special convention with Austria, the Emperor referred to the fulfillment of the hopes he had expressed for the termination of the war in the East, and said that tranquillity in Turkey and the maintenance of peace in Europe might be expected to result from the arrangements made at the Congress. On February 13th Herr von Forckenbeck was reelected President by 151 votes, against 67 received by Herr von Seydewitz; the candidate of the Conservative party, Herr von Stauffenberg, was reelected first VicePresident, and Prince von Hohenlohe-Langenburg second Vice-President. As the latter declined, Herr Lucius was elected second VicePresident. On the 19th the Reichstag, after a brilliant defense of Parliamentary reform by Dr. Lasker, almost unanimously resolved to refuse the Government permission to imprison and criminally prosecute two Socialist deputies, Fritzsche and Hasselmann, who had returned to Berlin in obedience to the Emperor's general convocation of Parliament, and in defiance of the police decree against their further residence in the capital. On motion of Herr Rickert, it was furthermore declared, with all votes against those of the two Conservative parties, that the Reichstag, in framing the law of October, never meant that a member might be prevented by a police decree of expulsion from taking his due share in the proceedings of Parliament.

The discussion of the new commercial treaty with Austria began on the 20th. Although there was hardly any opposition to the approval of the treaty, the discussion became at once very animated, as it turned on the radical change in the financial policy of the empire which the speech from the throne had announced. The most remarkable speeches were made by Herr Delbrück, formerly President of the Imperial Chancery, and Prince Bismarck. The lines between the Free-Trade and Protectionist parties were distinctly drawn. Delbrück is looked upon as the leader of the FreeTrade party. He defended, in two elaborate speeches, the traditions of the commercial policy of Prussia, tracing the history of the reformatory movement, which he said began with the customs legislation of 1818, was continued in the Customs Union, and quietly and steadily kept on developing, with only a short interruption, until recently. By a long array of commercial statistics he attempted to refute the assertion made in the speech from the throne, that the commercial policy followed since 1865 had been unsuccessful. Prince Bismarck made a characteristic speech, in which he explained the reasons why the Government proposed to return to the path they had followed between 1823 and 1865. He stated that until a year ago he had confided the supreme management of the commercial policy of the empire to Herr Delbrück, whom he regarded as the highest authority in all questions of commercial legislation; and though he had not fully agreed with the views of Herr Delbrück,

he had been satisfied that the commercial in. terests were intrusted to the best hands which could be found in Germany. Gradually, however, the conviction had grown upon him that a radical change was required; and, much as he regretted that he could no longer have the cooperation of Herr Delbrück, he believed a change in the commercial policy necessary for the salvation of Germany.

The great debate on the reorganization of the customs and commercial polity of the empire began soon after the Easter recess, which had lasted from the 3d to the 28th of April. During this recess the Bundesrath had completed the draft of the Government's bills, which had been communicated to all the members of the Reichstag by mail. The discussion was opened on May 2d by Prince Bismarck, who in a speech lasting about an hour said that Prussia had not taken the initiative in any tax reform since 1824-a fact to be explained by the relation of the various states to the Zollverein. That union, possessing the power to impose indirect taxes, had not a pliant character, a circumstance which logically justified the fact that the development of such imposts in Germany lagged behind that of all other countries. The possibility of a reform in this respect first appeared with the creation of the North German Confederation and of the empire; and if he did not then undertake financial reform, this was because, apart from his defective health and multitudinous duties, he did not primarily regard that as the duty of the Imperial Chancellor. But now the case was different, the present cohesive relations between the empire and the various states being of such a nature as to demand the most prompt and pressing remedy. The first motive for reform was the need of financial independence for the empire, a principle willingly recognized on the settlement of its constitution. The contributions of the various states to the general exchequer were unequal, and he desired to see the necessary income raised in the least burdensome form. At present there were too many direct and too few indirect taxes, and he aimed at reversing this order. The Prince contended that civil servants should not have to pay the income-tax. Another mistake was the distinction made between movable and immovable property. No branch of industry was so highly taxed as agriculture, and the present indirect taxation did not give native labor the protection which it ought to have. He would not enter into the question of free trade versus protection, but one thing was clear, that, through the widely opened doors of its import trade, the German market had become the mere storage-space for the over-production of other countries. They must, therefore, shut their gates, and take care that the German market, which was now being monopolized by foreign wares, should be reserved for native industry. Countries which were inclosed had become great, and those which remained open

