344 



GERMANY. 



1881, published a summary of the result of the 

 tobacco-crop in the German customs terri- 

 tory for the year ending June 30, 1881. This 

 is of particular importance, as this year was 

 the first in which the provisions of the law of 

 July 16, 1879, were carried into effect. The 

 area planted with tobacco was 2,417,594 acres, 

 690,298 acres more than in the preceding year. 

 This increase is due in a great measure to the 

 unusually high price paid during 1879 viz., 

 75'40 marks for 100 kilogrammes of dried 

 leaves. The crop in 1880 was a very large one, 

 51,531,593 kilogrammes, or 2,132 kilogrammes 

 per hectare. Of this amount 15,289,684 kilo- 

 grammes were raised in Baden, 13,524,830 

 kilogrammes in Prussia, 11,028,757 kilo- 

 grammes in Bavaria, and 8,025,135 kilogrammes 

 in Alsace-Lorraine. The total value of the 

 crop was estimated at 36,500,000 marks. 



Parliament was opened on February 15th, 

 by a speech from the throne read by Count 

 Stolberg-Wernigerode. It contained an im- 

 portant appeal to the workingmen. The Em- 

 peror declared that the remedy for socialist 

 excesses must be sought not only in repression, 

 but equally in a positive attempt to promote 

 the welfare of the laboring classes. For this 

 reason he hoped the Workingmen's Accident 

 Insurance Bill would be welcomed by the 

 Parliament as a complement to the legislation 

 against social democracy. In the same cate- 

 gory he placed a bill to regulate the constitu- 

 tion of trade -guilds by affording means for 

 organizing the isolated powers of persons en- 

 gaged in the same trade, thus raising their 

 economic capacity and social and moral effi- 

 ciency. The speech announced that the bill 

 providing for biennial budgets would be again 

 presented for the consideration of Parliament, 

 as the allied governments were still suffering 

 from difficulties inseparable from the simul- 

 taneous sitting of the Imperial and provin- 

 cial Parliaments. A stamp-tax and a brewing- 

 tax were also announced. The new financial 

 policy of the empire was noticed with great 

 satisfaction by the Emperor, while the nego- 

 tiations for treaties of commerce with neigh- 

 boring nations on the basis of the new cus- 

 toms policy were declared to be near a 

 favorable termination. "With regard to the for- 

 eign relations, the speech stated that the em- 

 pire maintained peaceful and amicable relations 

 with all foreign powers ; that its political re- 

 lations with the great neighboring empires 

 were especially in consonance with the friend- 

 ship which personally united the Emperor with 

 their rulers. 



On February 16th Parliament organized by 

 the re-election of Count von Arnim-Boitzen- 

 bnrg as president ; Herr von Frankenstein, of 

 the Center, as first vice-president ; and Herr 

 Ackermann, Conservative, as second vice- 

 president. As Count Arnim-Boitzenbnrg de- 

 clined the re-election, Herr von Gossler, under- 

 secretary of state in the Prussian Ministry of 

 Worship, was chosen in his place. 



In the course of this session Prince Bismarck 

 suffered a number of signal defeats. The prin- 

 cipal bills introduced by the government were 

 either rejected or considerably altered. No- 

 tably among those which were rejected were 

 the tax-bills and the proposition to establish 

 biennial budgets and biennial sessions of Par- 

 liament. The bill providing for a working- 

 men's accident insurance was considerably 

 altered before its passage. Its principal pro- 

 visions, which were considered a direct ap- 

 peal of the Government to the laboring classes, 

 became known in January, when it was before 

 the Federal Council. As its name indicated, 

 the bill proposed to provide for all laborers 

 and officials employed in any mine, factory, 

 dock, or quarry, and whose annual income did 

 not exceed 2,000 marks, an insurance office to 

 be conducted by the Government to secure 

 them against accidents incurred during their 

 labors. For those whose annual income did not 

 exceed 750 marks, two thirds of the premium 

 was to be paid by the employers and one third 

 by the authorities over the poor; for those whose 

 income exceeded that amount, one half of the 

 premium was to be paid by the employers, and 

 one half by those insured. The bill was intro- 

 duced on April 1st, and, after a short debate, 

 was referred on the following day to a commit- 

 tee of 28. During the debate the Liberal mem- 

 bers declared that, although they were in sym- 

 pathy with the idea of the bill, still they objected 

 to many of its provisions. An important change 

 in the bill was made by the committee, to the 

 effect that the governments of the several states 

 should take the matter in hand instead of the 

 Imperial Government. On May 30th the House 

 began the second reading of the bill, and all 

 the propositions of the committee were adopted 

 i. e., providing for insurance offices estab- 

 lished by the several states, to the exclusion of 

 an imperial office and of private companies ; 

 while the clause providing for the aid of Gov- 

 ernment to the premiums of those laborers 

 having an income of less than 750 marks was 

 dropped. After a severe struggle on these 

 clauses, the bill passed its third reading in the 

 above form by a vote of 145 to 108 ; the mi- 

 nority comprised the majority of the Liberal 

 groups, the Socialists, the Poles, and a part of 

 the Imperial party, among them Count Bis- 

 marck. 



The debate on the bill providing for biennial 

 sessions and budgets began on March 8th. It 

 was opposed by the entire Liberal party. Herr 

 von Bennigsen declared in a long speech that 

 the tendency of the bill was to decrease the 

 influence of Parliament by curtailing its great 

 privilege of annually criticising the Govern- 

 ment. The different Conservative factions, 

 although differing on various points, finally 

 agreed to refer it to a committee, which was 

 done on March 10th. This committee reported 

 on May 5th that the imperial budget should be 

 determined by the budgets of the several states, 

 and that Parliament should meet annually in 



