Dangerous

In the Republic of Germany, it is

dangerous for a Republican to attack a Monarchist. It may land him in jail for a long period or cost him a lot of money in fines. A Monarchist, however, may attack a Republican with impunity or, at worst, get a few days' sentence with the option of a small fine. The reason for this state of affairs is that most of the legal luminaries are Monarchists, who held most of the good jobs in the Kaisers' days-- a fact which explains the intellectual superiority of the Monarchist over the antiMonarchist Parties. Recently, Republican Judge Kroner, referring to the Ebert libel suit (TIME, Jan. 5), said a ruling of Monarchist Judge Bewersdorff was "malignant, vulgar, cowardly and impudent." The latter did not take these hard words kindly and was prompt to institute legal proceedings against his Republican colleague. Last week, the case was tried before a Monarchist Judge, who had previously declared that Judge Kroner deserved to be jailed. The case could have but one ending and that ending it had: Judge Kroner was found guilty, was fined 3,000 marks (about $750)--half his yearly salary. He could, as an alternative, go to jail for 50 days.