The Progress of the World. 



I '5 



control of blocks of delegates holding federal oftices 

 in Southern States which never cast electoral votes 

 for Republican candidates. There is no reason 

 whatsoever for asserting that Mr. Roosevelt would 

 decline the nomination if offered to him, nor is 

 there any reason for thinking that those Republicans 

 who wish to support him are acting without due 

 warrant in trying to have delegates sent from their 

 States who would share in their views." 



A great andnotable thing happened 



j^g last month in Germany. A general 



German Plebiscite, election of the members of the 



Reichstag is not a great thing, 

 for Germany is not a constitutional country ; the 

 Reichstag, excepting for its control of supply, is often 

 little more than a mere debatmg society, and the 

 distribution of seats is so absurd that the minority of 

 the electors usually elect a majority of the members. 

 Hut although the choice of members for the Reichstag 

 was as usual no better than a farce, the taking of the 

 gross poll in a single day gave the election the 

 ominous, not to say the sinister, significance of a 

 plebiscite. l'"or on a given day in January every 

 German male adult, of whom there are 14,236,722, 

 was challenged to cast what was in fact although not in 

 form a vote .'\ye or Xo on the decisive issue of the 

 Home and Foreign policy of the Government of the 

 Kaiser. .Vrc you fur the Kaiser's policy as interpreted 



Clul>!uhltr.\ [Vienna. 



The Political Theatre in Germany. 



Curtain rises on Ait I. and discloses the Red .Socialists 



otcu]iying Ihc stage. 



The Elections in Germany. 



Soliciting the vote of the German Chancellor at the entrance to 

 the polling booth. 



by his Chancellor Bethmann-Hollweg and Kiderlein 

 Waechter — a policy of Protection at home and of 

 unrestful menace abroad ? Those who are content 

 say Aye ; non-contents say No. The result was 

 startling; ]2,r24,503 electors voted. About four and 

 a half millions voted Aye, and seven and a half 

 millions voted No. Each gioup voted by itself. 

 'l"he figures came out as follows : — 



Co.NTE.NTb 

 Centre Party 

 Conservatives 

 Free do. 

 I'olcs ... 

 Anli-.Scmites 

 Alsatians 

 Guelphs... 

 I.orraincrs 



-Aye. Non-Contents. 



Socialists 4,238,919 



National Liberals , 



Radicals 



Danes, etc 



1,671,297 



1.556.549 

 125,000 



Its SiKnincancc. 



2,012,990 

 1,149,916 



365.087 



438,807 



364.123 



84, "3 

 76,922 



56.390 



The vote is complicated by the 

 multiplicity of the groups and the 

 difTerences between them. Some 

 are against the Government and 

 for Protection, others for the Government and against 

 Protection. The chief diffiiully arises as to the 

 classification of the National Liberals, who are neither 

 .solid for Protection nor for Free Trade. Mr. Long, the 

 able correspondent of the W'titminstcr Gazette, calcu- 

 lates that even if all National Liberal votes were 

 reckoned as Protectionist the Free Traders have so 

 steadily improved their position they are now almost 



