The Sun.
London, England, 1863-03-03 00:00:00

not place much faith in his Excellency's assurances,

and suspect some quibble in the matter. He said
on Thursday that the Russians could not come over
the frontier without authorisation from this side.
But, it is asked, by whom is that authorisation to
be given ? Will it be in the power of any Prussian
general or colonel, commanding on a given point of
the frontier, to permit the entrance of a Russian
column ? The well-authenticated accounts daily re-
ceived of the atrocities committed by the Russian
troops in Poland naturally render the Prussians ex-
tremely averse to their admission into this country.
M. von Hennig, deputy for Strasburg, in the pro-
vince of Prussia, close to the Russo-Nash frontier,
rose when M. von Bismark sat down, and, after a
sarcastic reference to Vincke's habitually dogmati-
cal and dictatorial style, attacked the Ministry. In
Berlin, he said, people are very ill-informed as to
what passes in the province of Posen, and the
Minister of the Interior had, upon the previous day,
supplied an example of this. (Count Eulenberg
had denied that the frontier had been crossed.)
Russian troops had crossed the Prussian frontier.
The Minister-President had expressed his regret at
having to be present at the discussion of the pre-
sent question. He (Deputy Hennig) and his friends
found the Minister's speeches always very interest-
ing, and certainly highly provocative of merriment.
Was it not comical to hear the old story of '4B
warmed up at this time of day ; to hear it said that
the Chamber wished to leave Prussia defenceless,
and to invite in the foreigner ? Surely it became
the first duty of the Minister-President to advise
the King to dissolve such a treasonable Chamber ?
(Hear, hear.) Why did he not do so ? Probably
because he well knew that the Chamber would be
re-elected. Passing then to the Polish question,
M. von Hennig declared positively that Prussian
troops had been on Russian territory, and Russians
on Prussian ground. All the civil authorities in
the frontier provinces had been directed to carry
out the orders of the Generals. Such ought only
to be allowed in case of a general mobilisation, and
not when merely the reserves were oalled out. He
had the conviction that the convention was one
which no Government careful of the interests of
the country would have concluded. M. Hennig
being from the frontier, and having sure sources of
information, his statements carried weight.
M. Bismark's reply excited the mockery of the
House. " The facts," he said,

"Brought forward by the previous speaker with
respect to crossing the frontier were, upon the whole,
very scanty. (Oh, oh !) He himself had no know-
ledge of them, and did not consider them sufficiently
important to inquire about. (Oh, oh !) It was un-
important whether the frontiers had been over-
stepped, whether a gendarme or two had crossed
them or not. Troops might cross the frontier with-
out even knowing whether they were on foreign
territory or not. It had often enough happened
that 20 or 30 Russian or Prussian officers had gone
across to visit their friends." (Laughter and
astonishment.)
It was not without reason that Deputy Virchow
afterwards said that the Minister President's man-
ner of expressing himself on affairs of State was
such as one might evpect to hear among a party of
students.

" The last speaker," M. von Bismark continued,
" asked me why we do not dissolve the Chamber.
Before we do that, gentlemen, we should like the
country to have an opportunity to learn to know
you right well." (Oh, oh, and laughter.)
M. von Bonin, an independent deputy, who can-
not be strictly said to belong to any fraction of the
Chamber, but who is of the old Prussian Liberal
party, next spoke. He was lately President of the
province of Posen, but was removed on account of
his political opinions. He declared that had the
state of things in the province been as it is now
four weeks ago, when he was still in office, he would
most decidedly have opposes the exceptional mea-
sures that have been taken. " Has the Govern-
ment," he said,—

" Really so little knowledge of the circumstances
as to believe (as M. von Bismark lately said) that
the expense of those measures will be covered by a
few hundred thousand thalers ?"

Schulze-Delitsch, the well-known and eloquent
Fortschritt deputy and leader, made a speech which
was the best of the day, and confirmed Deputy
Hennig's statements with respect to the passage of
the frontier. " I have before me," he continued,—
" A letter from a member of the Association for
the Protection of German Interests in Posen—an
association which here also has an especial claim to
be acknowledged as reliable in its judgments—a
letter containing such bitter complaints of the con-
vention that it is not possible to read it here. I
will refer only to one passage of it. The effect of
the measures taken has been most unfavourable to
traffic, trade, and credit, which last has been de-
stroyed by the manifesto of the Over-President.
Also the position of the Germans in the kingdom of
Poland should be weighed. A great deal of German
capital :s employed in Poland ; many Germans are
there resident. The most violent antipathy would
be aroused against these. Our Baltic ports, too, are
much affected by the measures taken ; the conclu-
sion of affairs is rendered difficult ; the premium
against war risks on Prussian ships is raised. The
Government damages all interests, of Poles and of
Germans, at home and abroad."
The debate concluded to-day. The resolution was
carried by 246 against 57. The majority was com-
posed of the Vineke fraction, the Catholics, and the
Conservatives. Von Sybel made a remarkable
speech. Vice-President Behrend declared that, al-
though he had not authorised its publication, the
conversation reported in the papers as having occur-
red between him and M. vonißismark (with respect
to Poland falling to Prussia, &c., as mentioned in
one of my recent letters) had really taken place.