< Ml; MANY. 



327 



ity appoint, d by tin- Mini-terof Finance. n-\ Nes 

 I lie list, which t,'...-- next In a district l>anl con- 

 stituted in Ihf same way, the majority being 

 circled for six years and the others nominated 

 b\ !h> -<iov< rimient. which compares the provis- 

 ional assessment with the declarations of the in- 

 dividual lax payers, and makes the final assess- 

 ment. The declarations are given on official 

 hlanks, which the tax payer must fill out stating 

 the amount of his income from invested capital, 

 real estate (including the rental value of his 

 residence when owned by him), commerce or in- 

 duMry, or his profession or other occupation, 

 with his del its or other offsets. The assessed 

 person may appeal to a tax court containing a 

 majority chosen by a committee of the provin- 

 cial legislature and a nominated minority, and 

 from the decision of this court r.n appeal iie> to 

 the Superior Administrative Court. For un- 

 truthful declarations of income, heavy legal pen- 

 alties are exacted. All persons concerned in the 

 assessment are sworn to secrecy. Under the old 

 law, declarations were not required from tax pay- 

 ers. On incomes below 30,000 marks the Land- 

 tag agreed to the rates proposed by the minister. 

 On incomes of 50,000 marks, instead of the old 

 rate of 3 per cent, it made the tax 3 per cent., 

 and the maximum tax, payable on all incomes of 

 100,000 marks and over, was raised to 4 per cent. 

 Under the old law underassessment was the 

 rule, tax payers usually escaping with a tax of 

 about 2 per cent. Local taxes are partly based 

 on the national income tax, the tax payer being 

 required to pay usually an equal tax. but often 

 double, and in the industrial cities of Westphalia 

 and the Rhine province three times the amount, 

 into the town treasury. The measure therefore 

 goes far to readjust the incidence of taxation to 

 the relief of the poorer classes. The changes in 

 the tax system thus introduced are intended to 

 pave the way to the eventual abandonment of 

 the national land tax to the local governments. 

 Another Government bill was intended to pre- 

 pare the way, by administrative measures, for the 

 abolition of pocket boroughs in the seven old 

 provinces, where the land is mainly owned by 

 the aristocracy. This bill for the regulation of 

 communes makes an inroad on feudal privi- 

 leges, and was passed in spite of the obstructive 

 opposition of the Conservative factions. It re- 

 leases the agricultural communes of the eastern 

 parts of Prussia from the absolute control which 

 the nobles, as communal magistrates, have hither- 

 to exercised over the peasantry on their estates. 

 A bill for the reform of primary education was 

 opposed by Liberals and Conservatives for oppo- 

 site reasons, and had no chance of passing. 



One of the chief grievances growing out of the 

 old Culturkampf was cleared away by the bill 

 restoring to the Roman Catholic dioceses, with 

 interest, the revenues that were sequestered for 

 coercive purposes during the long conflict over 

 the May laws. The Government was opposed 

 by the Free Conservatives, headed by Herr 

 Stocker. and the National Liberals, the parties 

 that have been its stanchest adherents, while the 

 Radicals and the Clericals and Poles, who have 

 often combined to attack the Government in 

 former times, supported the measure. A year 

 before Herr von Gossler had attempted to com- 

 promise the matter by offering to the bishops 



the i nil-rest only, and in granting the full amount 

 Chancellor vim Caprivi was able to show 

 equivalent in the withdrawal of certain Clerical 

 demands regarding the primary ht-hools. Tin- 

 bill wan presented by Ilerr von (io.-sli-r, l>r. 

 Kalk's successor jn the Ministry of 1'ul.ln- WOT- 

 ship, who had carried through all Prince Bis- 

 marck's measures of reconciliation, and was will- 

 ing to make this last stage of the journey to 

 Canossii in order to put an end to a dispute of 

 which all parties were tired. The question of 

 revoking the proscription of the KedcmptorMs 

 was broached, and was referred to a committee, 

 but no prospects were held out of the return of 

 the banished Jesuits. The derision with which 

 the bill was at first received convinced the vet- 

 eran minister that he had lost the prestige that 

 would overcome the opposition, and therefore he 

 resigned on March 11, and was succeeded by 

 Count Zedlitz-Trlltschler. The retirement of 

 Ilerr von Maybach from the Ministry of Public 

 Works, which he gave up on June 22 to Herr 

 Thielen, left Herr von Boetticher the sole remain- 

 ing representative of the ministry of the Bis- 

 marck regime that served the old Emperor. 

 Amoug the minor enactments of the Diet was a 

 game-preservation act that leaves the sufferers 

 from noxious animals protected to provide aris- 

 tocratic sport the poor consolation of dividing 

 the damage among themselves. The disaffected 

 Junkers were solaced further by a reactionary 

 law on land rents that bears the mark of feudal 

 tenure in reviving inconvertible estates. 



Prince Bismarck. The ex-Chancellor, whose 

 opinions were echoed by two powerful news- 

 papers that were reputed to be his personal or- 

 gans, the " Hamburger Nachrichten " and the 

 " Miinchener Allgemeine Zeitung," expressed 

 freely his disapproval of the policy of his suc- 

 cessor in many things, condemning the assault on 

 the influential position of the landed aristocracy, 

 criticising the concessions to England in East 

 Africa, objecting to the proposed commercial 

 arrangements with Austria, and denouncing the 

 hostility to Russia that the Emperor was sup- 

 posed to entertain. Kaiser Wilhelm, in unmis- 

 takable language, threatened the founder of the 

 German Empire with the consequences of his 

 displeasure if he persisted in his hostile attitude. 

 When a vacany occurred in the Hanoverian con- 

 stituency of Geestemiinde, the National Liberals 

 persuaded Prince Bismarck to accept the nomina- 

 tion in order to declare his opinions in the Reich- 

 stag, as he had declared his intention of doing 

 if the course of political events seemed to require 

 his return to public life. The election, which 

 took place on April 15, was a disappointment 

 to Bismarck's admirers, for he failed to secure 

 an absolute majority. He received 7,557 votes, 

 while his Socialist rival, a cigar-maker named 

 Schalfeld. received 3,928, the Guelph candidate 

 8,343, and the Radical candidate 2.619. Not 

 many more than half the registered voters went 

 to the polls, a much smaller than in 1890, when 

 the National Liberal candidate was elected at 

 the first ballot. A more decisive victory was 

 expected for the chief personality in German 

 politics, although he took no steps to win vot- 

 ers by appearing among them, or even writing 

 an address. In the test ballot a fortnight later 

 he obtained the absolute majority required, be- 



