New-York tribune., 1873-03-06
FOREIGN MISCELLANY.
AFFAIRS IN GERMANY.

PROTEST OF THE CATHOLIC CLEHoY-NEW Ahhi
BuL-PRINCE BISNARCAb SPEECu'
,rRon TIKI REGULAR CORRESPONDENT or PHB TfdBuHhJ
nrR1ry. Feb. 6.-The Catholic clergy are now
reaching the singular poetlon OF advocotcS oi "o
araton OF Church and State Tho long protest asans.
no threo pending anti-Cercal Ds. which tDe nnteo
hops lately forwarded to the Landtag, leads them, IN
r,s a, tem seIyes into such dilemma. Tho'r INC oi
argument ia very simple The Constitution oi rI"''i'
they say guarantees the freedom OF TIE c"Ii0H' ~
tho freedom az the church impics, ana even i'i
Freedom N the education Of priests and the
eoelesiastical discipline. They cite hmersa 'Dn
ucuopd and Belgium as countries where tho cn"'en J"
,sa ho,o sho noseesses the two rights IN question
c. t tho arrpmont is sound. But there ~ vast dlher
oooe botveen the freedom which the Roman CnNnohe
Church enjoys IN America, for instance ana tne
which She enjoys would even be Wiling 10 "ceep' :"
prnas,a In the latter State the church is buppoo" ~
money paid out Of the public treasury. Inc ceiEy ~
I'm cert ain sense servants OF tue State; anu IL - "u
N praeud that the State has no rights as against men
Tins supported. SO long as the present rs@hoos S''
Ar ooie at east is all on the side OF the Government
Vet stroke Of the pen could reverse the position OF to
two parties II the bishops had added 10 the'f "enon
Of free church. the further feature that Is ea a"
r1i sotsuoportinc and had offered to give up their
claim on the public reasuryf IN fact they hau lanAS
demanded the separation OF Church ana sate tnc Fo
ou youl be logically falltess. Bnt IL 10 nara 10 e@
- ., C,,hoc, on the Continent the exact status of
Tho church p the United states. They are convinced
that the the best In the worid yet lney
do not exactly understand IT, much less the state OF pup
lie opnion which with US makes that arrangement ano
no other, possible
nreiudiees evea where they most absurd Al Ber
p for example police regulations exact of guests
AZ hotel aIiong other things declaration OF their re-
rors faththat Is to say whether Protestant or Cath
ohc The first Of the bills regulates the ferns 70 be
followed when Prussian passes from one communion
INTO another. At present great number OF fcTmates
chiefly under the direction OF the clergy are reqhfed
The new law will mako local justice Of the peace the
uide OF the aposate" All this is, OF course meian
choly enough except when viewed in connection with
the state Of society and the prudces OF the people in
provinces where membership in some church Is almost
as necessary the payment OF taxes, ana Vhere
change Of faith may exercise great effect on mans
social credit In the extreme eastern provinces Poseh
and slesia where there many Poles and dcpiora
bic ignorance the priests WELD extraord nary power
They arc even more influential than French eurts In
Gascogue because they cultivate tho national passons
Of the Poles aRd encourage their nereo hatred OF every
thing German II has been fine thing for them 10 draW
their salaries out of the Pussan Treasury who they
were teaching their fOcks to hate Prussia Ths VIII
now be stopped Tho clergy will be trained and Will
ocate under the supervision Of the State beeause
they are net willing to follow up their own arguments
and demand the separation OF Church aud state. The
Government too. shrinks from such eonclusion Inc
only faction which is strictly logical and s bold enough
10 reason logically IL the Radical party. The Radicals
sec clearly through the subject but they cannot furnish
eyes for their tinid colleague
It's announced that the Commission which, nader the
Presidency of GenSvon Room, has been working on
project OF army reform has finished its abOrs, and Will
submit bill 20 the coming Relchstag. The scheme Is
based on the PrssIan system Every cbe bodied Ger
man give twelve years of military service, as fol
cws Three IN the active army fonr years In the
] reserye and 1--WE wears In the landwohr. On peace
footing the army will number 40l,659 men, or little less
than rer cent OF the population Tue ratio some
what sni ler than heretofore IT. Prussia IN 1904 the
regular army took 1865 per cent Of tie population
under tho North German Confederation, 1st per cent
The reGstabishment of the Empire has therefore light
ened somewhat the military burdens OF some OF the
states 1t fact that the new French system
when fully IN force. WIN create larger army t!h tnat
OF Germany. The difference is In tie time OF active ser
vice. The'French law presnrDes, TANK, service OF
fye years IN the regular army and the result WIZ pc
that after the FIRST four years. tat ls To say Nneh leu
contngents will be In the field FraEce will have stand
! ng army OF 42so)o men, IhlS cut oi popuiaIlon Oh
S7o000, Is equivalent TO one man IN every ~ rms su
solder on paper stands for soldier in the field; with
the French this has vet been the The ne
hill viii not change essentially the strength and status
OF the army and it is perhaps more important IN pc
lucal than IN military sense 81 10 ono stepann q
very significant stepn the steady march OF centfaz&
MIR Bancroft returned week ago in good health nd
spris His travels took him toEgypt, Greece, Tu key,
and Italy. He appears TO have been received every
with the respect due not only 10 his official posi-
ton his fame scholar and historian, and was
favored therefore with unusual opportunities fGr study
observation. 1t is unnecessary to say that MI Ban
croft appreciaye traveller. Bismarck speech on
the Of the Ministry is OF importance not mEch
for sad for what he did not It ruy CON
firms the strong popular belief that all Is not well In
deed. the Prince fell into fat contradiction OF himself
which for clever and exact speaker sign that he
using sOphisiry. ho stated in place that the
post OF Minister President wac on empty honor giving
the person who holds nothing OF consequence except u
title; in another he stated that he gave up the Office
| because he could not perform Its duties. No one has
tried TO reconcile these two d9temcnts simply because
! theY are Treconellable Vhe IMPRESSION when tie
speech left. rather strengthened, IS that there Is
trouble the Ministry, aud that the Princes patriotism
or position forbid hun 20 speak out frankly the
subject There an impression equally general that the
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