had fallen behind. Were the perils of protectionism really so great as sometimes painted, France would long ago have been ruined, instead of which she was more prosperous after paying the five milliards than Germany is today. And protectionist Russia, too-look at her marvelous prosperity! Manufacturers there had lately been able to save from 30 to 35 per cent, and all at the cost of the German market. The question before them was not a political but a financial one, and they should put all personal sensibility aside. Nor should they forget the maxim, "Bis dat qui cito dat"; and whichever of them would not quickly give would do detriment to the economic interests of the realm. Dr. Delbrück warned the House to beware of approving the proposed taxes on cotton yarns, as thereby certain branches of export industry would in the highest degree be imperiled. Dr. Delbrück then contrasted France and Germany in this respect, proving by statistics that in the former the customs on cotton yarns are very high as compared with those in the latter, and that, though the imports are thrice as great as in Germany, the export is only a third. On the 3d Herr Bamberger, of the National Liberal party, a great financial authority and an ardent free-trader, undertook to refute the speech made by Prince Bismarck the day before, which, he urged, contained nothing but the assurance of future prosperity sure to result from the acceptance of his scheme, and raised hopes which in the long run could not be realized. Whether such a course was judicious in view of the efforts and expectations of social democracy seemed to him highly questionable. The strength of Prince Bismarck lay in the domain of foreign policy, but his intervention in matters of finance was at variance with his Highness's activity in the past. The Prince's pillar of support was the Center, and the tendency of the Ultramontanes was invariably retrograde. Nor had the Federal Council shown much independence in their discussion of the bill. Herr Bamberger proceeded to consider the probable effects of the new tariff from all general points of view, ending with the assurance that if it were accepted German industry would most assuredly suffer euthanasia, or die a calm and gradual death. On the 4th Herr Richter, Progressist, and a financier of no mean order, chained the attention of the House for nearly three hours, and drew a gloomy picture of the evils sure to result to the empire from the adoption of Prince Bismarck's bill. The Fortschritt (Progressist) party were unanimously opposed to the proposed taxes on tobacco and beer, petroleum, and the most indispensable articles of daily consumption, and they would listen to no compromise. They looked upon the question of customs and taxes as one of might. Money was power, and this Prince Bismarck was evidently bent on gaining for the empire at all risks. In proportion as direct taxation was lessened, the parliamentary influence of pro

vincial assemblies, and even that of the various states, would be weakened. The proposals before them aimed at absolutism. He reminded all who loved freedom that it was never sent down direct from heaven, but had to be fought for and won. He bade them hold fast together, for liberty and the future of the German Empire were at stake. On the 5th Freiherr von Varnbühler, President of the Tariff Commission, combated the arguments advanced during the last few days by such champions of free trade as Herren Bamberger and Richter. On the 8th Deputy Lasker called the attention of the House to a letter written by Prince Bismarck to the Bavarian Herr von Thüngen, the chief of the so-called Agrarian party, as revealing plans still more reactionary than those indicated by the new tariff. Herr von Thüngen, in his letter to Bismarck, had complained that the interests of German agriculture were not sufficiently protected in the new tariff, at all events not in due proportion to commerce and industry. A number of agricultural products continued to be imported free of duty. The agricultural middle class was on the point of disappearing. Rich capitalists buy real estates for small sums; the peasant becomes again what he was a thousand years ago, a shepherd; some emigrate, the others become Social Democrats, and the social revolution which ends in imperialism is completed. The Imperial Chancellor in his reply expressed his concurrence in the opinion of Herr von Thüngen that the corn duties were insufficient as a protection of agriculture in proportion to the burdens which it bears; but, in his negotiations with the Governments of the other German states and the Tariff Commission, he had been unable to obtain greater concessions, and had found it even difficult to retain the concession that had been made. In view of this correspondence, Lasker laid a special stress on the corn duties proposed in the new tariff, and with great vehemence denounced the intention of the Chancellor. The reply of Prince Bismarck_admitted that in his opinion the agricultural interests of the empire deserved a more energetic protection than they received at present. Herr Windthorst, the leader of the Ultramontane Center, declared that his party would support the new protective policy of the Chancellor. A few days before, Herr Windthorst (“the Pearl of Meppen"), who is not only the leader of the Center, but also the trusted adviser of the ex-royal family of Hanover, and who for long years had been the uncompromising foe of the Prince, had for the first time had an interview with Bismarck, and on May 4th he had attended the parliamentary soirée of the Prince, who was observed to receive him with warm and prominent hospitality. It was therefore inferred from the speech of Deputy Windthorst, that Prince Bismarck must have secured some kind of agreement with the Center. On the 11th the tobacco-tax bill was defended by Deputy von Schmid of Würtemberg, who con

