776 



PKUSSIA. 



PUBLIC DOCUMENTS. 



Parliamentary conflicts will not make me 

 swerve from my principles, and I shall not re- 

 tire until the Emperor commands me to do 

 so." In conclusion, he called upon the House 

 not to let this matter rest, but to push it ear- 

 nestly, and thus relieve the communes of some 

 of their burdens. The bill on February 5th 

 was referred to a special committee. 



The reform of local administration led to a 

 Cabinet crisis in February. The Lower House 

 had amended the Government bill to the ef- 

 fect that the supervision of the local adminis- 

 tration be intrusted to a local council instead 

 of to the Landrath, the local government offi- 

 cial, as was proposed by the bill. When re- 

 turned to the House of Lords, Count von 

 Eulenburg accepted the amendment. A few 

 minutes afterward Herr Rommel, a clerk in 

 the Ministry of Commerce, Prince Bismarck's 

 special department, stated that the Chancellor's 

 presence was prevented by illness, and read a 

 paper to the effect that Prince Bismarck could 

 not consent to intrust the supervision of com- 

 munes to irresponsible bodies. He would sub- 

 mit the bill to the Emperor, but would insist 

 on its revision in a government sense before 

 applying it to other provinces. This decla- 

 ration caused the greatest excitement in the 

 House, and although the bill was adopted as 

 amended by the Lower House, thus giving 

 Count Eulenburg a vote of confidence, the lat- 

 ter asked to be relieved of his office, which 

 request -was granted by the Emperor. The 

 bill was" finally lost, as the two Houses could 

 not agree upon it. 



Important ministerial changes occurred in 

 June when the Minister of "Worship, Von Putt- 

 kammer, was appointed Minister of the Inte- 

 rior in place of Count Eulenburg; while Ilcrr 

 von Gossler, Under-Secretary of State and the 

 President of the German Parliament, was ap- 

 pointed Minister of Worship. 



The new Economical Council, created by 

 law of November 15, 1880, met on January 

 27th and closed February llth. It consists of 

 seventy-five members, who are to serve for five 

 years. It is to give its opinion on drafts of 

 bills and decrees relating to important econom- 

 ical interest in commerce, trades, agriculture, 

 and forestry, before they are submitted to the 

 King for ratification ; also the motions to be 

 rnade-and the votes to be cast by the Prussian 

 members of the Federal Council so far as they 

 relate to economical questions. The principal 

 question considered by the Council was the 

 Accident Insurance Bill which was submitted 

 to the German Parliament. (See GERMANY.) 



Disturbances directed against the Jews oc- 

 curred in the provinces of Pomerania and 

 West Prussia, and in the city of Berlin. A 

 strong agitation against them was led by nu- 

 merous prominent men, among them the court 

 preacher, Stocker. Many petitions directed 

 against the Jews, signed by over 250,000 per- 

 sons, were sent to the German Parliament. In 

 the fall of the year the Government took ener- 



getic measures to abate the excitement and to 

 stop the agitation. (See JEWS, etc.) 



The Government purchased a number of 

 railroads during the year, although the Rhein- 

 Nahe Railroad, which caused considerable dis- 

 cussion in the Diet, was not among the number. 



PUBLIC DOCUME NTS. Message of Presi- 

 dent ARTHUR, at the First Session of the Forty- 

 seventh Congress, commencing December 6, 1881. 



To THE SENATE AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

 OF THE UNITED STATES : An appalling calamity has 

 befallen the American people since their chosen rep- 

 resentatives last met in the halls where you arc now 

 assembled. \Ve might else recall with unalloyed con- 

 tent the rare prosperity with which throughout tiie 

 year the nation has been blessed. Its hurvi-.-ts have 

 been plenteous ; its varied industries have thriven ; 

 the health of its people has been preserved ; it lias 

 maintained with foreign governments the undisturbed 

 relations of amity and peace. For these manifesta- 

 tions of his favor, we owe to Him who holds our 

 destiny in his hands the tribute of our grateful devo- 

 tion. 



To that mysterious exercise of his will, which has 

 taken from us the loved and illustrious citizen who 

 was but lately the head of the nation, we bow in sor- 

 row and submission. 



The memory of his exalted character, of his noble 

 achievements, and of his patriotic life will be treas- 

 ured for ever as a sacred possession of the whole peo- 

 ple. 



The announcement of his death drew from foreign 

 governments and peoples .tributes of sympathy and 

 sorrow which history will record as signal tokens of 

 the kinship of nations and the federation of mankind. 



The feeling of good-will between our own Govern- 

 ment and that of Great Britain was never more marked 

 than at present. In recognition of this pleasing fact, 

 I directed, on the occasion of the late centennial cele- 

 bration at Yorktown, that a salute be given to the 

 British flag. 



Save for the correspondence to which 1 shall refer 

 hereafter in relation to the proposed canal across the 

 Isthmus of Panama, little has occurred worthy ot 

 mention in the diplomatic relations of the two coun- 

 tries. 



Early in the year the Fortune Bay claims were 

 satisfactorily settled by the British Government pay- 

 ing in full the sum of" 15,000, most of which has 

 been already distributed. As the terms of the settle- 

 ment included compensation for iniuries suffered by 

 our fishermen at Aspee Bay, there has been retained 

 from the gross award a sum which is deemed adequate 

 for those claims. 



The participation of Americans in the exhibitions at- 

 Melbourne and Sydney will be approvingly men- 

 tioned in the reports of the two exhibitions, soon to 

 be presented to Congress. They will disclose the 

 readiness of our countrymen to make successful com- 

 petition in distant fields of enterprise. 



Negotiations for an International Copyright Con- 

 vention are in hopeful progress. 



The surrender of Sitting Bull and his forces upon 

 the Canadian frontier has allayed apprehension, al- 

 though bodies of British Indians still cross the bor- 

 der in quest of sustenance. Upon this subject a cor- 

 respondence has been opened, which promises an 

 adequate understanding. Our troops have orders to 

 avoid meanwhile all collisions with alien Indians. 



The presence at the Yorktown celebration of rep- 

 resentatives of the French Republic and descendants 

 of Lafayette and of his gallant compatriots who were 

 our allies in the Revolution, has served to strengthen 

 the spirit of good- will which has always existed be- 

 tween the two nations. 



You will be furnished with the proceedings of the 

 Bi-metallic Conference held during the summer at the 

 city of Paris. No accord was reached, but a valuable 



