, 1872-12-11
THE TRIUMPH OF BISMARCK,

THE TRIUMPH OF BISMARCK,
The Parliamentary crisis in Prussia has ter
minated in the triumph Of the Government, tn
Upper House Of the Landtag having fna11,
passed the Counties Reform bill. which had pre-
V1ously passed the Lower House. How tn
vote WAS secured, in SO fierce struggle be
tween the Court and the nobility, is not statet
IN the dispatches, but the recent creation Of
| large number OF new Peers BY Bismarck fur
niHhes probability that they took their seats il
the interest of the Government, and were suHl
Gent in number to secure q majority for tue
Dill. The triumph Of the measure, while it is 6
triumph Of the Government, is never.
! theless concession to democracy, blow al
fendal forms and privileges, and an entering
wedge for other reforms, which will tend to sim.
pity the Prusslan system Of government, and
| Tree it from the antiqnated rubbish which ad-
here's to it, and prevents the establishment Of
| any administrative unity.
The Berlin correspondent OF the London Da;la
Ne1os has stated in nutshell the facts which
have led to the necessity OF this bill:
Instead Of beginning, like the FRENCH at tho lowest
political division, and then establishing hierarchy up
TO the Throne, the Pruasian onarchs have tried to
s1fnpity their ByBte by fresh extensions Of their
Own prerogatVe into the domain Of local rights Their
hrst atep Of course, to usurp the Governorship
OF the Provinces and make subjects out Of those Who
haa been Vassals From the appointment of Governors
they proceeded to intrude into and finally snbrert
the domestic arrangements OF the provinces. Ne1t,
they took possession of the countless and the Lndrath
became thing Of life. Thus, the Prusaian system
starts with tho King, aud proceeds, not by successive
steps, but by separate paths, to most Of the political
divisions Of the State; while this poor arrange
ment Ia brdeued at every step with local and feual
usagcs.
The Counties Reform bill Was introduced to
correct one Of these eviIs, and appears to be the
lmt.atory stop towards securing more logical
system OF administration. To understand its
nature and operations, it is necessary to glance
at the outlines of the PrnBBisn system. PruB-
sia is divided into provinces, departments, coun-
ties, and coumunes The provinces arc the
principal political members Of the Government,
and each has it's President, Assembly, and bud
get. The province is further subdi7ided into
departments, numbering from two to four
in each, and presided over by Under
Presidents, who are appointed by the
Grown, like the Presidents Of the
provinces. In National matters, they arc indo-
pendent Of the provinces, and report directly to
the Grown, while in local matters, such as the
health and police Of the province, the protection
Of forests and game, and tho administration Of
mines, they are sometimes separate and aone-
times combined with the National officers. It
still further complexities matters that each
province and department has even, in it's Ma
tional relations, it's peculiar usages and institu-
tions. The next division is the county,
and here confusion is twice confounded.
Some Of them aro mere fractions preserved
from feudal days; aome are cong1omeration OF
several communes and the rest are made up ar-
bitrarily and without any regard to system out OF
the political whole. Constructed in this way, some
OF them serve the departments, some the COM
munes, and some the Crown. Their functions
are Us varied Us theiz organization md are in no
case specially defined. The communes arc equally
heterogeneous. There are village communes, ru-
raj communes, and knightly estates, and each Of
these communes is independent Of the other,
while power is distributed among them in the
most uneven manner.
These facts arc sufficient to chow that the
political system of PrnaBia is system Of the
most unequal parts, without special, Or at least,
rigidly defined, relations the one to the other
The Counties Reform bill seeks to remedy this
in part, by making the county the unit in the
system, arranging it's mechanism in q more
manner, and extending Nts powers |
with reference to the conmunes.
To do this requires partial abolition Ct old !
privileges, md this fact arrayed the
nobility Of the Upper House against the Crown.
The Government Was anxious for the passage Of |
The bill, the more closely to consolidate it's
powers. The nobility was determined not to
lose its powers in the provinces and it's in
duenco in Government circles, and it therefore I
a1rayed itself aold1y against the bill, and main-
tained its position successfully notwithstanding
The appeals and the threats Of the Crown Bis
narch cut the knot, however, by reconstructing
;he Upper Chamber and creating new Peers
enough, not only to pass the bill, but also to es-
!ablsh political condition in the Chamber,
which would not render it necessary for
he Government to resort to coercion.
when it wished measure passed. In
his connection, a correspondent Of the PaH
afaA Budget intin,ates that in case Of the pas
age Of the bill, the Grown will revoke the priv
lege of sending representatives from other old
.ristocratic corporations, and give the various
financial and commercial interests Of the coun-
~ the right Of representation also. Prussia is
evidently on the verge of a political revolution,
n which the people are destined to win an ad-
7antage over privilege, and the Government an
dvantage in the influences which determine leg
slation.
THE POLITICAL SITUATION IN FRANCE.
It is probable that no statesman ever had
nore harassing difficulties to combat than those
Ehich have beBet II. Thiers' administration Of
he present French Government. In his speech
delivered just prior to his demand for vote Of
onfdence, he recapitulated tho embarrass-
aents which he had found on all sides; but, so
ar from receiving any sympathy or respect