GERMANY. 



321 



innocent ; also a bill to do away with misuses 

 of the bourse; one for the reparation of the 

 abuses caused by dishonest trade competition ; a 

 bill for a tax on tobacco : and a bill for the-read- 

 justment of the financial relations between the 

 several states and the empire. In closing, the 

 Emperor paid a short tribute to the late Czar 

 Alexander III of Russia, in whom, he said, he 

 mourned the loss of a friend and a tried cola- 

 borer in the works of peace. 



The new Reichstag building is situated on the 

 Konigsplatz, just outside of the Brandenburg 

 gate, fronting the Thiergarten and opposite the 

 triumphal column. It is considered one of the 

 two handsomest buildings in the country, and 

 was erected at a cost of 28,700,000 marks, which 

 sum will probably be increased to over 30,000,000 

 marks before the building is entirely completed. 

 It took ten years to build, and covers a space of 

 11,000 square metres. The architect was Paul 

 Wallat. In the main, the Renaissance style of 

 architecture has been adopted, but the bui'lding 

 contains elements of a number of other styles. 

 It is rectangular, with a tower at each end, and 

 in the center an immense dome. The main en- 

 trance is a great stairway, at the top of which 6 

 huge pillars, 54 feet in height, stand out like 

 those of a Greek temple. The session room of 

 the Reichstag is on the first floor, which, not 

 being very large, has, for that reason, better 

 acoustics. An immense lobby, encircling this 

 chamber, is one of the finest features of the in- 

 side. Commodious rooms are provided for the 

 Bundesrath library, and there is a foyer, also a 

 room for the Emperor, rooms for newspaper cor- 

 respondents, telegraph operators, and visitors, 

 and innumerable small offices. 



At the first session of the Reichstag an inci- 

 dent occurred which created a good deal of ex- 

 citement in as well as out of Parliament. When 

 Herr von Leoetzow, the President of the Reichs- 

 tag, had finished his opening speech, he called 

 for cheers for Emperor -Wilhelm ; all delegates 

 arose and cheered lustily with the exception of 

 the Socialists, who remained seated and refused 

 to cheer. This discourtesy awakened a storm 

 of indignation, and the other members roundly 

 abused them ; the President of the Reichstag also 

 considered it his duty to reprimand the offend- 

 ing delegates. Herr Liebknecht, one of the lead- 

 ers of the Socialists, replied, defending the action 

 of his party, and further declared the speech 

 from the throne to be a hypocritical document. 

 Another uproar ensued, and Chancellor von 

 Hohenlohe requested that the Reichstag adopt 

 rules to punish Herr Liebknecht for lese-ma- 

 jesty. A committee was appointed to consider 

 such a resolution, which reported against it, and 

 when the matter was brought up in the Reichs- 

 tag that body rejected the proposed punishment 

 by a vote of 168 to 54. 



The Anti-revolution Bill. As was inti- 

 mated in the Emperor's speech at Konigsberg, 

 and was announced in the speech from the 

 throne at the opening of the Reichstag, a bill 

 was duly laid before that body containing im- 

 portant amendments to the criminal code, with 

 the view of repressing the spread of revolution- 

 ary doctrines. All sorts of rumors had been cir- 

 culated as to the severity of the measure, but 

 when the desired changes were made known it 

 VOL. xxxiv. 21 A 



appeared that the amendments were worse than 

 had been feared by all, except, perhaps, the So- 

 cialists. The bill itself is called the revolution 

 bill. The most objectionable and really repres- 

 sive clauses are those amending paragraphs 130 

 and 181 of the criminal code. Paragraph 130, 

 without the amendment, reads : 



Whoever publicly, and in a manner dangerous to 

 the public peace, incites different classes of the popu- 

 lation to acts of violence against each other, is pun- 

 ishable by a fine not exceeding 600 marks, or with 

 imprisonment not exceeding two years. 



The proposed amendment adds this : 



The same punishment may be inflicted on any one 

 who, in a manner dangerous to the public peace, 

 publicly attacks religion, the monarchy, marriage, 

 the family, or property with expressions of abuse. 



Paragraph 131 of the criminal code, as amend- 

 ed, would read : 



Whoever publicly asserts or disseminates invented 

 or distorted facts which he knows or (according to 

 circumstances) must conclude to be invented or dis- 

 torted, having in view to render contemptible insti- 

 tutions of the state or decrees of the authorities, is 

 punishable with a tine not exceeding 600 marks, or 

 with imprisonment not exceeding two years. 



Another paragraph of the bill makes not only 

 the commission of a crime punishable, but also 

 the intention to commit it, although the inten- 

 tion may not as yet have become manifest in 

 acts involving the beginning of a criminal act. 

 The judge alone is to decide whether the crimi- 

 nal intent exists. 



These amendments are the principal ones. 

 If the paragraphs should be construed to apply 

 only to the revolutionary parties, the objection 

 would not be so great ; but as these amendments 

 read they may be applied against any party or 

 individual who dares to criticise the Government 

 in speech or print. Freedom of speech and the 

 liberty of the press would be virtually abolished, 

 although the Constitution secures both of these 

 important rights of a free nation to the German 

 people. The opposition to the bill is therefore 

 not confined to the Socialists, but all liberal par- 

 ties see in it a danger to the spreading of liberal 

 tendencies, and even the Conservatives fear that 

 they may be brought under the head of opponents 

 to the monarchy, having in mind their late oppo- 

 sition to the commercial treaty with Russia and 

 the reprimand they received from their Emperor. 



The International Miners' Congress. The 

 International Miners' Congress was opened in 

 Berlin on May 14, 1894, and the conference 

 lasted until May 19. To this conference Ger- 

 many sent 39 delegates, Great Britain 38, France 

 4, Austria 2, and Belgium 3 ; and they repre- 

 sented, respectively, 193,000, 645,000. 100.000, 

 100,000, and 70,000 miners. The reports pre- 

 pared by the nations represented, and read to 

 the delegates, are interesting as showing the 

 wages earned by the miners in the different 

 countries. The report of the representatives of 

 Great Britain for Durham and Northumberland 

 shows that the miners of Durham earn $1.52 a 

 day, while the Northumberland miners only 

 earn about $1.32 per day. The miners work on 

 an average seven hours and a half, counted from 

 bank to "bank, ten days out of eleven in North- 

 umberland, and-nine days out of eleven in Dur- 



