GERMANY. 



381 



and on the same day Gen. von Caprivi, com- 

 mander of the Tenth Army Corps, was appoint- 

 ed his successor in the chancellorship and in the 

 presidency of the Prussian ministry, and the di- 

 rection of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was in- 

 trusted provisionally to Count Herbert Bismarck ; 

 but he and the ex-Chancellor's other son insisted 

 on retiring with their father. Georg Leo von 

 Caprivi de Caprera de Montecucculi, descended 

 from Italian ancestors and the son of an emi- 

 nent jurist in the Prussian state service, was 

 born iii Berlin on Feb. 24, 1881,' entered the army 

 before he was eighteen years old, won rapid pro- 

 motion, entered the general staff as captain in 

 1861, served with distinction in the campaigns 

 of 1864 and 1866, and was lieutenant-colonel and 

 chief of staff of the Tenth or Hanoverian Corps 

 in the Franco-German War. After the war he 

 took charge of one of the divisions of the Minis- 

 try of War with the rank of colonel. He became 

 a major-general in 1877, commanded a brigade 

 in the Guards in 1878, was made a lieutenant- 

 general in 1882. and, when commanding the di- 

 vision stationed at Metz in 1883, was transferred 

 to the navy as Gen. von Stosch's successor at the 

 head of the admiralty. In directing the growth 

 and organization of the new German navy he 

 gave evidence of a high order of executive ability 

 and of versatile powers, determination of char- 

 acter united to amiable and winning manners, 

 and a gift for presenting facts and arguments 

 to the Reichstag in a clear and persuasive style. 

 When the navy was reorganized after the acces- 

 sion of the present Emperor, Gen. von Caprivi 

 returned to the army, in which he retained his 

 rank and order of seniority, and, being promoted 

 full general of infantry, was appointed to the 

 command of one of the best corps in the army, 

 and during the autumn manoauvres of 1889, 

 when smokeless powder and other innovations 

 were on trial, the conduct of his troops gave the 

 Emperor a high opinion of his capacity. As 

 chief of the admiralty he opposed some of the 

 Emperor's projects, such as the use of the naval 

 forces to aid colonial undertakings, the division 

 of the marine department, and the offensive or- 

 ganization ; but in this he acted under the in- 

 structions of the Chancellor, his official superior. 



When Count Herbert Bismarck left the For- 

 eign Office he was succeeded by Herr von Mar- 

 schall Bieberstein, formerly a Conservative mem- 

 ber of the Reichstag, and since 1883 a representa- 

 tive of Baden in the Federal Council. The other 

 members of the Imperial and the Prussian Cabi- 

 nets who were closely identified with Prince 

 Bismarck's policy likewise resigned. These were 

 Dr. August von Maybach, Imperial Minister of 

 Railroads and Prussian Minister of Public 

 Works, and Adolf von Scholz, Prussian Minis- 

 ter of Finance, who was succeeded by Dr. Miquel, 

 Burgomaster of Frankfort, a member of the Na- 

 tional Liberal party and one of the men whose 

 advice the Emperor most frequently sought. 



Chancellor von Caprivi informed the Prussian 

 Chamber that the various members of the Cabi- 

 net would be restored to the footing of consti- 

 tutional equality and direct responsibility to the 

 Crown, which was the system before the ex-Chan- 

 cellor became Minister-President. He also an- 

 nounced the abolition of the semi-official press 

 that was much complained of during the Bis- 



marck administration, and was called in derision 

 the "reptile" press, and forbade the adminis- 

 trative officers to communicate information to 

 newspapers other than the official " Reichsan- 

 zeiger/' The Government, he said, would adopt 

 good ideas, from whatever party they emanated. 

 The Session of the Reichstag:. The Reich- 

 stag, which was to bear the first fruits of the 

 " new era," very different in personal composi- 

 tion and political complexion from the last, and 

 confronted by another Chancellor, was opened 

 on May 6 by a speech from the Emperor in 

 which he placed at the head of the legislative 

 programme an extension of the laws for the pro- 

 tection of laborers, announcing measures for 

 Sunday rest, restriction of female and child 

 labor, protection of workmen against dangers to 

 life, health, and morals, new regulations regard- 

 ing workmen's books destined to strengthen the 

 authority of parents over unruly juvenile labor- 

 ers, and a better regulation of the boards of 

 arbitration and conciliation in trade disputes. 

 The strikes that had taken place in various parts 

 of the country during the year had given him 

 occasion to examine whether the existing laws 

 took sufficiently into account the justifiable and 

 practicable desires of the laboring population. 

 The more the working people recognize the con- 

 scientious earnestness with which the Imperial 

 Government strives to create satisfactory con- 

 ditions for them, the more will they become 

 aware of the danger of putting forward immod- 

 erate and impossible demands. In a righteous 

 solicitude for the laborers will be found the most 

 effective means of strengthening the authority 

 which he and his Federal allies were determined 

 to employ with inflexible resolution in frustrat- 

 ing every forcible attempt to disturb law and 

 order. He.had invited the other states of Europe 

 in which the conditions'of production were simi- 

 lar to an exchange of views regarding a common 

 recognition of the legislative requirements for 

 the protection of laborers, and the results of the 

 International Conference on Labor had given 

 him complete satisfaction. The principles laid 

 down in its resolutions were undoubtedly a seed 

 that wcmld- fructify in blessings for the working 

 men of all countries, and not fail to have a har- 

 monizing effect on the relations between nations. 

 The preservation of peace is the object of his 

 unintermitting effort, and he could confidently 

 affirm that he had strengthened the conviction 

 of all foreign governments that this was his 

 policy. . For the cultivation of the alliances con- 

 cluded for defense and the continuance of friend- 

 ly relations with all foreign powers, the situation 

 of Germany in the center of Europe renders 

 necessary an adequate army. Every alteration 

 in the ratio of military power endangers the po- 

 litical equilibrium, and since the neighboring 

 states had increased and perfected their arma- 

 ments in an unforeseen measure, Germany could 

 not afford to postpone an increase in the stand- 

 ing army and the formation of additional bodies 



of troops, especially in the artillery. A supple- 

 mentary credit was 



necessary to cover the costs 



of suppressing the slave trade and restoring 

 order in East Africa. An augmentation of the 

 budget would be required for these purposes, be- 

 sides which the improvement in the pay of cer- 

 tain classes of officials could be no longer delayed. 



