PKUSSIA. 



643 



ticmed, namely, Stettin, Altona, Aix-la-Cha- 

 pello, Dusseldorf, Crefeld, Essen, Duisburg, 

 Wiesbaden, Cassel, Halle, Erfurt, Posen, Elb- 

 ing, Frankfort-on-the-Oder, Gorlitz, and Dort- 

 inund. The aggregate population of the towns 

 which are Icreise by themselves is about one- 

 eighth of the total population of the kingdom. 



Interesting official statistics of the higher 

 educational institutions of Prussia are pub- 

 lished by the " Centralblatt fur die gesammte 

 unterricJits - Verwaltung in Preussen " (Decem- 

 ber, 1871). According to these statistics, the 

 higher schools, including the gymnasia, pro- 

 gymnasia, "Eeal-schulen," and the citizen's 

 high-schools (He'here Burgerschulen), were, in 

 the summer of 1871, attended by 115,630 

 pupils, of whom 83,838 (or 72.5 per cent.) 

 were Protestants, 21,711 (or 18.8 per cent.) 

 Catholics, and 10,081 (or 8.7 per cent.) Jews. 



The Government, which for many years has 

 been on friendly terms with the Catholic Church, 

 was, during the year 1871, drawn into several 

 conflicts, arising out of the resolutions of the 

 Vatican Council. On March 15th, the Bishop 

 of Ermeland demanded that the Minister of 

 Public Instruction should remove Dr. "Woll- 

 inann, the instructor of religion in the Gymna- 

 sium of Braunsberg, and Dr. Treibel, the di- 

 rector of the seminary, from their places, 

 because they refused to accept the doctrine of 

 the infallibility of the Pope. When the min- 

 ister, on March 27th, declined to comply with 

 this request, the bishop forbade all Catholic 

 parents to allow their sons to take part in the 

 religious instruction given by these two cler- 

 gymen. The minister, on the other hand, and 

 the Provincial School Board, insisted on the 

 exclusion from the institutions named of every 

 Catholic pupil who should fail to attend the 

 instruction of the two professors. The peti- 

 tion of a number of parents for the release of 

 their children from attending the course of 

 religious instruction was not granted, and a 

 number of them were consequently withdrawn 

 from the institution. The disagreement con- 

 tinued until the close of the year, when the 

 Prussian Government showed a disposition to 

 excuse the sons ot all parents who wished it, 

 from attending the instruction given by the 

 excommunicated professors. Another impor- 

 tant movement of the Prussian Government, 

 called forth by the Vatican Council, was the 

 abolition, by royal decree of July 8th, of the 

 Catholic section of the Prussian Ministry of 

 Public "Worship, and the institution of one 

 department of "Ecclesiastical Affairs." On 

 September 13th, the Catholic bishops of the 

 Prussian monarchy addressed a letter of griev- 

 ance to the King, in which they maintained 

 that the rights of the Church had been violated 

 by the official school boards at Braunsberg in 

 the case of Dr. Wollmann above referred to, 

 and by the boards of Bonn and Breslau. The 

 King replied to these letters on October 18th. 

 He denied the charges made by the bishops, 

 and represented it to be the duty of the Prus- 



sian Government, in view of the recent events 

 within the Catholic Church, "to solve, by- 

 way of legislation, any conflicts between civil 

 and ecclesiastical authorities that cannot be 

 avoided." 



According to the budget for the year 1871, 

 the revenue was as follows : 



Thalers. 



1. Ministry of Finance 96,008,657 



of Commerce and Industry 58,495,235 



of State 58,117 



of Justice 13.226,200 



of Interior 910,025 



of Agriculture 983,252 



of Worship, Instruction, and Med- 

 ical Affairs 120,471 



From the Hohenzollern districts 162,514 



Grand total of revenue 169,964,471 



The expenditures summed up as follows : 



The interest-bearing public debt amounted 

 to 431,563,292 thalers; the non-interest-bear- 

 ing debt to 20,953,932 thalers ; making a total 

 of 452,517,224 thalers. The amount required 

 for interest and commission was estimated at 

 17,422,821 thalers; for amortization, 8,666,141 

 thalers; for rents, 435,721 thalers; for expen- 

 diture on the non-interest-bearing debt, 6,000 

 thalers; for administration, 117,916 thalers; 

 for interest and amortization of the Hohen- 

 zollern debt, 11,439 thalers; total amount 

 required, 26,660,039 thalers. 



The Prussian Diet was opened by the King 

 on November 22d. The royal speech drew a 

 broad line of demarcation between the juris- 

 diction of the German Reichstag and that of 

 the Prussian Diet. The Minister of Finance, 

 Camphausen, in the name of the Government, 

 proposed to use the reserve funds of the public 

 Treasury for paying on the public debt, for 

 increasing the salaries of the public teachers, 

 for making liberal grants for the encourage- 

 ment of art and science, and for making a con- 

 siderable reduction in the public debt. In the 

 Herrenhaus (House of Lords), Count Stollberg- 

 Werndgerode, by 84 against 4 votes, was elected 

 president, Prince von Putbus first vice-presi- 

 dent, and Count second vice-president. 



The Plouse of Deputies reelected Herr von 

 Forchenbeck president by 252 against 67 votes. 



