AT A HUN PEACE MEETING.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 6, Issue 265, 5 April 1917, Page 1 (Supplement)

AT A HUN PEACE MEETING.

WOMEN MOBBED ON SUSPICION. A remarkable story of a peace meetiue in Munich—at which the only two persons who did not vote for a peace petition were mobbed-is told by Madeline Doty in the "Nation." Miss Doty ! an American lady who spent severa Inthf in Germany, Her account of tjio peace gathering is as Allows: One night we went to a big.peace meeting It was under the auspices of Eater wing of the Socia)l Democratic iiebknecht We.are not STowed to hold meetings in Munich any more than in Berlin. But peace meetly m spite of restrictions are popuar ' The military authorities see to it Sat thTpeaco terms asked for are confined to demands of the status quo Jetore the war. No discuss-on ls allowed. At tL meeting there were~ perhaps two thousand people: It was held in a area* hall. The floor was ocVered *sh Htt'n taibles Beer still flows in Munich. tth the floor and the -Dfcng wg packed. People, stood about the'rfg of the room and in Men predominated. Even sohders » umtpWi wero present. My friends Jtod I gt near the front Fraulem g— <gE friend who took the writer td the mgtSS is member of neithernhe LkbSfeihtVoupnor the major fag* Sociail Democratic party. TheJ£™ she extreme the.latte nM radical enough about peace. Except tor our group the audience was madfe tip chiefly, of factory workers.

NO WORK. wero thoughtful and showed much character. 1 nese people were not sheep were nghteYs 1 suppressed emotion, frequenf appose and cheers. The speaker sad: Ihe i Svs oTStt «trafle Engknd' are ever. Whoie the time come when Germans will no longer be caUed 'Barhares i £nd'Boches.' Perhaps thas can best be Sought about by promoting, the cause 1 ofpeW It is certaanly distressing to fimftther nations hating GerW » will bo difficult to carry on trade after the war There will be no work for the l worker ! It is e»»ti.l,**»s , made as soon as possible When it comes perhaps enmity ™ll ceaw. Wrtj ness how Austria and Germany bad overlooked differences and com* to-gether-(laughter )-and how fi*mffly Prussia and Bavaria now are. V**» derisive laughter, which stopped the speech for a few moments.) Then ho sr*ko of the peace petition that had ben drawn up. He peaco proposals which provided for Ed on theWs of the status quo:befire the war, and urged everyone; to sign tho petition. At the close of the mooting he called for a isong vote on the pence petition. ANGRY CROWD. Everyone in tho room, except my friends, stood up. Fraulein H -, as » member of the Women's International wanted freedom for Poland and a plebiscite vote for Alsace and Lorraine. My friend from Berlin, as a liebkneeht person, also wanted more Wwl terns. But the audience did not unde?*ani. It thought we were averse to peace, \nerv people crowded around is. v»c ; ere pushed and shoved. I feared F ranJoin H would be bit. Several women wero snaking tneir lists. One was yelling: "My nushand was killed at the front. How dare you not want peace?" Another: "My son lias Leon killed, and my husb'ir. i wojndtd • how dare vou refuse to sign tho petition?" I did my best to push the crowd back. We struggled to the street, but Fraulein H had her hair pulled down and we were considerably mauled before we made the entrance. Then Fraulein *H turned upon her tormentors. She had been powerless in the meeting, for the police had ordered her not to speak, but in tho open she risked it. She is a tall, slender woman, with golden hair and blue eyes, n Madonna woman, but in her burns'white heat. Turning on the crowd, and shaking her fist, she hurled at them : "I want peace, but I want a real peace. lam moro radical than you." A man in the crowd, evidently one of the Social Democratic leaders, came to our side. He told the people who Fraulein H was, and what .she stood for. Abashed, the people moved on, and wo slipped out into tho cool night.