The Sun.
London, England, 1849-11-08 00:00:00

PRUSSIA.

The Independance of Brussels publishes the follow- '
ing letter from Berlin, 31 inst. :
" The Second Chamber held a long sitting to-day,
which did not close until half-past five. The question
was the Bill relative to the Eastern Railway, and those of
Westphalia and Saarbruck. The discussion was very
animated. The affair of the loan to be contracted for
the Eastern Railway was before the Diet in 1847. On
the present occasion the left demanded the adjournment
or the modification of the vote until the Government
had made known the real state of the finances of the
country. It is equivalent to a renewal of the opposition
of the Diet, which demanded, before granting the
necessary funds for the construction of the Koenigs-
berg Railway, that constitutional rights should
be granted to the States General. There is a
great interest attached to this discussion. On
the subject of the vote of the taxes, it is foreseen
that a reconciliation amongst parties will take place.
The Left appeared to be divided on the railway ques-
tion. M. Simson was of opinion that the funds to be
voted should depend on the account rendered by the
Government above alluded to. M. Harkort proposed to
change ten millions of the Loan Bonds into Railway
Bonds. M. Beckerath demanded that State Bonds
should be issued. M. Wentzel, President of the Tribunal
of Rather, went into the political bearing of the question,
and alluded to the recent conflict between the Ministry
and the Moderate Left. A reply from the Minister of
the Interior led it to be understood that the Govern-
ment would hold out the hand of reconciliation.
The Minister declared that not to vote the 21
millions of thalers demanded would be to reject the
bill. On coming to a vote, the amendments of the
Left were rejected by large majorities. The Chamber
afterwards, adopted the proposition of the Committee
authorizing the Government, in case the funds voted were
not sufficient, to contract a loan of not exceeding 21
millions. The First Chamber has adopted Article 105
as drawn up by the Second Chamber, with the excep-
tion of the concluding phrase, which will be as follows:
If any doubts should arise on the question of know-
ing whether the ordonnances promulgated without the
consent of the Chambers require that consent, the ques-
tion is decided by the propositions and the votes of the
Chamber.' Art. 106 will be thus worded, ' The Consti-
tution may be modified in the ordinary line of legislation,
in this sense that, in the two Chambers, the simple abso-
lute majority is sufficient. A lapse of 21 days must expire
between the two votes.' Article 107 to 112 were after-.
wards adopted in accordance with the advice of the
committee of the Second Chamber. Baden and Bavaria
have adhered to the Convention of September 30. The
Government is about to submit to the Chambers the
Convention relative to the cession of Hohenzollern. I
learn that the motive of this decision of the Ministry is
that it has renounced the idea of establishing a personal
union for Hohenzollern. That country will be trans-
formed into a Prussian province. If it is necessary one
day to defend the new possession by force of arms, the
other province will have to support the expenses of the
war. Hence the necessity of obtaining the consent of
the Chambers, of which, however, there is no doubt.
The son of the Prince of Prussia left this evening for
Bonn, where he will pursue his studies."