Protocol No. X

 

Protocol No. X 

TO-DAY I will begin by reiterating what has already been stated. I beg you to remember that the government and the masses are satisfied with visible results in politics. 

How can they examine the inner meaning of things when their representatives consider that pleasure is above everything? 

It is important to know one detail in our policy. It will help us in discussing division of authority, freedom of speech, of the press, of religion (faith), the right of assembly, equality before the law, inviolability of property and of the home, indirect taxes and the retrospective force of law. 

All such questions should never be directly and openly discussed before the masses. When it becomes necessary for us to discuss them, they should not be elaborated but merely mentioned, without going into details, pointing out that modern legal principles are being accepted by us.

 The significance of this reticence lies in the fact that a principle which has not been openly declared gives us freedom of action to exclude unnoticed one point or another, whereas if elaborated the principle becomes as good as established. The people feel an especial love and admiration towards the political genius, and they always react to their acts of violence as follows: 

“ Yes, of course it is villainy, but how clever! — It is a trick but cleverly done! So majestically! so impudently! . . ” We count upon attracting all nations to the construction of the foundations of the new edifice which has been planned by us. It is for this reason that it is necessary for us first of all to acquire that spirit of daring, enterprise, and force which, through our agents, will enable us to overcome all obstacles in our path. 

When we accomplish our coup d’etat, we will say to the peoples: “Everything went badly; all of you have suffered. We will abolish the cause of your sufferings, that is to say, nationalities, frontiers, and national currencies. 

Of course you are free to condemn us, but would your judgment be just if you were to pronounce it before giving a trial to what we will give you? ” Thereafter they will exalt us with a sentiment of unanimous delight and hope. 

The voting system which we have used as a tool for our enthronement, and to which we have accustomed even the most humble members of humanity by organizing meetings and prearranged agreements, will have performed its last service and will make its last appearance in the expression of a unanimous desire to become more closely acquainted with us before having pronounced a judgment. 

To attain this we must force all to vote, without class discrimination, to establish the autocracy of the majority, which cannot be obtained from the intellectual classes alone. Through this method of accustoming everyone to the idea of selfdetermination, we will shatter the Goy family and its educational importance. We will not allow the formation of individual minds, because the mob, under our guidance, will prevent them from distinguishing themselves or even expressing themselves. 

The mob has become accustomed to listen only to us who pay it for obedience and attention. We will thus create such a blind power that it will be unable to move without the guidance of our agents, sent by us to replace their leaders. 

The masses will submit to this regime because they will know that their earnings, perquisites, and other benefits depend upon these leaders. The plan of government must emanate already formed from one head, as it would be impossible to put it together if disintegration by many minds into small pieces is allowed. That is why we only are allowed to know the plan of action; but we must not discuss it in order not to affect its ingenuity, the correlation between its component parts, the practical force of the secret meaning of its every clause. 

Were such a plan to be submitted to and altered by frequent voting, it would reflect the stamp of the misconceptions of everyone who has not penetrated its depth and the correlation of its aims. For this reason our plans must be strongly and clearly conceived.

Consequently, the inspired work of our leader must not be thrown to the mercy of the mob or even of a limited group. These plans will not immediately upset contemporary institutions. They will only alter their organization, and consequently the entire combination of their development, which will thus be directed according to the plans laid down by us. More or less the same institutions exist in different countries under different names, such as representative bodies, ministries, senate, state council, legislative and executive bodies. 

It is not necessary for me to explain to you the connecting mechanism of these different institutions, as it is well known to you. I only call to your attention that every one of the afore said institutions fulfills some important governmental function, and, moreover, I beg you to notice that the word “ important ” refers not to the institution but to the function. 

Consequently, it is not the institutions that are important but their functions. Such institutions have divided among them selves all the functions of government, namely, administrative, legislative, and executive powers; therefore, their functions in the state organism have become similar to those in a human body. 

If one part of the governmental machine is injured, the state itself falls ill, in the same way as the human body, and then it dies. When we injected the poison of liberalism into the state organism, its entire political complexion changed; the states became infected with a mortal disease, namely, the decomposition of the blood. It is only necessary to await the end of their agony. 

