316 



GERMANY. 



visit paid by the Kaiser in the beginning of his 

 reign. The Russian monarch, arriving in his 

 yacht June 8, was met by Wilhehn at Kiel, and 

 was entertained there till evening, neither of the 

 Chancellors being present at the meeting. The 

 Russian press denied that the interview signified 

 any improvement in the relations with Germany, 

 and this fact was emphasized by the simulta- 

 neous interview of the Grand Duke Constantine 

 with President Carnot during the French fes- 

 tivities in Nancy. The King and Queen of Italy 

 paid a visit to the Imperial Majesties in June, 

 1892. They arrived in Berlin on June 20, and 

 were accompanied by the Italian Minister of 

 Foreign Affairs, Brin. A meeting took place 

 between him and the German Chancellor, in 

 which it was determined that full conformity 

 existed between the two governments in relation 

 to all important political questions. 



The Emperor. At the annual banquet of 

 the Brandenburg Diet Emperor Wilhelm deliv- 

 ered a speech which has since become famous. 

 After alluding to the opposition to the Govern- 

 ment and the dissatisfaction with the new course, 

 which, he said, might lead one to the belief that 

 Germany was the worst-governed country in the 

 world, the Emperor continued : 



Would it not be better for the grumblers to shake 

 the dust of Germany from their shoes and leave as 

 soon as possible this miserable and pitiable position ? 

 The firm conviction of your sympathy in my labors 

 gives me renewed strength to persist in my work and 

 to press forward in the path which Heaven has laid 

 out for me. I am helped thereto by my feeling of 

 responsibility to the Ruler of all, and the firm convic- 

 tion that he, our old ally of Eossbach and Denne- 

 witz, will not now leave me in the lurch. No, Bran- 

 denburgers, we are called to greatness, and to glorious 

 days will I lead you. To the unending complaints 

 about the new course and the men who direct it, I 

 answer confidently and decidedly, " My course is the 

 right one, and I shall continue to steer it." 



Great dissatisfaction was expressed by the 

 press at this speech, and it was freely commented 

 upon. The result was that a large number of 

 papers were confiscated, including some of the 

 leading journals of the empire, and proceedings 

 of lese-majeste were instituted against the offend- 

 ing editors, but in most cases the proceedings 

 were dropped. 



Prince Bismarck. On the way to the wed- 

 ding of his eldest son, Herbert, in Vienna, on 

 June 21, 1892, the ex-Chancellor was the recipi- 

 ent of great ovations from the German people. 

 His short sojourn in Dresden was marked by a 

 tremendous torchlight procession, in which over 

 15,000 people took part, and more than double 

 that number took occasion to do homage to the 

 man of blood and iron. In Vienna he was wel- 

 comed with great ostentation by the populace, 

 and was the receiver of many honors. It was. his 

 desire to be received in audience by the Emperor 

 Franz Joseph, and for that purpose he was about 

 to apply to the German ambassador at Vienna, 

 when he was given to understand that, on re- 

 quest of the German Government, an audience 

 would not be granted to him. Prior to his de- 

 parture, in a newspaper interview, Prince Bis- 

 marck expressed condemnation of the commer- 

 cial treaty with Austria as being opposed to Ger- 

 man agricultural interests, which also applied to 

 the treaties with Switzerland and Italy. He re- 



marked that since his resignation the friendly 

 feeling with Russia had been destroyed, that he 

 had enjoyed the confidence and trust of the 

 Czar, arid therefore had influence over the Rus- 

 sian policy, while his successor did not possess 

 this personal confidence, and that this explained 

 the change which had taken place in the politi- 

 cal situation of Europe since his retirement. In 

 Miinchen, Augsburg, and Kissingen he received 

 ovations from the people and from delegates of 

 the whole southern part of Germany. In Jena 

 he delivered a speech in which he advocated a 

 strong parliamentary government. This was all 

 the more remarkable because, during his own 

 administration, he had tried to keep down the 

 power of the Parliament as much as possible. 



His utterances were the subject of a long and 

 bitter newspaper war between the Government 

 organs and those' advocating Prince Bismarck's 

 cause, with no credit to either side. The attacks 

 against the Government growing fiercer and 

 stronger, the Government finally saw fit to break 

 its long silence, and issued two documents in 

 the " Reichsanzeiger." The first was addressed 

 to the imperial representatives abroad, and was 

 dated May 23, 1892 ; it runs as follows : 



If his Majesty's Government, in recognition of the 

 great statesman's immortal services, could without 

 hesitation maintain silence in the presence of criti- 

 cisms dealing mainly with personal relations and in- 

 ternal policy, the expediency of maintaining the same 

 reserve became more questionable when these utter- 

 ances came to touch upon questions of foreign policy, 

 since it might involve the risk of regrettable misun- 

 derstandings abroad. His Majesty discriminates be- 

 tween the Prince Bismarck of former times and of to- 

 day, and is anxious that his Government should avoid 

 everything which might tend to diminish in the eyes 

 of the German nation the familiar figure of its great- 

 est statesman. In authorizing your Excellency to ex- 

 press yourself as circumstances may require, in ac- 

 cordance with the above, I have only to add the hope 

 that the Government to which you are accredited will 

 not attach any practical importance to the press pub- 

 lications claiming to reproduce Prince Bismarck's 

 views. 



The second document related to the instruc- 

 tions given to the German ambassador at Vien- 

 na, dated June 9, 1892, and runs as follows : 



The reports of a rapprochement of Prince Bismarck 

 toward his Majesty the Emperor lack the indispen- 

 sable condition that the former Chancellor intends to 

 take the first steps in this direction. Even were this 

 to happen, such a rapprochement could never go so 

 far as to justify public opinion in assuming that 

 Prince Bismarck would regain any influence upon 

 the conduct of public affairs. 



The Antisemitic Movement. The agita- 

 tion against the Jews is rapidly gaining ground 

 in Germany, and scandals with which Jews have 

 been connected have been made the most of in 

 order to place the antisemites in the light of 

 champions against corruption. In the begin- 

 ning of March, 1892, Rector Ahlwardt published 

 a pamphlet accusing the rifle-manufacturing firm 

 of Loewe & Co., of Spandau, of furnishing the 

 German Government with rifles not fit for use 

 in case of war. This accusation was contradicted 

 by the German Minister of War, and Ahlwardt 

 was prosecuted for libel and sentenced to five 

 months' imprisonment. A letter of Loewe, ac- 

 knowledged by him, was published, in which 

 Loewe had offered in 1887 to supply the then 



