PRUSSIA. 



657 



tinne to fulfill her political mission in the Ger- 

 man Empire, by faithfully carrying out truly 

 monarchical and, at the same time, liberal in- 

 stitutions. The Herrenhaus organized by elect- 

 ing the Duke of Eatibor president, Herr von 

 Bernuth first vice-president, and Herr Hassel- 

 bach second vice-president. In the Chamber 

 of Deputies, the National Liberals and the 

 Party of Progress united to organize the House, 

 and, on January 15th, reflected Herr von Ben- 

 nigsen, a National Liberal, president, and elect- 

 ed for its first vice-president Herr Klotz, of 

 the Party of Progress, and for its second vice- 

 president Count Bethusy-Huc, a Free Con- 

 servative. The session was mainly devoted to 

 the consideration of the budget, which passed 

 its third reading in the Chamber of Deputies 

 on February 28th. The Diet adjourned on 

 March 3d. Of other business transacted dur- 

 ing this session, the most important was the 

 division of the Province of Prussia into two 

 provinces, East and West Prussia. This law is 

 dated March 19, 1877, and goes into operation 

 on April 1, 1878. Two Danish deputies from 

 Schleswig-Holstein, Kryger and Lassen, refused 

 to take the oath to observe the Prussian con- 

 stitution. On February 27th, their seats were, 

 therefore, declared vacant. 

 The Chambers were opened again on October 



21st, by Herr Campbausen, the Finance Min- 

 ister and Vice-President of the Prussian Cab- 

 inet, who read the speech from the throne, of 

 which the following are extracts : 



Some branches of the public revenue hare not in 

 the current year yielded the amount that would Lave 

 accrued under normal conditions ; while, on the 

 other hand, the public works required in the interest 

 of the country will probably consume an amount 

 larger than, in present circumstances, we can hope 

 to collect. For these reasons, and, as public works 

 are profitably carried on at a time when commerce ia 

 still depressed, we contemplate being obliged to 

 have recourse to extraordinary measures for the re- 

 enforcement of our means. Besides supplementary 

 estimates for the current year, the budget for the en- 

 suing year, and a bill authorizing a loan, will be sub- 

 mitted to you. To complete the administrative re- 

 form begun and practically carried out in five prov- 

 inces, the laws regulating the government of town* 

 in these provinces will have to be modified in what 

 concerns the supervision exercised by the Crown, 

 and the jurisdiction of the Administrative Courts. 

 The Road Construction bill, adapted to the new ad- 

 ministrative laws, will be resubmitted. The laws for 

 the protection of fields and forests having long been 

 considered as wholly inadequate, a bill will be intro- 

 duced, rearranging this important branch of the Ex- 

 ecutive, in conformity witn the Penal Code of the 

 Empire, and the remodeled functions of the admin- 

 istrative authorities. 



A ministerial crisis, which had arisen in the 

 latter part of September, in consequence of a 



COLOGNE CATHED11AL IN ITS PRESENT CONDITION. 



difference between Prince Bismarck and Connt 

 Eulenburg, with regard to the administrative 

 reforms proposed by the latter, led to the resig- 

 nation of Count Eulenburg, the Minister of the 

 Interior. The Emperor declined to accept the 

 resignation, and instead granted the count a six 

 months' furlough. This matter led to a violent 

 debate in the House, in the course of which 

 Herr Windthorst, late Hanoverian minister, and 

 VOL. xvn. 42 A 



the distinguished leader of th Centrum (Cath- 

 olic party), seized the occasion to make a bit- 

 ter attack upon the Cabinet. There could Ju- 

 no doubt, he said, that, notwithstanding t 

 ambiguous phraseology used by the minUtera, 

 the great work of administrative reform w 

 virtually at an end, or, at any rate, WOO* 

 be carried through in the spirit in which it hiw 

 been originally conceived. They ceruinly bad 



