GERMANY. 



379 



ministers they were constitutionally dependent 

 upon the King only, and independent of the 

 Premier ; while, if obeying the German Govern- 

 ment, they would practically have to submit to 

 Prince Bismarck, the real and only responsible 

 member of the German departments. Prince 

 Bismarck had long objected to this extraordi- 

 nary state of affairs, and in 1877 announced his 

 determination to resign rather than allow the 

 German Government to be hampered by the 

 Prussian. Failing to carry his point, he com- 

 promised the matter by accepting a prolonged 

 leave of absence, from which he only returned 

 upon the reassembling of Parliament. His re- 

 turn was preceded by the introduction of a 

 bill allowing the appointment of substitutes 

 to take charge of the several German depart- 

 ments in place of Prince Bismarck. The 

 Federal Council, unfavorable at first, finally 

 gave in, and at a friendly compromise permitted 

 said substitutes to be installed for the central 

 imperial departments directed, though for the 

 state offices merely supervised, by the German 

 Government. It being understood that the sub- 

 stitutes in question were to be those members 

 of the Prussian Cabinet presiding over the cor- 

 responding departments in the largest of the 

 allied states, the partial identification of the 

 German and Prussian Cabinets was thus im- 

 plicitly approved by the Federal Council. A 

 long debate occurred on March 5th on the bill, 

 which was warmly defended by Prince Bis- 

 marck. The idea of making the substitutes 

 responsible ministers was deprecated by the 

 Prince, at least for the time being. He left it 

 for the future to decide whether these new 

 functionaries, or the representatives of the va- 

 rious sovereigns assembled in the Federal Coun- 

 cil, would some day constitute a lonafide act- 

 ing cabinet of the empire. The bill was finally 

 read for the third time on March llth, and 

 passed without alteration by a vote of 171 to 

 101. The Reichstag adjourned on April 13th 

 for the Easter holidays. It assembled again on 

 the 30th, but could not transact any business 

 on that day, as it had no quorum. 



Immediately upon the first attempt to assas- 

 sinate the Emperor, a bill was introduced into 

 the Reichsrath by the Prussian Government, 

 authorizing repressive measures against the So- 

 cial Democrats. That portion of the bill aim- 

 ing at the summary suppression of Socialis 

 tic meetings, journals, and pamphlets, was en- 

 dorsed by the Federal Council. The last clause, 

 however, authorizing in the vaguest language 

 similar measures against all dangerous writings 

 and speeches, was struck out. On May 23d 

 the bill was introduced in the German Parlia- 

 ment by Herr Hofmann, the President of the 

 German Chancery. Having regretted the ne- 

 cessity of exceptional measures against a nu- 

 merous section of German society, Herr Hof- 

 mann referred to previous abortive bills of a 

 similar nature, and held Parliament responsible 

 if the new measure now submitted should fail. 

 He hoped that the state .would finally vanquish 



Socialism at no distant time. Meanwhile for- 

 cible repression was indispensable. Herr von 

 Bennigsen, leader of the Moderate Liberals, 

 in reply charged the Federal Council with in- 

 troducing a bill which they knew beforehand 

 would be thrown out by an overwhelming ma- 

 jority. It almost seemed as if the bill had 

 been submitted, not to be passed, but, by re- 

 jection, to afford an opportunity for dissolu- 

 tion or other similar measures. The Federal 

 Council had better not indulge in experiments 

 of this dangerous nature. Though the Moder- 

 ate Liberals recognized the necessity of resist- 

 ing the progress of Socialist agitation, they 

 did not consider the present bill an efficient or 

 suitable measure. Vague, indistinct, and, more- 

 over, optional in its application, it conferred 

 dictatorial rights upon the Government. But 

 the men forming that Government might be 

 dismissed to-morrow. In Prussia the ministe- 

 rial crisis was, so to say, en permanence. Min- 

 isters came and went very suddenly. The 

 Chancellor was ill, and his deputy not yet in 

 office. He denied, moreover, that the general 

 condition of German society required a dicta- 

 torship to be instituted. He contended that 

 when tens of thousands were permitted to as- 

 semble in the streets and display red revolu- 

 tionary emblems, as had repeatedly occurred, 

 the existing laws were too leniently carried 

 out. He was also in a position to promise, on 

 the part of his political friends, that if the laws 

 concerning meetings and societies were thought 

 insufficient to stay Socialist agitation, they 

 were ready to amend existing statutes. But 

 they would neither legislate against one par- 

 ticular class, nor invest the executive with ex- 

 ceptional rights at the expense of the ordinary 

 and regular administration of justice. On the 

 following day, the 24th, the first clause of the 

 bill was rejected by 257 to 52, after which the 

 Government withdrew the bill. The session 

 was then closed by President Hofmann. 



The second attempt on the life of the Emper- 

 or made a temporary change of government 

 necessary. The wounds received by the Em- 

 peror compelled him to abstain from all busi- 

 ness, and on June 5th an imperial decree was 

 issued, intrusting the Crown Prince with the 

 direction of public business during the period 

 of the Emperor's forced withdrawal from state 

 affairs. 



On June 15th the Federal Council consid- 

 ered a proposal from the Prussian Government 

 to dissolve Parliament, and gave its unanimous 

 consent to it. The new elections were ordered 

 for July 30th. The elections held on that day, 

 together with the supplementary elections held 

 on August 17th, gave the following result : 60 

 German Imperialists, 50 Conservatives, 97 Na- 

 tional Liberals, 99 Ultramontanes (inclusive 

 of 5 Alsatian Clericals), 25 Progressists, 15 

 Poles, 9 Guelphs, 9 Social Democrats, 3 South 

 German Democrats, 4 Alsatian Autonomists, 

 6 Alsatian Protesters, 1 Dane, and 19 Indepen- 

 dents, most of whom, however, were in sym- 



