The Political Situation
possibility. It is not only our opinion, it is the opinion of Mehring and of all Socialists who, even in Germany, have remained faithful to the principle of the International.
That is why we persist more than ever in thinking that alone there can and ought to be admitted to an International Conference those who publicly in their own country, speaking on behalf of the working classes, shall in acts as well as in deeds break with the Imperialistic policy of their Governments.
Recent events, moreover, have just shown that one cannot be sufficiently prudent if one would evade the ambush of those Imperialists who hide their real face beneath a beautiful mask, and consciously or unconsciously, under the guise of Socialism, play the game of German Imperialism.
In such conditions, before continuing our pourparlers, it would be desirable to refer to our mandates and to come into contact with the Socialists of the other Allied countries. The Conference that our British comrades are proposing to bring together shortly in London will give us
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