PRUSSIA. 



653 



REVENUE. 



Ministry of Finances 354,565,741 



Ministry of Commerce 

 Ministry of State 

 Ministry of Justice 

 Ministry of the Interior 



Ministry of Agriculture 3,490,780 



Ministry of Education and Ecclesiastical Affairs . . 1,364,726 



Total 694,498,919 



EXPENDITURES. 

 I. ORDINARY EXPENDITURES: 



Costs of administration 275,920,381 



Charges on consolidated debt 60,811,280 



Administrative expenditures 276,954,785 



Total ordinary expenditures 613,636,446 



II. EXTRAORDINARY EXPENDITURES 80,812,473 



Total of all expenditures 694,498,919 



The public debt, according to the budget of 

 3875 (end of the year 1874), was as follows: 



I. INTEREST-BEARING DEBT : 



1. Of the old provinces 799,853,341 



2. Of the new provincesm 99,433,767 



3. Floating debt 30,000,900 



: 929,287,108 



II. KENTES 28,500,000 



III. DEBT BEARING NO INTEREST 56,440,699 



Total 1,014,227,807 



The following table exhibits the rapid reduc- 

 tion of the public debt of Prussia during the 

 last two years : 



YEARS. Capital. Interest. 



Total debt, end of 1874. . . 1,014,227,807 38,927,635 



" " 1873 1,031,382,307 41,476.494 



" 1872 1,317,888,534 51,073,287 



The session of the Prussian Diet was opened 

 on January 16th, by the Vice-President of the 

 Ministry, Camphausen. The opening speech 

 declared that many of the bills which would 

 be submitted to the Diet were of unusual 

 importance. This was especially the case 

 with those regulating the legal condition of 

 the Catholic Church, and those introducing 

 the principle of self-government into the ad- 

 ministration of districts and provinces. The 

 condition of the finances was represented as ex- 

 tremely favorable, and as allowing an increase 

 of the salaries of clergymen and teachers. 

 The session lasted until June 15th. At first It 

 seemed that the bills relating to the organiza- 

 tion of provincial and circle diets would l>e 

 the most prominent, but the conflict between 

 the Government and the Roman Catholic 

 Church steadily increased so much that it en- 

 gaged the attention of all parties of the Diet, 

 in preference to any other question. In regard 

 to the former question, the Government agreed, 

 on the whole, with the Liberal party and the 

 majority of the Diet. On several questions 

 there was, however, a difference of opinion 

 between the Government and the Diet and be- 

 tween the two Houses of the Diet. The Gov- 

 ernment favored the postponement of the in- 

 troduction of the new " Kreisordnung," or or- 

 ganization of circles (the administrative sub- 

 divisions of provinces), which in the five east- 

 ern provinces of Prussia has been carried 

 through, into Westphalia and the Pthine Prov- 



GENERAL VIEW OF BERLIN. 



ince, on the ground that there it might give still 

 greater strength to the powerful Ultramontane 

 party. The House of Deputies, however, did 

 not approve of this plan, and on February llth 

 adopted, by 292 against 28 votes, a motion by 

 Prof. Virchow (of the Party of Progress), to 



extend the Kreisordnung to the two western 

 provinces. In the discussion of the Promncial- 

 ordnung, the two Houses chiefly differed in 

 regard to the organization of the provincial 

 council, or committee, which is to represent 

 the provincial Diet in questions relating to the 



