Weighed down by the load of adversity which has befallen us as a family, I relinquished my original intention of giving an adverse vote, and sided with the Government. Whatever would have become of my wife and me if, in our present frame of mind, I had been sent away to some far-off little place in the provinces?
It seems somewhat odd that in the country, where the discontent is at its height, the Government has scored the best results. The only explanation is, that as people in the country are even more under surveillance than is the case in thickly-populated towns, they are still more reticent in giving expression to opposition views than townspeople are. In addition to this, the recent increase of the army has sent some terror into men’s hearts in the disaffected districts.
In Berlin, the Government party is in a minority. And as, according to the system of proportional election now adopted, Berlin forms only one electoral division, the vote of our city is on the side of the Party of Freedom.
The Younkers have come off very badly, and, in spite of the strong support given them by the Woman’s Universal Wedlock League, have only succeeded in returning one candidate. It seems pretty clear that the nation has no desire to see any additions made to the socialistic edifice now erected. And even this one candidate would scarcely have been returned but for the help of friends belonging to the Party of Freedom, who supported his election because of the vigorous attacks he made on the Government.
The Party of Freedom, or the Friends of Freedom, as they also style themselves, have obtained nearly one-third of the total number of votes recorded throughout the whole country. And this result has been obtained in spite of all the efforts made by the Government side to brand them as a party of demolition, and one that sought only to undermine the established order of society.
The relative measure of success which this party has obtained is largely owing to the support given by women voters, and, indeed, these latter have shown a good deal more activity in the elections than the voters of the rougher sex. They have made no secret of the bitterness they feel at the present state of things, and of their chagrin at the restrictions placed upon private and domestic affairs.