370 



GERMANY. 



from Potsdam on a visit to his friend and rela- 

 tive the Czar. He embarked at Kiel in the 

 royal steam-yacht " Hohenzollern," which was 

 escorted by an ironclad squadron under the 

 command of his brother, Prince Henry. He 

 was met at sea by the Russian Emperor, taken 

 to St. Petersburg on the yacht " Alexandria," 

 and there entertained with a military spectacle 

 and other pageants. From there he went to 

 Stockholm, arriving on July 26, and, after ex- 

 changing courtesies with King Oscar, sailed 

 two days later for Copenhagen, where he was 

 the guest of the King of Denmark for a few 

 hours, and returned to Germany after an ab- 

 sence of eighteen days. He next manifested his 

 perfect confidence in Prince Bismarck by pay- 

 ing him a visit at Friedrichsruhe. On August 

 16 the Emperor delivered a speech at a dinner of 

 officers of the Third Army Corps, in which he 

 denied the imputation that his father was willing 

 to relinquish a part of the conquered territory 

 as the price of disarmament and lasting peace, 

 and said that in the army there is but one 

 opinion, and that is "that we would leave our 

 entire eighteen army corps and 42,000,000 in- 

 habitants lying 'on the field rather than aban- 

 don one single stone of what we have won." 



After the trial evolutions of the fleet and 

 the autumnal manoeuvres of the army, which 

 were arranged on an unprecedented scale, the 

 young Kaiser carried out his intention of visit- 

 ing his allies, the sovereigns of Austria- Hun- 

 gary and Italy. On September 25 he set out 

 on his tour, first visiting the German courts of 

 Detmold, Stuttgart, and Munich, and on Octo- 

 ber 3 arrived at Vienna, where he was re- 

 ceived with festivities, and afterward spent 

 some time in a hunting trip with the Emperor 

 Franz Josef. His visit at the Quirinal with 

 King Umberto occurred in October. On the 

 12th he was the guest of Pope Leo at the Vati- 

 can, after which he inspected a parade of the 

 Italian military, and on the 21st arrived again 

 in Germany. 



The Emperor was offended at the comments 

 and insinuations of the Liberal press touching 

 the friction and conflicting purposes which the 

 question of the Battenberg marriage, the con- 

 troversy between the doctors in regard to the 

 treatment of his father's disease, and the pro- 

 ceedings in relation to the publication of Fried- 

 rich's diary proved to have existed between 

 members of the royal family and to be still ex- 

 istent between himself and his mother. At 

 last he complained of the attitude of the press 

 in a reply to an address of the municipal au- 

 thorities of Berlin that he made to the burgo- 

 master. That official resented the inference 

 that any part of the newspaper press was sub- 

 ject to his direction, and the papers vindicated 

 themselves with unwonted boldness. The 

 Liberal and the Conservative papers at first 

 disputed as to which had given offense, the 

 most indiscreet revelations regarding the royal 

 family having appeared in the semi-official jour- 

 nals. An official announcement made it clear 



that it was the language of the Liberal press 

 to which the Emperor objected, especially to 

 comparisons between himself and his father. 

 The Liberal journals criticised his desire to 

 suppress the side of the controversy that was 

 unfavorable to himself, while giving free scope 

 to comparisons that were unfavorable to his 

 father's memory, and declared that the inde- 

 pendent press of Berlin would u defend its in- 

 dependence against the municipal authorities 

 as well as against every one else who threatens 

 it," and that it would ''render unto the Kaiser 

 the tilings that are his, and also unto the free 

 Constitution what belongs to it." 



On NoYember 22 the Emperor opened the 

 Reichstag with great pomp of rank, uniform, 

 and military display. In the speech from the 

 throne he announced a measure relating to 

 co-operative societies and the completion of 

 the legislation for the insurance of aged and 

 ailing laborers. He expressed satisfaction at 

 the signs of sympathy and attachment that 

 had been shown to him and to the idea of the 

 German Empire that he represented by the 

 princes and peoples of the Federated States. 

 The alliance with Austria and Italy he declared 

 to have no other object but peace. " To 

 plunge Germany needlessly into the horrors of 

 war, even if it were a victorious one," he said, 

 " I should find inconsistent with my belief 

 as a Christian and with my duties as Emperor 

 toward the German people. Filled with this 

 conviction, I thought it meet, soon after as- 

 cending the throne, to visit in person, not only 

 my allies in the empire, but also the monarchs 

 who are my neighbors and friends, and to 

 confer with them regarding the task of secur- 

 ing peace and prosperity for our peoples. The 

 confidence that was shown in me and my policy 

 warrants me in hoping that I and my allies 

 and friends will, with God's help, succeed in 

 maintaining the peace of Europe." 



The Anti-Socialist Law. The repressive law 

 against Socialists and Anarchists was originally 

 passed in 1878 for a limited period, and has 

 been periodically renewed without material 

 alteration, sometimes for two, and sometimes 

 for three years. In January, 1888, the Gov- 

 ernment proposed nut only that it should he 

 re-enacted for a period of five years, but that 

 the penal provisions .should be strengthened. 

 The punishment for printing or circulating 

 forbidden publications was to be increased 

 from six to twelve months' imprisonment, to- 

 gether with a fine of 1,000 marks, and in other 

 cases the penalties were rendered more severe. 

 Certain classes of offenders would be liable, 

 not only to be expelled from their ordinary 

 domicile, as under the old act, but to be ban- 

 ished from the empire altogether, and deprived 

 of their rights of citizenship. The bulk of the 

 Clerical party, under the lead of Dr. Windhorst, 

 demanded the mitigation, instead of the ac- 

 centuation, of the act, and were seconded by 

 the Liberalists. The National Liberals declined 

 to prolong the act for more than two years, 



