358 



GERMANY. 



ultra-Conservative allies, who were warned by 

 the gains of the Progressive and Liberal par- 

 ties in the election of 1881 to secure the legis- 

 lation they desired before another session. 

 They were indignant at the proposal of Bis- 

 marck to continue the arbitrary powers granted 

 him respecting the exercise of the May laws 

 instead of repealing the unbearable statutes at 

 once. Von Schlozer returned from the post of 

 embassador at Washington to take the em- 

 bassy at the Papal Court, whither he departed 

 on the 31st of January to win the assent of 

 the Pope to the discretionary law. The pro- 

 vision for the support of the new embassy, as 

 well as the other items of the budget, passed 

 through without friction. The proposal for 

 the extension of the discretionary exercise of 

 the May laws was killed in committee. Windt- 

 horst moved a bill providing for the unre- 

 stricted dispensation of the sacraments and 

 reading of mass. The successor to Plittkamer 

 in the Ministry of Worship, Yon Gossler, was 

 not prepared to accept, but unwilling to oppose, 

 the motion of the Clerical leader. He accord- 

 ingly arranged with the Clerical party, and 

 brought in as a revised form of the measure 

 rejected by the committee, a bill which went 

 almost as far as Windthorst's, and moreover 

 provided for the restoration of the deposed 

 bishops. It was passed over the votes of the 

 Liberals, and signed by the King May 31st. 

 After its enactment Bishop Herzog, of Breslau, 

 took a bold stand on the question of mixed 

 marriages, and the ecclesiastical authorities 

 elsewhere showed a disposition to assert the 

 old constitutional rights of the Church. This 

 attitude prompted the ministry to postpone 

 the recall of the recalcitrant bishops.* 



* The modern conflict between church and state in Ger- 

 many began with the Cologne difficulty regarding mixed 

 marriages and the religious instruction of the children. The 

 Curia had officially ignored the regulations introduced in 

 Prussia in 1803 ; but. when these were extended over the 

 newly-acquired western provinces in 1825, local difficulties 

 arose. The Prussian monarchy, in return for having made 

 the church c, state establishment, again looked to Eome for 

 the acceptance of the regulations. Leo XII died before Bun- 

 sen could obtain from him the desired concession. Pius VIII 

 sent a brief which recognized mixed marriages, but was not 

 satisfactory with regard to the religious training of the chil- 

 dren. Gregory XVI asserted the rights of the Church more 

 vigorously than his predecessors, commencing the campaign 

 in Hanover. Yet he reissued this brief, which hid been re- 

 jected by the Prussian Government, after making formal al- 

 terations. A convention was concluded with the bishops; 

 but difficulties soon occurred, and representations were re- 

 ceived from the Pope accusing the Prussian Government of 

 evading their agreement and oppressing the Church. The 

 hostility of the Archbishop of Cologne, and the quiescence 

 of some of the other bishops to the Government, heightened 

 the tension. There was danger of the Rhenish province be- 

 ing taken away and incorporated in Belgium, on account of 

 the religious troubles. In 1837 the archbishop was impris- 

 oned. In the Papal allocution which was called out by this 

 act the chasm between the Church and the Government was 

 laid bare. About the same time occurred an altercation with 

 the Archbishop of Gnesen and Posen on the same subject of 

 mixed marriages, which led to his imprisonment. In 1839 

 Arnoldi was chosen Bishop of Treves, without the ap- 

 proval of the Government, and therefore unusual. Diplo- 

 matic intercourse with the Curia almost ceased. On the 

 accession of Friedrich "Wilhelm IV an accommodation was 

 achieved, after a year or two of negotiation. The Govern- 

 ment had to concede every principle in order to re-establish 

 peace and order, and to keep the determined Archbishop 

 Droste, who was their own particular choice originally, away 



From a petty revolt of the Progressists against 

 the " reptile fund " the National Liberals held 

 back. Action on the proposition to allow the 

 Guelph fund to accumulate for the benefit of 

 the mediatized royal house of Hanover was 

 postponed on the motion of Von Benningsen, 

 leader of the remnant of Bismarck's old party 

 and Hanoverian deputy, who hinted that the 

 Duke of Cumberland might before long recog- 

 nize the empire, and with propriety claim the 

 indemnity awarded to his family.* 



The bill providing for the abolition of the 

 four lower grades of the income-tax and of 

 school-fees, the subvention of municipalities, 

 and the improvement of the salaries of civil 

 servants, made contingent upon the adoption 

 of the tobacco monopoly, was intended to meet 

 the objection that the Reichstag was ignorant 

 of the manner in which the revenues from the 

 monopoly would be used. The bill was reject- 

 ed on the second reading by every vote except 

 the Government Conservatives. The nation- 

 alization of the railroads was approved. Ex- 

 cept the new ecclesiastical law, this was the 

 only result of the session, which closed May 

 llth. 



The Liberal parties were disappointed in 



from Cologne. The bishops were given powers which they 

 had not possessed before ; while the Government placet was 

 to be construed as only the right of approval, not the right to 

 nominate candidates to vacant sees, and direct communica- 

 tions were allowed between the Prussian bishops and the 

 Curia. According to the new understanding, the hierarchy 

 was to supervise the theological studies at Bonn and in the 

 Cologne Seminary, and could proceed at will against the con- 

 demned Bermesian neology. The bishops were accorded 

 full authority over the discipline of the clergy, and discretion 

 to permit or refuse the celebration of mixed marriages. The 

 result of the long conflict was therefore the abandonment of 

 the claims of the state, a result which was embodied in the 

 Prussian Constitution of 18EO. In the contest against the 

 Church, which was commenced in 1870, and was apparently 

 triumphant in the enactment of the Falk laws, it was not 

 merely prescriptive rights, fortified by the sentiment of the 

 affected population, but plain provisions of the Constitution 

 which were violated. 



* The fund was created by an act of February, 1868, in ful- 

 fillment of an agreement between King William and the de- 

 throned King George, by which the latter was to receive the 

 indemnity of 16,000,000 thalers for the loss of his sovereign 

 rights, the capital to be retained in trust by the Prussian 

 Government, and the interest to be paid in perpetuity to the 

 heirs of the Brunswick-Luneburg family. Count Bismarck 

 was obh'ged to use all his powers of pei suasion to overcome 

 the opposition among the Liberals to the grant, who objected 

 not only on account of the magnitude of the sum, but be- 

 cause the deposed King had not formally abdicated. By en- 

 tering into the agreement, which was brought about through 

 the mediation of the British Government, Bismarck argued 

 that the exiled monarch had "in honor" renounced his claim 

 to his dominions. Yet, a few days after the vote was granted, 

 the blind King made a public speech in which his royal rights 

 were vehemently asserted. The Government promptly im- 

 pounded the indemnity fund, which proceeding was approved 

 by the Diet. The problem of what to do with the accruing 

 interest was finally solved by placing it at the disposal of the 

 Government as a secret-service fund, with the understanding 

 that it was to be used in frustrating the intrigues of the 

 Guelph faction. "There is nothing of the sry in me," said 

 Bismarck ; "but I think we deserve thanks if we follow evil 

 reptiles into their hiding-places, to watch what they are do- 

 ing." Hence the fund, which amounts to about 1,300,000 

 marks annually, came to be known as the "reptile fund." 

 These moneys are supposed to have been used latterly in 

 entertaining the semi-official organs, called Bneeringly "of- 

 ficious," which were in derision named the " reptile press." 

 These mysterious journals have been very serviceable in 

 working public opinion, and feeling the way for the Chan- 

 cellor's designs, and are a stumbling-block to his political 

 opponents. 



