GERMANY. 



381 



cil provided that the central authorities of the 

 Federal States are to be competent to deal with 

 cases arising out of this prohibition, which will 

 apply to the whole territory of the Federal 

 States. Complaints may be made against this 

 prohibition to an imperial bureau to be created 

 for questions of public meetings and the press, 

 and which shall consist of at least nine mem- 

 bers, five belonging to the judicial bench. The 

 bill further lays down specified penalties for 

 every infraction of the law, the smallest being 

 a fine, and the heaviest one year's imprison- 

 ment. Persons who make a business of serving 

 the aims of the Socialists may be forbidden to 

 sojourn in particular places or districts, and for- 

 eigners can be expelled ; and in similar cases 

 printers, booksellers, hotel-keepers, and inn- 

 keepers may be forbidden to carry on their 

 trade, and printing establishments may be 

 closed. In places and districts where the pub- 

 lic safety is endangered through the machi- 

 nations of the Socialists, the central authori- 

 ties may, with the sanction of the Federal 

 Council, issue orders to the effect that, for the 

 space of one year, meetings can only be held 

 with an authorization from the police, and that 

 the sale of printed matter in the public streets 

 shall be prohibited; that persons without em- 

 ployment or means of subsistence shall be ex- 

 pelled; and that restrictions shall be placed 

 upon the possession, carrying, and sale of arms. 

 The principal amendment made to the bill in 

 the House was a clause limiting its action to 

 two years and a half. After the passage of the 

 bill, Prince Bismarck read a message from the 

 Emperor authorizing him to close the Reichs- 

 tag. The Prince expressed his satisfaction at 

 the passage of the bill, 'and said that the Fed- 

 eral Governments were determined, with the 

 means provided by this measure, to make a 

 sincere effort to cure the prevalent disease. 

 They could scarcely succeed in accomplishing 

 this in the space of two years and a half, but 

 the Government hopes for further concessions 

 from the Reichstag after the discussions which 

 had taken place. 



Immediately upon the passage of the Anti- 

 Socialist bill in the Reichstag, the Government 

 took measures to carry it into effect. Numer- 

 ous socialistic clubs and newspapers were sup- 

 pressed, and a large number of Socialists ex- 

 pelled from Berlin. 



On December 5th Emperor William returned 

 to Berlin and again assumed the government. 



Two attempts were made upon the life of 

 the Emperor during the year. The first took 

 place on the afternoon of May llth, while he 

 was returning from a drive. The name of 

 the would-be assassin was Heinrich Max Ho- 

 del, usually called Lehmann. He was a native 

 of Leipsic, and was twenty-one years old. He 

 fired two shots at the Emperor, and two more 

 at the bystanders. None of the shots, how- 

 ever, took effect on the Emperor. Hodel, when 

 arrested, called himself a member of the Anar- 

 chical party, admitted having called and pre- 



sided over socialistic meetings at Leipsic, and 

 had socialistic literature and portraits in his 

 possession. The attempted assassination pro- 

 duced the greatest excitement, and wherever 

 the Emperor showed himself he was greeted 

 with demonstrations of joy. The second at- 

 tempt was made on June 2d, and was attended 

 with more serious results. As the Emperor 

 was passing through the street Unter den Lin- 

 den, two shots were fired from the house No. 

 18, wounding the Emperor in several places. 

 The assassin was Karl Eduard Nobiling, a doc- 

 tor of philology. On being arrested, he in- 

 flicted severe wounds upon himself in the 

 head, after first firing with a revolver upon 

 the persons who forced their way into his 

 room. Nobiling confessed his crime, but ob- 

 stinately refused to make any statement as to 

 the motives which induced him to commit it. 

 The Emperor was wounded by about thirty 

 small shot in the face, head, both arms, and 

 back. Hodel was executed on August 17th, 

 and Nobiling died by his own hand on Sep- 

 tember 12th, in a lunatic asylum to which he 

 had been committed. 



On February 18th two royal marriages were 

 celebrated in Berlin, in the presence of a large 

 number of German and foreign princes. Prin- 

 cess Charlotte, the eldest daughter of the 

 Crown Prince of Germany, was married to 

 the hereditary Duke of Saxe-Meiningen ; and 

 Princess Elizabeth, a daughter of Prince Fred- 

 erick Charles, to the hereditary Grand Duke of 

 Oldenburg. 



An international exhibition of all kinds of 

 paper and pasteboard was opened at Berlin on 

 July 20th, and closed on September 1st. The 

 exhibition, the first of the kind ever attempted, 

 was a complete success. Contributions were 

 received from 531 firms, including most of the 

 leading houses in Germany, Austria, England, 

 France, Belgium, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, 

 Russia, Italy, Switzerland, and the United 

 States. 



Pope Leo XIII., on ascending the Papal 

 throne, sent a letter to the Emperor announc- 

 ing his accession, and expressing regret at the 

 misunderstandings that had lately occurred be- 

 tween Germany and the Vatican ; to which the 

 Emperor answered on March 24th. The Pope 

 rejoined April 17th, expressing a hope that the 

 good understanding which had formerly sub- 

 sisted between the Vatican and the Govern- 

 ment at Berlin would be restored by a change 

 in the laws and charter of Prussia. To this 

 the Crown Prince replied, June 10th, express- 

 ing regret that the Emperor was still unable 

 to thank his Holiness for the sympathy he 

 had expressed in consequence of the recent 

 attempt on the Emperor's life, and continu- 

 ing: "The Emperor delayed answering the 

 letter of your Holiness of April 17th, hoping 

 that a confidential exchange of opinion might 

 enable us to obviate that written expression 

 of opposite principles which must have ensued 

 if the correspondence were continued. From 



