The Pan-Germans went into Parliament and came out beaten.
The “Forum” in which the Pan-Germans put their case had grown not greater but more insignifi¬ cant ; for men only speak to the circles which are there to listen to them, or which receive their words through reports in the Press.
But the greatest “Forum” and the most direct as regards the listeners is not the Parliament Chamber, but a large public meeting. For thousands of people are present who have come simply to hear what the speaker has to say to them, whereas in the Parliament Chamber only a few hundred are present, and most of them merely attend for the purpose of receiving their payment as members, and not to receive enlighten¬ ment from the wisdom of one or other of the “People’s Representatives”.
Speaking before such a “Forum” really is casting pearls before swine. Truly it is not worth the trouble ! No sort of success is possible.
And that was what happened. The Pan-German members grew hoarse with speaking—but they carried no weight whatever.
The Press either ignored them entirely or so muti¬ lated their speeches that any consecutiveness, often the sense even, was twisted round or lost altogether, and the public received but a very bad picture of the aims of the new Movement. What individual members said was not important ; the importance lay in what those who read them received. This consisted of mere snippets of their speeches, which, being mutilated, merely could—and were meant to—produce a sense¬ less impression. Thus the only Forum before which they really spoke consisted of a paltry 500 men, and that tells us enough.