President: With regard to procedure, Representative Dr. Levi has the floor.
Dr. Levi, Representative: Ladies and gentlemen! We are also of the opinion that this is the time and place for this debate. Even if it is correct—and I am not sure it is—that the text of the speech by Lloyd George is not yet available—
(Interjection: It is available!)
—I say yes, I assume so—it is nevertheless the case that the text of the declaration by the German government is available. We believe that this text alone provides the German Reichstag with a sufficient foundation to formulate its own position.
(United Communists: Very true!)
The issue here is simply whether the Reichstag must continue to limit itself to the role of a dog that is allowed to bay at the rising moon or whether the German Reichstag wants to be a leading political body. If the German Reichstag does want to be a leading political body, it must speak while there is still time to speak and things are in flux rather than only after events have taken place.
(Applause from the far left.)
President: The procedural debate is hereby concluded.
Representative Ledebour has requested that he be immediately permitted to enter into consultations on communications from foreign governments. A representative of our own government will not take the floor to respond since the government has rejected his request.
I would ask those who support the request by Ledebour to rise.
(Representatives rise.)
—That is a minority; the request is denied.
We will now move to the order of business.
Source: Verhandlungen des Reichstags: I. Wahlperiode 1920, vol. 349, 75th Session, March 4, 1921, Stenographische Berichte (Berlin: Norddeutsche Buchdruckerei und Verlags-Anstalt, 1921) 2647-2653. Translation by Adam Blauhut.
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