tended that taxation of tobacco was preferable to a Government monopoly in it, and there were many reasons why it should be taxed by weight. Herr Meyer of Bremen described the unsatisfactory result of the French monopoly system, which he implored the House not to think of. The tax on manufactured goods was most preferable, as having to be paid whenever a sale was made, and as being a real consumption-tax. He hoped the license-tax, moreover, would be rejected as being inquisitorial and vexatious. Herr Fritzsche (Social Democrat) energetically opposed the measure, from the acceptance of which he ventured to prophesy would accrue the most baneful results to the tobacco trade in Germany.

The debate on the tariff bills was finished on May 12th. In accordance with the motion of Deputy Lowo (Progressist), the Reichstag resolved to refer part of the new tariff and the tobacco-tax bill to a special committee, but to let the second reading of the other part of the tariff take place in the Reichstag itself. On the 16th the Reichstag rejected, by 192 against 125 votes, a motion to reduce by a half the proposed tax of one mark on pig and scrap iron. A motion of Count Stolberg-Wernigerode, to admit duty-free between Memel and the Vistula all pig and scrap iron, on written certification of its destination for foundries, etc., was also rejected, though most of the members from Posen and the Prussian provinces supported this. On the 17th, on motion of Dr. Delbrück, the duty on Swedish bar-iron destined for the manufacture of certain kinds of wire was reduced to 50 pfennigs (about 12 cents). On the 19th the House passed to the first reading the so-called Sperrgesetz or frontier-closing measure, for immediately and provisionally putting in force the stipulations of the new tariff bill under consideration, with a view of frustrating the tactics of those who were importing large quantities of goods to escape the heavy protective duties threatened thereafter. The House unanimously approved the proposed immunity from customs of bronze and ores, and after some discussion also supported the Government in its intention to make flax and raw material for spinning, with the exception of cotton, free. On the 20th the House began the discussion of the tariff under the head of grain and agricultural produce, the new duties proposed thereon being one mark per 100 kilos on wheat, oats, and husked fruit; 50 pfennigs (half a mark) on rye, barley, maize, and buckwheat; 20 pfennigs on malt; 3 marks on anise-seed and caraway-seed; other products being free. On the 21st Prince Bismarck made a long speech on the subject, in which he tried to show that the imposition of the duties proposed, by bettering the fortunes of the agricultural class, would in reality give an impetus to industrial activity. England, France, Belgium, and the Netherlands were cited in proof. The Prince disclaimed all intention of seeking to increase the Impe

rial Exchequer by a corn-tax; all he desired was merely to do justice to the long-suffering countryman by removing to the frontier, in the form of a consumption duty, part of a direct tax pressing on him. On the 23d the proposals of the Tariff Commission in regard to the duties on grain were carried by 226 against 109. On the 27th the House carried the motion of Deputies Windthorst and Hammacher, Ultramontane and National Liberal respectively, to extend the Sperrgesetz, or provisional customs bill, to iron, groceries, and petroleum, in addition to wine and tobacco, as recommended by the Tariff Commission. This protective and preventive ordinance would lapse as soon as the various tariff bills now under consideration should become law, or at the latest fifteen days after the close of the present session of Parliament. On the 28th the House passed the Sperrgesetz. A majority of 172 against 88 also approved the proposed tax of 10 pfennigs per 100 kilos on building timber, raw or rough-hewn, as also of 25 pfennigs on sawn wood or planed boards, and other manufactures of wood. On June 16th the proposed duty of 50 pfennigs per kilo on beams and blocks of hard wood was approved by 140 votes against 86. Those on carpenters' goods, wood for parquets and furniture, and wood combined with metal and glass, 3, 4, and 10 marks respectively, were also approved. The duty of 10 pfennigs on building timber, raw or rough-hewn, was carried by 140 votes to 86. On the 17th the House approved the proposed duties of 20 marks per kilo on all fine-wood and carved goods, 30 marks on uncovered upholstered furniture, and 40 marks on covered. The tax of 20 marks on every hundred kilos of hops was also finally accepted. On the 24th the proposed duties on oil and grease were approved by large majorities, although the free-traders made a strenuous endeavor to reduce the duty of 10 marks per 100 kilos on lard, as being the butter of poor men. The House also granted the proposed duties on candles and furs, and the clauses on soap and perfumery, playing-cards, stones, and stone

wares.

