That the working men of Breslau have decided to come to me, their King and father, fills me with the greatest satisfaction, for two reasons. In the first place, you have not disappointed the expectations which I expressed in Essen; in the second, you have helped thereby to maintain free from reproach the memory of my late friend Krupp.
From my heart I thank the spokesman for his cordial, patriotic words. You show thereby that an honorable attitude and a dependence upon the King and the Fatherland are taking firm root among you. Your condition has indeed become the object of my deepest interest and consideration, for I observed with pride in foreign lands how the German working man was considered above all others, and with justice. Your hearts may exult and you may well rejoice in your work and your condition.
Led by the remarkable message[39] of the great Emperor William I, I have improved the social legislation so that a good and secure condition of existence has been created for the working men through old age, and this has been accomplished often at great sacrifice to the employer. And our Germany is the only country in which legislation relating to the welfare of the working classes has developed to any great degree.
[39] See [footnote] to “First Declaration of Polity,” June 25, 1888.
On the ground of the great concern which your King has for your condition I am justified in giving you also a word of warning. For years you and your brothers have allowed yourselves to be deluded by the agitators of the Socialists into thinking that if you do not belong to this party and acknowledge it no one pays any attention to you and that you will not be in a position to obtain a hearing for your just interests in the amelioration of your condition.
This is a gross lie and a serious error. Instead of representing you directly, the agitators seek to stir you up against your employers, against the other classes, against the throne, and against the church, and have in this way taken advantage of you, terrorized you, and flattered you in order to strengthen their own power. And to what end is this power used? Not for furthering your welfare, but for sowing hatred between the classes and for disseminating cowardly slanders that respect nothing as sacred; and finally they have outraged the Almighty Himself.
As honor-loving men you cannot and dare not have anything more to do with such people, and you must no longer be led by them. No! Send us as representatives your friends and comrades from your own ranks, the simple, plain man from the shop who has your confidence. Such a man stands for your interests and your wishes, and we will gladly welcome him as the representative of the German working classes, not as a Social Democrat. With such representatives of the working classes, no matter how many there may be, we will gladly work together for the good of the people and of the country.
In this way your future will be well cared for, especially since it naturally and closely depends upon loyalty to the King, upon respect for law and for the state, for the honor of one’s fellow men and brothers, true to the proverb: “Fear God, love your brothers, and honor the King.”
[SCHOLARSHIP AND RELIGION]
Berlin, February 15, 1903