GEKMANY. 



345 



October, so as not to come into collision with 

 the Diets of the several states. The debate led 

 to a sharp encounter between Prince Bismarck 

 and Herr von Bennigsen, the leader of the 

 National Liberals. Prince Bismarck in his 

 speech declared that the Government would do 

 everything in its power to instruct the people 

 before the elections as to the wishes of the 

 Government. He appealed to Herr von Ben- 

 nigsen to remove the impression from the 

 minds of his friends that a reaction was ap- 

 proaching. He desired above all things a co- 

 operation of the National Liberals and the Con- 

 servatives, while at present it appeared as if 

 all parties, from the right wing of the National 

 Liberals to the Social Democrats, were com- 

 bining against the Government. He therefore 

 warned Herr von Bennigsen not to let himself 

 be caught in the meshes of the Left. On the 

 following day the proposition of the commit- 

 tee that the Parliament should meet annually 

 was passed by a vote of 140 to 129, while the 

 proposition for biennial budgets was defeated 

 by the same vote. The majority consisted of 

 the Liberals and the Center. On the other 

 hand, the Conservatives and the Center suc- 

 ceeded in passing a clause providing for quad- 

 rennial legislative periods. As this was unac- 

 ceptable to the Liberals, the entire bill was 

 defeated on its third reading, on May 16th. 



The bills providing for the brewery, stamp, 

 and army tax were introduced in March, to- 

 gether with a memorandum from Prince Bis- 

 marck on the tax reform. The memorandum 

 starts out with the supposition that Germany 

 is far behind other nations in the matter of 

 indirect taxes. He urged in favor of indirect 

 taxes, the manner of their collection, and the 

 fact that they would be distributed equitably 

 over all classes of the population. The short- 

 comings and hardships of the direct taxes alone 

 should lead to their abolition. The empire and 

 the several states could no longer refuse to re- 

 lieve the overburdened communes of the duties 

 which properly belong to the state, such as the 

 promotion of education and the care for the 

 security of persons and private property. The 

 several states, however, could only assume such 

 duties if the empire would provide them with 

 new revenues, as they could not possibly in- 

 crease their direct taxation. In spite of the 

 able arguments brought forward by the Gov- 

 ernment, Prince Bismarck suffered another de- 

 cided defeat on this question. The brewery- 

 tax was rejected on its second reading on May 

 17th, while the stamp-tax was considerably 

 modified. 



The new elections for Parliament, which were 

 ordered to be held on October 27th, were pre- 

 ceded by severe struggles. In reply to the 

 attacks from the Liberals, Prince Bismarck, 

 early in August, caused to be published in the 

 columns of the official " Provinzial Correspon- 

 denz " what was regarded as his electoral pro- 

 gramme. It stated in substance that, although 

 the programme of the Chancellor did not really 



exist as a separate document, still it could be 

 found in many manifestations. It aimed at 

 the national regeneration and strengthening of 

 Germany on sound economic bases ; an increase 

 in the financial strength of the empire, by a 

 more equitable distribution of taxation ; an 

 easier method of obtaining the necessary public 

 revenues, by perfecting the system of indirect 

 taxes and correspondingly lowering the direct 

 taxes ; it also aimed at relieving the communes 

 of a large part of their educational burdens and 

 the care of the poor ; the promotion of agri- 

 culture and industry ; the care of the laboring 

 classes in accordance with the laws of practical 

 Christianity. This programme was declared as 

 insufficient, not only by the Liberals, but also 

 by the Catholic Center. The National Liber- 

 als in their platform declared that they would 

 always protect the constitutional rights of the 

 people, and would always oppose any attempt 

 to abrogate them. They declared themselves 

 ready to help bring about a peaceful relation 

 between church and state, but only on condi- 

 tion that the positions the state had gained, 

 after a severe struggle, should not be sacri- 

 ficed. They pledged themselves to uphold the 

 principle of personal liberty in trade and com- 

 merce, and would only consent to further de- 

 mands for taxation if an actual necessity for 

 such taxation existed, or a corresponding re- 

 duction in other quarters be made, while a 

 healthy relation between direct and indirect 

 taxes was upheld. They declared themselves 

 willing to examine any proposition to improve 

 the material welfare of the laboring classes, 

 but protested against making questions of great 

 Importance the shield for ventures which are 

 financially impossible. 



The result of the elections was on the whole 

 unfavorable to the Government. The strength 

 of the parties in the new Parliament was as 

 follows: Center, 110; Progressists, 60; the 

 Liberal Union (Secessionists), 48 ; the Nation- 

 al Liberals, 45 ; the German Imperial party, 

 27 ; the Popularists, or South German Demo- 

 crats, 7; the German Conservatives, 50; the 

 Poles, 18 ; Alsace-Lorrainers, 15 ; Social Demo- 

 crats, 13 ; and Independents, or Savages, 4. It 

 was remarked that the most prominent ad- 

 vocates of the new financial plans of the Chan- 

 cellor, Herr von Varnbuler and others, were 

 defeated, while the free-trade leaders of a lib- 

 eral tendency, such as Richter, Forckenbeck, 

 Stauffenberg, and others, were re-elected, some 

 of them from two districts. The official statis- 

 tics of the election give the following result : 

 Of the 45,234,000 inhabitants of the empire, 

 9,090,381 were entitled to vote, and of these 

 5,300,784, or little more than a half, exercised 

 their right of suffrage. Of this number of 

 votes, 807,000 fell to the German Conserva- 

 tives, 393,000 to the Free Conservatives, 2,021,- 

 000 to the Liberals, including 700,000 to the 

 National Liberals, 460,000 to the Secessionists, 

 720,000 to the Progressists, and 140,000 to 

 the Independents, or Savages ; to the Center, 