The second reading of the tariff bill was completed on July 5th, when the House by a considerable majority voted the so-called financial duties proposed by the Government on tobacco, coffee, petroleum, etc. The Liberals and Socialists made a desperate stand against the duties on coffee and petroleum, Herr Bebel declaring that they would breed very bad blood among the people and furnish fresh stimulus for social-democratic agitation. On the 8th the Reichstag passed by a majority of 163 against 148 that section of the law which provides that goods coming from countries which treat German vessels or wares of German origin more unfavorably than those of other states may be taxed with an addition of 50 per cent. over the rate of the imposed tariff. On the 9th, after a long and lively debate, in

which Prince Bismarck took a prominent part, the Reichstag, by a majority of 211 against 122, adopted the motion of Herr Frankenstein with reference to the so-called constitutional guarantees, with an amendment of Herr Varnbühler in harmony therewith. This section of the tariff law now provides that the surplus in any year over 130,000,000 marks, arising from the receipts of customs and the tobacco duties, shall be distributed among the various states of the empire in proportion to their population and the rate of their annual contributions to the general exchequer. This stipulation is to take effect from the 1st of April, 1880; and any surplus over 52,651,815 marks accruing between the 1st of October, 1879, and the 31st of March, 1880, will be subtracted under similar conditions pro rata from the matricular contribution of the states for that period. On July 12th the debate on the new tariff and the

tariff law, after lasting for nearly three months. came to an end. The House passed it in its entirety by a majority of exactly 100, the numbers being 217 against 117. Before the vote was taken, Dr. Delbrück once more strove to show that the bill would grievously injure export industries, and oppressively raise the price of the commonest necessaries of life, that the corn duties would change the whole financial policy of the empire, and promised nothing but discontent and confusion. Dr. Lasker prophesied perpetual conflicts between the Federal Council and the Finance Ministers of the various states; and he looked upon the law as the beginning not of peace, but of strife.

On March 4th the Reichstag began the discussion of the bill introduced by the Government concerning the coercive power of the Reichstag over its members. The bill found

hardly any friends among the deputies. Professor Hänel, of the Law Faculty in Kiel (Progressist and formerly second Vice-President of the Reichstag), attacked the measure in an eloquent and learned speech, and defended full freedom of speech and its corollary, the right to publish the proceedings. He sought to show that the adoption of such a law would make the Reichstag unlike any other Parliament, and declared himself opposed to any change in the standing orders of the House, especially at the present time, when they might appear to act under pressure. Herr Bebel, the well-known leader of the Social Democrats, maintained that the bill was intended to gag the Social Democrats, and suggested that it would be bet ter to modify the law granting the franchise to all Germans over twenty-five to the extent of excepting those whom the police have cause

to suspect of revolutionary tendencies. Such a measure was possible in no other country but Germany. On the 7th the bill of the Government was rejected by a large majority. On the other hand, on motion of Herr von Stauffenberg (first Vice-President), it was resolved to ask the Standing Order Committee to consider whether any changes are necessary in the manner of conducting business, and, if so, to formulate and lay regular proposals before the House.

Among the most important measures adopted by the Reichstag is the final regulation of the government of Alsace-Lorraine. In the early part of the session the deputies Schneegans, North, Rack, and Lorette, belonging to the party of the so-called Autonomists, introduced a motion to request the Chancellor of the Empire to prepare for Alsace-Lorraine an inde

