Wesendonk

Neue Rheinische Zeitung, No. 214, 6 February 1849

Düsseldorf, 4 February. From the former “democratic monarchy” we have received a correction of our article of the day before yesterday from Düsseldorf about Mr Wesendonk. The correction actually corrects nothing, except that Mr Wesendonk by no means appeared as a republican at the time of the Pre-Parliament and then returned to the democratic monarchy. In other respects it confirms the article which it calls a “suspicion”. We protest first against this description. Election candidates are subject to public criticism, and if one makes use of this right, only wounded vanity can see in it a suspicion. We reproach Mr Wesendonk with having made the motion in Frankfurt, with great bluster, to declare the imposed constitution null and void, and that now, not two months later, he wants to recognise it. The “correction” defends this about-face by claiming that the people, through the primary elections themselves, have already recognised the imposed constitution together with the First and Second Chambers — the logic of the *Kölnische Zeitung* and of the flattest lawyer’s whitewashing. It further demands that we should throw no discord into our own camp — i.e., that we should accept the so-called democratic candidates without further ado and refrain from all criticism of them. In the interest of the party we might have shown some consideration up to the moment when the phrase of recognising the coup d’état of 5 December was finally uttered by various supposedly democratic candidates. From that moment on we have attacked all the so-called democratic candidates who accepted this phrase, for the simple reason that we are by no means in the same “camp” with these gentlemen.

We learn further from Düsseldorf that the Constitutionalists have so far put up two opposing candidates: Minister von der Heydt and Dr Claesen of Cologne. Their prospects are, to be sure, said to be weak.