The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1843-01-13


Important Movements in Prussia-R Reputation ofthe
Pubic Defatations in the Pr,ssian Govern
nsent-Bad Morals else,ohye besides the United
States
JAMES GORDON BENNETT, ESQ. -
mentioned in my last that the King and Queen
were setting out a tour to the Rhenish Provinces
in order to inspect the troops, and tn be present at
the grand manoeuvres that usually take place in the
fall. These have just come off, and the newspapers
are filed with accounts of the splendor and magnif-
cence displayed on the occasion. sham fight was
performed by two corps under the command of Gen
erals Won Pfud and The, and the troops entered in
to the spirit of the movement with so much zeal and
good will, that the mock engagement was converted
into real one, and considerable number wounded
with two or three killed, were left on the field of
battle. On the whole the King was highly gratified
with the efficient state of his army, and expressed
his conviction that in his soldiers are again
called into active service, they would sustain the
reputation acquired by the Prussian arms in the
campaign OF 1913, IA and Is. Among the vsiters
to the Prussian camp, the Kings OF the Netherlands
and OF Wirtemberg, and Archduke John Of Austria,
were the most distinguished, having all of them at
tanned great renown in the military annals of Eu-
rOpe-the two former Prince of Orange and
Prince Royal OF Wirtemberg, and the latter as Com.
| nary but disastrous battle of Hohenlinden, Com
memorated by Campbell in of the finest odes in
the English language) Officers OF all nations were
present at the reviews, with the exception of French
which is notcedby politicians as proof OF the coe
ness subslstlng between the two powers. Louis
Philippe is said to have invited the King to pay him
visit at Paris but met with decided, though pc.
lite REFUSAL and the latter has scrupulousy RETAINED
from entering the French territory in spite of con.
siderable det0v he had to make to avoid crossing
| the frontier on his journey to Neufchatel
A short time since a royal manifesto s-
sued, ordering committee of representatives from
every Province OF the Kingdom to meet at Berlin
on the 18th of next month, to deliberate upon the
following points First, the reduction of the inter-
est on the national debt and of taxes in general
secondly concerning the expedency of the railroads
being taken out of the hands of private companies
and carried on at the expense of government, as
theydo not appear thrive under their present man.
agement and the individual views of the sharehold-
ers are often at variance with the interests of the
public at large thirdly, the Improvement of the
river navigation, which at present is still in its infan-
cy. This decree Is pretty generally considered as
the forerunner OF more important concessions and
the first step towards liberal institutions on the mo-
del of France and England, to which the people will
become gradually accustomed by being permitted
to take share in measures that are likely to have
an influence on their future welfare confess these
expectations appear to me to be rather too saneuine
The King may allow his subjects to participate to
certain degree in the deliberations on the internal
affairs OF the country, but the artificial structure
and military character of this monarchy, are ncom-
patbe with the delays and fluctuations of a repre-.
sentative government. The strength of Prussia de-
Ponds entirely upon vigorous system of centraliza-
uon, or despoism, if you like to call 1t SO. II the
relns OF government were relaxed for an instant
the whole fabric would fall to the ground, as the
different provinces are not united by any bond of
nationality, but only joined together by chance du-
ring the successful wars carried on by a series of
able Princes, in the course of the last two cenu-
successors has always been" everything for the
people and nothing through the peoples" and have
no doubt it will still be adhered to, perhaps with
some slight mod fcatlons, but without any material
departure from the original principle 1t is evident,
from the second OF the above proposals, that the
railroads, being constructed at the expense of pr-
vate individuals, have excited the jealousy Of 60
vernment, Inroad on the dominant spirit of
Capitalization, and the embarrassment, occasioned
by the novelty of the undertaking and the prejudces
they have to contend WITH are seized upon with
avNiity as preext for taking these establishments
out OF the hands OF the original popretors and sub
ecting them TO the superintendent OF the official
authorities This is proof that sweeping inno-
vatlons on the prevailing system are contemplated.
The administration of this country is conducted
with great order and regularity all sudden changes
are eschewed, and violent ebulliiions of public
feeling discouraged The finances of course the
object of particular attention, and were 1t not for
the expenses occasoned by the enormous standing
army, they would be IN most flourish .ng cOndi-
ton The necessity OF keeping two hundred thou
sand men on foot, causes sad havoc in the royal
treasury, and although official budget is ever pub
lished, the military este bishment is generally cal
cuared to absorb about three ffihs of the revenue
The interest on the national debt is punctualy paid,
and In consequence thereof, government has been
able to reduce 1t great part OF the bonds, from
four to three and a half per cent per annum, leav-
ing the option TO the holders either to be paid
off in full or to have their bonds converted into 81
per cent stock, with the addition of small bonus
OF one-half per cent. on the amount. The rate of
interest is so low, and the confidence IN the stability
OF the Prusslan regime great that nearly all the
bond-holders have agreed to the latter alternative.
Notes, from one dollar upwards they bear no inter-
est, and are received al par throughout the King
dom-sometmes they are even worth small pre-
MUM.
No little excitement has been created in this city,
by the discovery OF an extensive fraud upon Gov
eminent, carried on with IMMUNITY for number Of
years, by some officers in the artillery department.
Having 10 contract for the delivery of military stores
required by the Prusslan army, they made an agree
ment with 81 respectable" merchant of Berlin, to
give him vouchers for the receipt of large Quantities
of building materials Of which he only delivered a
small proportion On presenting the vouchers at
the Treasury, he received payment for the whole,
and the proceeds were divided between the conspi-
rators Several of these smart "fnanciers" have
been arrested, and one OF them-the principal con-
tractorput period to his existence in prison. II is
now reported, that so many government officers are
implicated in this blow up, that il has been found
impossible to bring them all TO justice, and the King
has therefore ordered the investigation to be quash
ed, and the whole affair to be hushed up. Not a
word OF this has appeared in the newspapers, nor
is 1t likely that any thing of the kind will he allow
ed to transpre, the public press being still subjected
to the strlctest censorship. 1t frequently happens
that you frs learn the occurrences OF the city from
journal published in an adjacent state Cat Leipzig,
in Saxony) which boasts OF more liberal institutions
and greater latitude in the expression of popular
opinions.
During the Kings visit to St. Petersburgh, he
made use of his personal influence to obtain some
relaxation of The prohbtoy system pursued by the
Russian Government in respect TO nearly all kinds
of foreign merchandise. BY an Imperial Ukase,
Prussian goods (chieAy provlsons) are now permit
ted to enter the Russian territories several differ
ent points, instead of being confined to three or four
principal routes and the transit of Prussan woolen
manufactures is opened through Russia to Odessa,
and thence to the countries bordering on the Black
Sea- II is hoped these measures will have bene-
fetal effect on the trade between this country and
Poland which has been hitherto interrupted and