pendent government residing in the country itself. The motion was supported by a large portion of the National Liberal party, as Bennigsen, Lasker, and Stauffenberg, and was approved in its essential parts by the Chancellor himself. The discussion began on March 21st. Deputy Schneegans, the leader of the party of Alsatian Autonomists, referred to the fact that the obstacles which formerly prevented the estab1.shment of an independent administration of Alsace-Lorraine, in place of the central Government located in Berlin, had now disappeared. The Chancellor had himself repeatedly promised the establishment of an independent government. Herr Schneegans expected from the adoption of his motion a revival throughout Alsace and Lorraine of the old attachment to the German Fatherland. Deputy Kablé read, in the name of the Alsatian Protest party (who demand reannexation of Alsace and Lorraine to France), a declaration in which the party express their concurrence in the wish for the establishment of an independent government. They, however, are convinced that no permanent institutions can be created in Alsace and Lorraine, and no real independence secured, without the concurrence of a legislative assembly elected by a general vote. While willing to vote for the motion of Deputy Schneegans, the party do not mean to prejudice their future movements. Prince Bismarck explained to what extent he was willing to accept the motion. He was, in particular, willing to grant to the imperial province a resident Stadtholder, surrounded with administrative officers having the rank of ministers, and also some kind of representation in the Federal Council. On May 15th the Chancellor submitted to the Reichstag a bill concerning the constitution and administration of Alsace and Lorraine. During the discussion of the bill only a few insignificant changes were proposed and adopted, and on June 23d the bill was passed by a unanimous vote of all parties, except that of the French Protest party, which left the House before the vote was taken. It was signed by the Emperor on July 4th, and an imperial decree of July 23d provided that the law should go into operation on October 1st. According to the new law, Alsace-Lorraine remains an imperial possession, and becomes virtually a federal state, of which the Emperor of Germany as such, not in his capacity as King of Prussia, is the ruler. The Emperor appoints a Stadtholder, who resides in Strasburg, and may at any time be recalled. The Stadtholder does not exercise the functions of the sovereign, but merely those which were hitherto exercised with regard to the Reichsland by the Imperial Chancellor and by the Oberpräsident (LordLieutenant) of Alsace-Lorraine. The section of the Imperial Chancery for the Reichsland and the bureau of the Oberpräsident will be replaced by a ministry for Alsace-Lorraine, under the presidency of a Secretary of State, which will be divided into a number of sections, at the

head of each of which will be an Under-Secretary of State. In the Federal Council the country will be represented by a delegate elected by the Landesausschuss (Provincial Assembly). The delegate will take part in the discussions of the Federal Council, but will have no right of voting. For the examination of bills prepared by the Government a State Council is formed, consisting of the Stadtholder as president, the Secretary of State, the commanding general of the 15th army corps, the Under-Secretaries of State, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, the Attorney-General, and seven members appointed by the Emperor, of whom three are proposed by the Landesausschuss, one must be a judge, and one an ordinary professor of the University of Strasburg. The Landesausschuss will hereafter consist of fifty-eight members, who will be elected by indirect vote for a term of three years. On July 23d, the same day when the new Constitution for Alsace-Lorraine was promulgated, the Emperor appointed General Edwin Freiherr von Manteuffel Stadtholder of the Reichsland. At the same time Dr. Herzog, heretofore Under-Secretary of State in the section of the Imperial Chancery for Alsace-Lorraine, was appointed Secretary of State.

Some important information, not known heretofore, on the history of the unification of Germany, was given on July 7th during the discussion of the new German tariff law by the Reichstag, in a speech of Herr von Varnbühler, member of the Federal Council for Würtemberg, and the virtual author of the new tariff. In reply to imputations launched against him by Dr. Boretius, in connection with the attitude of Würtemberg toward Prussia in 1866, Herr von Varnbüller stated that he did all he could at that time, and though the va victis which he had uttered with regard to Prussia came unfortunately to apply to Würtemberg instead, the very mild form in which this happened was due to the great statesman now at the helm of German affairs, and he could never forget the debt of gratitude thus incurred by his country. After peace was concluded it was from his (Herr von Varubühler's) initiative that the federal treaties arose. He strove too for the preservation of the Zollverein; and when Prussia sought to withdraw from it, it was he who was instrumental in convening the Customs Parliaments, so that the chief bond of cohesion in Germany should not break. All these statements were willingly confirmed by Prince Bismarck, who was present at the discussion.

On May 20th Herr von Forckenbeck, President of the Reichstag, sent in his resignation, in a letter in which he declared that the fact of his being at variance with the majority of the House on important questions before it, together with imperious considerations of health, had rendered it incumbent upon him, in the interest of public business, no longer to retain the office. On the next day the Reichstag, in which now the alliance between the Conserva