680 



PRUSSIA. 



PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



in Prussia, and the dangers of further delay in 

 attending to the matter are pointed out. The 

 most remarkable passage in these reasons is 

 the following : " In case the endeavors of the 

 Prussian Government respecting the transfer- 

 ence of the Prussian railway property to the 

 empire should fail by the opposition of some 

 influential parties in the empire, there could 

 be no doubt that Prussia herself would try 

 with the greatest energy to accomplish the 

 task, and would have especially to consider, as 

 the next step in the carrying out of her rail- 

 way policy, the enlargement and consolidation 

 of her own railway system. What Prussia 

 owes her confederates would then be paid, 

 and nothing would henceforth hinder her op- 

 posing the detrimental division existing in the 

 railway affairs, and the preponderance of pri- 

 vate railway influence. The consequence of 

 this Prussian railway policy would then prob- 

 ably be that by enlargement of the state rail- 

 way system, and full development of the influ- 

 ence arising from the possession and adminis- 

 tration of the railways, the ascendency of the 

 interests of the Prussian lines would be felt 

 far beyond the limits of Prussian territory." 



As Herr Delbriick, the president of the of- 

 fice of the Chancellor of the Empire, resigned 

 at the time when the House of Deputies be- 

 gan the discussion of the bill, it was believed 

 by many that the resignation was caused by a 

 disagreement between Bismarck and Delbriick, 

 but Prince Bismarck emphatically declared 

 that it was unconnected with the railway ques- 

 tion, and solely due to the condition of Herr 

 Delbriick's health. The bill was favorably re- 

 ceived by the majority of the Diet as tending 

 to strengthen the consolidation and unity of 

 the empire, and it was on April 29th passed to 

 a second reading in the House of Deputies by 

 the test-vote of 206 against 165. The bill for 

 the incorporation of the duchy of Lauenburg 

 with the kingdom of Prussia was passed with- 

 out opposition, and was unanimously ratified, 

 on June 2d, by the Lauenburg Diet.' The bill 

 providing for the introduction of the new 

 synodal constitution of the United Evangelical 

 Church * was approved (by the House of Dep- 

 uties, on May 9th, by 211 against 141 votes), 

 and the bill for the administration of the prop- 

 erty of the Catholic Church obtained the ap- 

 proval of all the parties except the Centre and 

 the Poles the vote in the House of Deputies 

 being 211 for and only 92 against it. The 

 violent opposition, on the part of the Poles, 

 to another Government bill, which makes the 

 German the only official language throughout 

 the monarchy, proved likewise unavailing. On 

 one of the most important bills of the session, 

 the so-called Competence bill, which is de- 

 signed to regulate the powers of all authori- 

 ties created by the laws published in 1872 and 

 1875 concerning the self-government of prov- 

 inces, an agreement between the Government 

 and the majority of the two Houses was ef- 

 * See ANNUAL CTOLOP.BDU. for 18T5, p. 65k 



fected in the last days of the session. "With 

 regard to another important bill concerning 

 the " Stadteordnung," or municipal govern- 

 ment, the majority of the House of Deputies 

 refused to concur in the proposition of the 

 Government as sanctioned by the House of 

 Lords. It demanded an extension of the au- 

 tonomy or self-government of cities to a degree 

 which, in the opinion of the Government, 

 would endanger the unity of the state, and a 

 democratic change in the electoral law which 

 at the present time, as the Government 

 thought, would dangerously increase the in- 

 fluence of the Catholic Church and the social 

 democratic party upon the masses of the pop- 

 ulation. The session was closed on June 30th 

 by the Vice-President of the Ministry, Camp- 

 hausen, without a speech from the throne. 



The election of a new Prussian House of 

 Deputies took place on October 27th. After 

 the incorporation of the duchy of Lauenburg, 

 which elects one deputy, the total number of 

 the members of the Prussian Diet is 433. In 

 the former Diet the two liberal parties, the 

 National Liberals and the Party of Progress, 

 had an aggregate of 242 members. In the 

 new House they number 248, of whom 70 (an 

 increase of 1) belong to the Party ot Progress, 

 and 178 (an increase of 5) to the National 

 Liberals. To these must be added 3 " Old 

 Liberals" (a decrease of 1), and 5 Liberals who 

 are not connected with any of the parliamen- 

 tary parties. The " Centre " has, as before, 88 

 members, among whom are 4 " Hospitanten " 

 (visitors). The Poles have lost 3 districts, and 

 have been reduced to 15. Northern Schlee- 

 wig again sends 2 Danes. The various con- 

 servative parties have, as in the preceding 

 House, an aggregate of 72 members. 



The conflict between the Prussian Govern- 

 ment and the Catholic Church continued 

 throughout the year undiminished. On March 

 8th the Bishop of Miinster, and ( n July 17th 

 the Archbishop of Cologne, were deposed 

 from their sees, and the property of their dio- 

 ceses was placed under the administration of 

 st*it Q officers 



PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. Message of Presi- 

 dent GKANT, cut the commencement of the second 

 session of the Forty-fourth Congress, December 

 5, 1876. 



To the Senate and House of Representatives : 



In submitting my eighth and last annual message 

 to Congress, it seems proper that I should refer to, 

 and in some degree recapitulate, the events and offi- 

 cial acts of the past eight years. 



It was my fortune, or misfortune, to be called to 

 the office of Chief Executive without any previous 

 political training. From the age of seventeen I had 

 never even witnessed the excitement attending a 

 presidential campaign but twice antecedent to my 

 own candidacy, and at but one of them was I eligi- 

 ble as a voter. 



Under such circumstances it is but reasonable to 

 suppose that errors of judgment must have occurred. 

 Even had they not, differences of opinion between 

 the Executive, bound by an oath to the strict per- 

 formance of his duties, and writers and debaters, 

 must have arisen. It is not necessarily evidence of 



