, 30. September Nachrichtendienst der " Vossischen Zeitung " Die Unterredung Chamberlains mit Mussolini hat heute auf der Jacht Chamberlains " Delphin " auf der Höhe von Livorno stattgefunden. Die Unterredung hat über eine Stunde gedauert. Die " Agenzia Stefani " gibt folgende offiziöse Meldung darüber aus: " Mussolini und Chamberlain sind heute in Livorno zusammengetroffen. Die Besprechungen zwischen den beiden Staatsmännern, die, wie man weiß, durch Beziehungen gegenseitiger persönlicher Freundschaft miteinander verbunden sind, sind in sehr herzlicher Weise verlaufen. Bei den Besprechungen an Bord der Jacht " Delphin " und später an Bord der Jacht " Giuliana " nach dem von Mussolini Chamberlain gegebenen Frühstück haben die beiden Minister die wichtigsten internationalen Fragen der Stunde geprüft und dabei die Genugtuung gehabt, die Intimität der englisch-italienischen Beziehungen und die Gleichheit der von den beiden Regierungen für die Lösung der wichtigsten europäischen Probleme eingehaltenen Linie zu bestätigen. " [?]
Schutz der Wahlfreiheit!
[?] Die Frage, ob die Ausübung der staatsbürgerlichen Rechte, insbesondere aber die Wahl - und Stimmfreiheit des einzelnen Staatsbürgers, ausreichend geschützt ist, steht seit den Erfahrungen des letzten Volksentscheids wieder im Vordergrund des Interesses. Die Presse hat über zahlreiche Fälle von Wahlterror berichtet. Arbeitern und Angestellten ist Entlassung, Gewerbetreibenden und Handwerkern wirtschaftlicher Boykott angedroht worden, falls sie sich, entgegen der auf Stimmenthaltung lautenden Wahlparole, an der Abstimmung beteiligen würden. Ein Abgeordneter der Deutschen Volkspartei hat zugegeben, öffentlich zur Feststellung der Personen aufgefordert zu haben, welche entgegen der Wahlparole seiner Partei von ihrem Stimmrecht Gebrauch machen würden. Allerdings sei diese Aufforderung nur " aus Gründen der Parteidisziplin " erfolgt. Angesichts solcher Zustände erscheint es dringend notwendig, eine Nachprüfung der geltenden gesetzlichen Bestimmungen in der Richtung vorzunehmen, ob sie die Ausübung der staatsbürgerlichen Rechte ausreichend gewährleisten. Schließlich leben wir ja nicht mehr in einer konstitutionellen Monarchie, in welcher der einzelne Untertan nur von oben regiert wird, sondern in einer demokratischparlamentarischen Republik. Alle Gewalt geht vom Volke aus, sagt Artikel 1 der Weimarer Verfassung. Soll dieses Grundprinzip unseres heutigen Staatswesens Wirklichkeit sein, so muß auch dafür gesorgt werden, daß der Wille des Volkes frei und unverfälscht zum Ausdruck gelangen kann. Der Abgeordnete der Rechten, der eine Abstimmungskontrolle aus Gründen der Wahldisziplin für zulässig hält, würde es wahrscheinlich sehr wunderlich finden, wenn später einmal bei einem von der Rechten beantragten Volksentscheid, bei dem die Linke Stimmenthaltung proklamiert, die Gewerkschaften oder die Kommunisten in ähnlicher Weise lediglich " aus Gründen der Parteidisziplin " den Zu - und Abgang von den Wahllokalen kontrollieren würden. [?]