378 



GERMANY. 



throwing open the offices of solicitor and barrister to 

 all qualitied persons, without impairing the guaran- 

 tees which have so long secured an honorable posi- 

 tion to our lawyers. 



The laws and the rules of judicial procedure nav- 

 inf been equalized in Germany, we require a corre- 

 sponding uniformity in the matter of judicial charges. 

 A bill on this subject will be submitted to you. 



Though the cattle-plague has been successfully ex- 

 terminated each time the infection has spread across 

 the frontier, we deem it necessary to increase the 

 penalties inflicted for the illegal importation of cat- 

 tle, and probably shall require your cooperation for 

 the enactment of'a new law. 



The perils resulting from the adulteration of pro- 

 visions and other necessaries of life have induced 

 the allied Governments to devise a bill intended to 

 counteract the growing evil. 



To satisfy the wishes expressed in your last ses- 

 sion, two bills have been drawn up for the purpose 

 of amending the existing laws on industry and com- 

 merce. One of these bills regulates the relations be- 

 tween workingmen and their employers ; the other 

 Provides for the establishment of special courts ^to 

 ecide promptly and equitably any differences aris- 

 ing in the pursuit of industry and trade. ^ Both bills 

 are designed to remove difficulties affecting the de- 

 velopment of our industry, and doubly felt at the 

 present time in the lasting depression of commerce. 



His Majesty the Emperor regrets that the negotia- 

 tions with Austro-Hungary for the purpose of a re- 

 newal of the existing treaty of commerce have till 

 now failed to produce a satisfactory result. To gain 

 time, however, for fresh negotiations the existing 

 treaty has been prolonged to the 1st of July, 1878. We 

 hope that we may yet succeed in securing an agree- 

 ment advantageous to our mutual interests and in 

 harmony with the friendly and neighborly relations 

 subsisting between Germany and Austro-Hungary. 

 To enable you to judge of the preceding stages of the 

 negotiations, n memorial will be presented to you. 



When Parliament met last year, it was still ex- 

 pected that the Turkish Government might deem 

 it expedient to adopt the reforms conjointly recom- 

 mended by the European Powers at the Constan- 

 tinople Conference. This anticipation was disap- 

 pointed. His Majesty the Emperor is in hopes that 

 the principles of the Conference will be carried out 

 and consolidated upon the conclusion of peace, and 

 that peace will not be long in coming. Germany 

 not being directly concerned in the East, we are 

 enabled to cooperate disinterestedly in the pending 

 transactions, with ;-. view to facilitate an understand- 

 ing between the Powers and to promote the welfare 

 of the Christian populations. The policy prescribed 

 by his Majesty the Emperor has been so far success- 

 ful, as it has materially contributed to preserve peace 

 between the Powers and to allow of our maintaining, 

 not merely pacific, but very friendly relations with 

 the rest of Europe. With Divine assistance, we hope 

 to continue in the enjoyment of this blessing. 



The Reichstag organized by reflecting its 

 former presidents, vice-presidents, and secre- 

 taries. On the 16th Herr Hofmann, Presi- 

 dent of the Imperial Chancery, in introducing 

 the first debate on the budget, made the cus- 

 tomary financial statement. He said that at 

 the close of the current financial year there 

 was a deficit of 19,022,600 marks, and the 

 new budget under discussion would bring up 

 the deficit to upward of 28,000,000 marks. 

 To cover this deficit the Government pro- 

 posed, instead of increasing the matriculatory 

 contributions of the several states, to increase 

 the receipts from the revenue of the empire 

 itself. After a long discussion the House re- 



solved to refer the most important items of 

 the budget to the Budget Committee, and the 

 estimates for the postal, telegraph, and railway 

 services to a special committee for preliminary 

 discussion. On the 18th Prince Bismarck, in 

 explaining the views of the Government with 

 regard to the Eastern question, said that Ger- 

 many's chief interest in the East was that the 

 Danube and the Straits should be free as 

 heretofore. In a second speech he said that 

 the German relations with Austria were ex- 

 cellent. u The two Emperors," he said, " have 

 real confidence in each other, and I have much 

 pleasure in regarding myself as a personal friend 

 of Count Andrassy. " On the 22d Prince Bis- 

 marck, finding the proposed increase of the 

 tobacco duty resisted by a large majority, told 

 the House that he could not deem himself re- 

 sponsible for the details of the measure. He 

 no doubt approved the general tendency of the 

 bill, and indeed had no hesitation in avowing 

 that he regarded the raising of the tobacco 

 duty as a mere preliminary to the introduction 

 of the Government monopoly. Yet he de- 

 clined to defend the particulars of the bill, or 

 the financial policy from which it sprang. The 

 finances of the empire were virtually directed 

 by the Prussian Finance Minister, a gentleman 

 who, in his capacity as a member of the Prus- 

 sian Cabinet, was an independent agent, and 

 whose connection with the German Govern- 

 ment was too independent to subject him to 

 any kind of control. He (Prince Bismarck) ad- 

 mitted that it would be impossible to have a 

 German and a Prussian finance minister acting 

 side by side, both attending to very nearly the 

 same business ; but the relations between the 

 German and Prussian Governments ought to 

 be more suitably arranged. Herr Camphau- 

 sen replied to this speech on the following day, 

 when he informed the House that, after the 

 views uttered upon the tobacco bill in various 

 quarters, it was hardly worth his while to at- 

 tempt its defense. All he could say was, that 

 in a memorandum presented to the Chancellor 

 in 187V he had likewise declared in favor of the 

 gradual introduction of the monopoly. He 

 would stand or fall with the bill. As the to- 

 bacco bill was sure to be rejected, this seemed 

 to settle the fate of the Minister of Finance. 

 Prince Bismarck, indeed, at once endeavored to 

 put a conciliatory interpretation upon his pre- 

 vious utterances; but after what had tran- 

 spired, an arrangement was impossible, and on 

 February 28th Herr Camphausen tendered his 

 resignation to the Emperor. This incident is 

 easily understood by remembering the habitual 

 antagonism between the Prussian and the Ger- 

 man Governments. Prussian cabinet ministers 

 in their relations to the German Government 

 have shown themselves as a rule quite as anx- 

 ious to vindicate the prerogatives of the king- 

 dom against the central authorities of the em- 

 pire as any minor state minister. Their policy 

 in this respect had been partly based upon and 

 promoted by the circumstance that as Prussian 