Constitutional governments were born of liberalism, which replaced the autocracy that was the salvation of the Goys, for the constitution, as you well know, is nothing more than a school for dispute, discussion, disagreement, fruitless party agitation, dissension, party tendencies — in other words, a school for everything which weakens the efficiency of government. 

The platform no less than the press condemned the authorities to inaction and impotency and thereby rendered them useless and superfluous, for which reason they were overthrown in many countries. The rise of the republican era then became possible, and then we substituted for the ruler a caricature of government — a president chosen from the mob, from among our creatures, our slaves. 

This was the kind of mine we laid under the Goys, or, more correctly, under the Goy nations. In the near future we will make the president a responsible officer, whereupon we will no longer stand on ceremony in carrying out the things for which our dummy will be responsible. What difference does it make to us that the ranks of those aiming at authority will thin out, that confusion will result from inability to find presidents, confusion which will definitely disorganize the country? 

To accomplish our plan, we will engineer the election of presidents whose past record contains some hidden scandal, some “ Panama ” — then they will be faithful executors of our orders from fear of exposure, and from the natural desire of every man who has reached authority to retain the privileges, advantages, and dignity connected with the position of president. 

The Chamber of Deputies will elect, protect, and screen presidents, but we will deprive it of the right of initiating laws or of amending them, for this right will be granted by us to the responsible president, a puppet in our hands. 

Of course then the power of the president will become the target of numerous attacks, but we will give him the means of self-protection by giving him the right of directly applying to the people, for their decision, over the heads of their representatives. In other words, he will turn to the same blind slave to the majority of the mob. 

Moreover, we will empower the president to proclaim martial law. We will justify this prerogative under the pretext that the president, as chief of the national army, must control it in order to protect the new republican constitution, which he, as a responsible representative of this constitution, is bound to defend. It is obvious that under such conditions the keys to the shrine will be in our hands, and nobody except ourselves will be able to guide the legislative power. 

We will also take away from the Chamber, with the introduction of the new republican constitution, the right of interpellation in regard to governmental measures, under the pretext that political secrets must be preserved. With the aid of this new constitution we will reduce the number of representatives to the minimum, thus also reducing to the same extent political passions and passion for politics. 

If, in spite of this, those remaining are recalcitrant, we will abolish them completely by appealing to the majority of the people. The appointment of the president and vice presidents of the Chamber and Senate will be the prerogative of the president. Instead of continuous parliamentary sessions, we will shorten them to a few months. 

Moreover, the president, as chief executive, will have the right to convene or dissolve parliament, and in the case of dissolution, defer the appointment of a new parliament. But to prevent the president from being held responsible before our plans are matured for the results of all these essentially illegal actions inaugurated by us, we will give the ministers and other high administrative officials sur rounding the president the idea of circumventing his orders by issuing instructions of their own.

Consequently, they will be made responsible instead of him. We recommend that the execution of this plan be given especially to the Senate, State Council, or Council of Ministers, and not to individuals. Under our guidance the president will interpret in ambiguous ways such existing laws as it is possible so to interpret. More over, he will annul them when the need is pointed out to him by us: he will also have the right to propose temporary laws and even modifications in the constitutional work of government, alleging as the motive for so doing the exigencies of the welfare of the country. 

By such measures we will be able to destroy gradually, step by step, everything that, upon entering into our rights, we were obliged to introduce into government constitutions as a transition to the imperceptible abolition of all constitutions, when the time comes to convert all government into our autocracy. 

The recognition of our autocrat may come even before the abolition of the constitution; the moment for this recognition will come when the people, tormented by dissension and the incompetencv of their rulers, incited by us, will exclaim: Depose them, and give us one universal sovereign who will unite us and abolish the causes of dissension — national frontiers, religion, state indebtedness — and who will give us the peace and quiet which we cannot find with our rulers and representatives. 

But you know well that to render such a universal expression of desire possible, it is necessary continuously to disturb the relationship between the people and the government in all countries, and so to exhaust everybody by the dissension, hostility, struggle, hatred, and even martyrdom, hunger, in oculation of diseases, and misery, as to make the Goys see no other solution than an appeal to our money and complete rule. Should we give the people a rest, however, the longed for moment will probably never arrive.