GERMANY. 



331 



in newspapers, however, can only be reprinted 

 with indication of the source from which they 

 are taken. Official documents that are not laws, 

 codes, edicts, or judgments are also protected. 

 The bill prohibits the publication of private let- 

 ters, diaries, or memoranda without express per- 

 mission of the author or his representatives. Re- 

 ports of speeches delivered at proceedings of 

 law courts or of political, communal, and eccle- 

 siastical bodies may not be reproduced in collec- 

 tions consisting mainly of the speeches of one 

 speaker, the object being to reserve for the public 

 speaker the right to collect his own speeches. 

 The copyright of a work for thirty years after 

 the death of the author is still maintained. In 

 cases of posthumous publications the period is 

 ten years. The duration of the copyright of an 

 unpublished work is unlimited. The copyright of 

 musical works is extended to fifty years, in view 

 of the fact that years frequently elapse before 

 they are appreciated. German subjects can se- 

 cure German copyright for their productions even 

 if these are published in foreign countries. For- 

 eigners can obtain copyright if they publish their 

 works in Germany. 



A bill to increase the army on the peace foot- 

 ing by 26,576 men, the increase to take place 

 between 1899 and 1902, was debated in the Reich- 

 stag in January. Opposition was offered chiefly 

 by the Social Democrats and the Radical Left. 

 The Radical leader, Eugen Richter, opposed the 

 increase in artillery on the ground that it would 

 only lead to a like increase on the part of France 

 and Russia. The Budget Committee by narrow 

 majorities approved the increase in both field 

 batteries and siege artillery. The increase in the 

 strength of the infantry and the creation of three 

 new army corps were recommended by substan- 

 tial majorities; also the proposal to reorganize 

 the railway, field telegraph, and balloon troops. 

 The Government proposal to increase the cav- 

 alry from 472 to 482 squadrons was disapproved 

 by the Budget Committee, and its whole attitude 

 toward the army bill occasioned much concern 

 to the ministry. The Government demanded an 

 increase in the strength of frontier battalions 

 from 639; in 28 other battalions, including the 

 guards, from 573 or 501 to 660; in the new bat- 

 talions formed in 1897 from 501 to 573 men. The 

 debate drifted from the specific changes to the 

 future average strength of the German infantry 

 battalion. The Clericals insisted on a deduction 

 of 7,006 men from the total increase proposed by 

 the Government, and they demanded that the 

 new strength be attained a year later than the 

 bill proposed. The bill as it 'finally came out of 

 the hands of the Budget Committee conceded most 

 of the Government demands. It established three 

 more army corps, to be composed of men drafted 

 from corps that are above the normal strength. 

 The cavalry was increased to 482 squadrons, al- 

 though 17 of them remain detached under the 

 designation of Meldereiter, or dispatch riders, in- 

 stead of being incorporated in new cavalry regi- 

 ments, as the Government planned. When the 

 increase of the infantry to 502,506 men came to 

 a vote in the Reichstag there was a majority 

 against it. The Emperor thereupon authorized 

 the Minister of War to say that the Government 

 accepted the modifications" that the Budget Com- 

 mittee had made, and in that form the bill was 

 finally adopted by a vote of 222 to 132. 



After lengthy discussion and determined oppo- 

 sition on the part of Conservatives and Agrarians, 

 who wished a Prussian state bank, the charter 

 of the Imperial Bank was renewed by the Reich- 

 stag for another period of ten years. The capital 



of the bank will be 180,000,000 marks. The share- 

 holders, who will not be personally responsible 

 for any of the bank's debts, will receive a divi- 

 dend of 3 per cent, from the profits of the bank, 

 and of the surplus profits above this dividend 

 20 per cent, is set aside to form a reserve fund 

 until this fund shall amount to 60,000,000 marks. 

 Of the remainder 25 per cent, goes to the share- 

 holders and 75 per cent, to the Imperial Govern- 

 ment. The bank will be allowed to issue notes 

 not covered by reserves to the amount of 450,- 

 000,000 marks, and this issue is not subject to 

 taxation. After Jan. 1, 1901, the bank will not 

 be allowed to discount any bills at a lower rate 

 than that published by the bank whenever the 

 rate stands at or above 4 per cent., and the same 

 prohibition applies to private banks; but when 

 the published rate is less than 4 per cent, the 

 Imperial Bank may discount per cent, lower, 

 in which case private banks may discount per 

 cent, lower than the bank's rate. 



The expulsion of Danes from northern Schles- 

 wig was the subject of interpellations in the Prus- 

 sian Diet. The attempts to Germanize the 70,000 

 Danes residing there by the prohibition of the 

 use of the Danish language in the schools, and 

 even the teaching of Danish altogether, and by 

 a succession of similar measures, has roused a 

 spirit of resistance among the people affected, and 

 kept alive the agitation for the reunion of Schles- 

 wig with Denmark. By recent decrees Danes 

 have been expelled in large numbers, even do- 

 mestic servants, whom their employers preferred 

 to Germans. Still more recently German farmers 

 have obtained lands in the district with the help 

 of the Prussian Government. To counteract this, 

 Danes have raised money by private subscriptions 

 to enable embarrassed proprietors to keep their 

 lands or to settle farmers of Danish blood upon 

 them. 



The treaty with Spain for the acquisition of 

 the Caroline Islands was sanctioned by the 

 Reichstag, and the financial measures for carry- 

 ing it into effect were approved, Radicals and 

 Socialists alone opposing. Spain ceded the Caro- 

 lines, together with the Pelews and the Ladrones, 

 excepting the island of Guam, for the sum of 

 25,000,000 francs, Germany agreeing to grant to 

 Spanish trade, agricultural enterprises, and re- 

 ligious orders the same facilities, rights, and lib- 

 erties as are enjoyed by German subjects. Spain 

 reserved the right to establish a coaling station 

 for her war and trading fleets in each of the 

 groups, and to retain the same even in the event 

 of war. The three groups lie between the Philip- 

 pines and the Marshall Islands. They are com- 

 posed of coral islands, producing mainly copra. 

 The Pelews, 26 in number, have 10,000 inhabit- 

 ants, of whom 8,000 live on the island of Babel- 

 thuap. The Carolines consist of 500 or more 

 coral reefs, having a population of 35.000 natives 

 and 900 whites. Yap, Ponape, and Kusai are 

 the only ones that produce much copra. The 

 northern division of the Ladrones consists of vol- 

 canic islands that are in a state of active erup- 

 tion and contain no inhabitants. Of the southern 

 division Guam, which has a fortified harbor, be- 

 longs to the United States; it contains 8,561 of 

 the 10,172 inhabitants. The annual expenditure 

 of the Imperial Government for the administra- 

 tion of the new possessions is estimated at 220,- 

 000 marks, after a preliminary nonrecurring ex- 

 penditure of 355,000 marks. The administration 

 is subordinated to that of German New Guinea. 



By a commercial convention Germany agreed 

 to give Spain the benefits of the conventional 

 tariffs till 1904, Spain having already conceded 



