344 



GEKMANY. 



The German Reichstag, after its recess for 

 the holidays, resumed its labors on January 

 19th. The first question of importance that 

 came before it was a consideration of the 

 amendments to the penal code. The conflict 

 between the Liberal majority and Prince Bis- 

 marck, which had begun in 1875, continued in 

 1876. On January 27th a spirited debate en- 

 sued on the amendment to section 130, directed 

 against acts inciting hostility between different 

 classes and attacking national institutions, in 

 the course of which Count Eulenburg, the Min- 

 ister of the Interior, stated that the paragraph 

 was directed against the Social Democrats, 

 against whom the Government was in need of 

 more effectual weapons. He declared their 

 aim to be the "Red Republic," with com- 

 munism and atheism. The paragraph was 

 finally rejected by a unanimous vote. On the 

 28th the Reichstag rejected the addition pro- 

 hibiting the publication of political pastoral 

 letters and encyclicals, and on the 29th they 

 adopted the so-called " Arnim paragraph, 1 ' re- 

 lating to offenses similar to that of Count Ar- 

 nim. The second reading of the amendments 

 was finished on the 29th, the other paragraphs 

 besides those mentioned being of minor im- 

 portance. In the third reading the " pulpit 

 paragraph," which had been rejected in the 

 second reading, was also passed, and on Feb- 

 ruary 10th Prince Bismarck read an imperial 

 message, closing the session, and, in the name 

 of the Federal Council, thanked the House for 

 their labors. Besides the amendment to the 

 penal code, the House in the session passed, 

 among other laws, the law against the copy- 

 ing of works of art, of models and patterns, 

 and of photographs. 



Soon after the close of the Reichstag in Feb- 

 ruary the Parliaments of the different German 

 states began to assemble : in Weimar, on Feb- 

 ruary 14th ; for Mecklenburg, in Sternberg, on 

 February 16th ; and in Munich and Dresden, 

 on February 21st. The all-absorbing question 

 in all of these states was the scheme of the Im- 

 perial Government for buying up all the Ger- 

 man railroads. In the Bavarian Chamber of 

 Deputies the matter was brought up by an in- 



terpellation of the Government by Herr Frei- 

 tag, one of the leaders of the Catholic party, 

 who assumed that the Bavarian Government 

 railroads were also to be bought by the em- 

 pire. Against such a plan (the assumption of 

 which was, however, entirely unwarranted by 

 the facts), Herr von Pfretzschner, the Presi- 

 dent of the Ministry, declared himself with 

 great precision, making particular reference to 

 the reserved rights of Bavaria. In the begin- 

 ning of March similar interpellations were 

 raised in Carlsruhe and Dresden, and were an- 

 swered in both states with equal decision as in 

 Bavaria. In Dresden a resolution was passed 

 at the same time by a vote of 66 to 7, request- 

 ing of the Government to oppose every de- 

 mand for the sale of the Saxon railways, while 

 a resolution in favor of a strong railroad law 

 for the empire was rejected by a vote of 53 

 to 15. In Stuttgart the Chamber of Deputies 

 passed a resolution by a vote of 88 to 6 against 

 the purchase of the railroads by the empire, 

 but also one demanding a stronger railroad law 

 for the empire. In Bavaria the conflict between 

 the Catholic majority of two against the min- 

 istry, and particularly against Herr Lutz, the 

 Minister of Religious Affairs, continued dur- 

 ing 1876 with the same want of success as 

 during the previous year. The King effectu- 

 ally aided the ministry, while the more liberal 

 faction of the Catholic party, under Dr. Jorg, 

 avoided extreme measures. The action of the 

 Catholics in invalidating the election of Lib- 

 erals in several districts resulted in the re- 

 election of the Liberal candidates by increased 

 majorities. In Saxony the Government brought 

 in several bills, which had for their object the 

 restriction of the power of the Catholic clergy. 

 On May 17th the Landesausschuss of Alsace- 

 Lorraine met for the first time in Strasburg, its 

 labors being approved both by the Govern- 

 ment and the people of these provinces. In the 

 Lower Chamber of Baden a very spirited debate 

 ensued, when, in considering the budget, the 

 title " Catholic Church " was reached. As the 

 archiepiscopal see of Freiburg remained vacant 

 during 1875, the Government had made no de- 

 mand for the 13,400 florins usually appropri- 



