354 



GERMANY. 



The German Imperial Parliament refers to the 

 Chancellor of the German Empire the enclosed peti- 

 tions praying for, and protesting against, the expul- 

 sion of the Jesuits. The German Imperial Parlia- 

 ment requests the Chancellor of the German Empire 

 to take measures firstly, that peace and concord be- 

 tween the various Churches and denominations be 

 preserved in the empire ; that the members of the 

 various Churches and denominations enjoy an equal- 

 ity of rights, and that the subject be protected against 

 undue arrogance and coercion on the part of the 

 clergy ; and, secondly, that a bill be introduced, on 

 the strength of the introductory paragraph, as well 

 asCl&use'IV., alinea 13 and 16 of the Constitution 

 of the Empire, which shall regulate the position of 

 all religious orders, congregations, and societies, de- 

 cide whether they shall be admitted, and on what 

 terms, and enact adequate penalties, should they im- 

 peril public order and safety, special regard being 

 Had in all this to the action of the Order of the 

 Jesuits. 



In compliance with this resolution, the Fed- 

 eral Council, on June llth, adopted a bill con- 

 sisting of two sections, the first authorizing 

 the police authorities to forbid members of the 

 Society of Jesuits, or of any kindred society, 

 to reside in any part of the empire, even if they 

 possess rights as natives, and the second, provid- 

 ing that the necessary instructions for carrying 

 out this measure will be issued by the Federal 

 Council. At the first reading of the bill in the 

 Reichstag, the Federal Commissary Friedberg 

 declared that the law was but provisional, and 

 necessitated by the dangerous opposition of 

 the Order of Jesus to the State. The measure 

 was not in antagonism to the Roman Catholic 

 Church, and the Order of Jesus must not in 

 any way be identified with that creed. The Fed- 

 eral Commissary designated as kindred socie- 

 ties the Ligorians and the Freres Ignorantins, 

 as well as two orders of school-fellows, which 

 were respectively under French and Roman 

 authority. At a meeting of the leaders of the 

 various parties of the Reichstag, with the ex- 

 ception of the Centre (Catholic) party, the foK 

 lowing proposal was agreed upon relative to 

 the Jesuits, as a substitute for the Government 

 bill : 



1. The Government to bring in a bill prohibiting 

 the Order of Jesuits and all such orders and con- 

 gregations connected therewith. The establishment 

 of new branches of such orders is also to be for- 

 bidden, and the dissolution ordered of all those at 

 present existing within a period of net more than 

 six months, which, however, is to be fixed by the 

 Federal Council. 



2. Members of thoso orders and congregations, 

 if foreigners, to be expelled from the empire'; and, 

 if natives, to be ordered away from certain places or 

 to be " interned " in places assigned for that purpose. 



3. The order for the execution of this law, which 

 will be intrusted to the highest police authorities of 

 the country, will be issued by the Federal Council, 

 before whom all complaints respecting the execution 

 of the law will be laid, but such complaints shall in 

 no way hinder the execution of the law. The Fed- 

 eral Council may appoint a special committee for that 

 purpose. 



This substitute passed a third reading on 

 June 19th, by 131 against 93 votes. On the 

 same day a motion of Deputy Voelk for the 

 introduction of obligatory civil marriages and 



registration was opposed by 151 against 100 

 votes, after which President Delbrueck, by 

 order of the Emperor, declared the session of 

 the Reichstag closed. 



The Railway Treaty between Germany and 

 Luxembourg was signed at Berlin on June 

 llth. By the provisions of the treaty, Ger- 

 many undertakes never to do any thing at 

 variance with the principle of Luxembourg's 

 neutrality, and never to use the Luxembourg 

 Railway for the transport of troops. In time 

 of war this railway i* not to be used for con- 

 veying military supplies. The treaty was, on 

 June 19th, approved by the German Reichs- 

 tag. In the Luxembourg Chamber, on June 

 25th, M. Servais, the Minister for Foreign Af- 

 fairs, gave an account of the different phases 

 through which the negotiations with Germany 

 on the subject of the railways had passed. 

 The minister remarked, in the course of his 

 speech: "Luxembourg has not obtained all 

 she had asked for, nor all that might have 

 been conceded to her, but the treaty, as con- 

 cluded, strengthens our political as well as 

 commercial and industrial position. I con- 

 sidered it my duty to accept the convention, 

 and I believe you have sufficient confidence in 

 me to act as I have done." The Chamber, on 

 June 27th, after a short debate, unanimously 

 ratified the treaty. 



On June 10th, the official paper of the Em- 

 pire promulgated the law excluding the Society 

 of Jesus from the territory of the German 

 Empire. It also contained an ordinance for 

 enforcing the law inhibiting the Jesuits from 

 in any way exercising the duties of their order 

 especially in churches, schools, or missionary 

 work. The dissolution of the branches of the 

 society was ordered to be carried out within 

 six months. Other regulations on this subject 

 were left to the police authorities. 



A German Catholic society at Rome, having 

 waited upon the Pope to assure him of their 

 unchanging allegiance, the Holy Father com- 

 plained of the persecution of the Catholic 

 Church in the German Empire, in terms which 

 caused an extraordinary sensation in Germany. 

 (See ROMAN CATHOLIC CHTJKCH, page 355.) 



One sentence, in particular, of the address, 

 was regarded in Berlin as a direct menace to 

 the existence of the German Empire and an 

 open declaration of war : and an official paper, 

 the Provincial Correspondent, remarked: 



This frank and outspoken avowal of his senti- 

 ments by the Pope is also another proof that in all 

 questions of ecclesiastical import we have to deal 

 not with individual bishops, but with the head- 

 quarters of the Church and the parties directing the 

 attack that is being made against us. In repelling 

 this attack, the German Government, thereforCj will 

 not only have to punish individual offenders living 

 under its own jurisdiction, but will also have to 

 remember that the ecclesiastical movement in this 

 country is connected with foreign interests adverse 

 to our own, and that it is opposed to the position 

 and national independence of Germany, whatever 

 we do, we shall henceforth remember that our ad- 

 versaries aim at smashing the feet of the Colossus. 



