New-York tribune., 1874-12-21
CONT VON ARNIWS SENTENCE.

II would have been serious check to
Prince Bismarck to fail in the prosecution of
Count Won Arnim, at time when he IS also
engaged in n serious controversy with the
German Parliament. His position. strong "a it
is. is not free from important complications,
, and when q prime minister, so powerful ami
so dreaded as he is, with so many enemies at
court and in the country, begins to lose pres
tgc, the road down hill is far easier than the
way up. An acquittal of Count Won Arnim
would have been great source OF strength
to that brilliant and spirited diplomatist, and
would have made him almost as dangerous as
he is hostile to the Chancellor. But the arrest
and the prosecution are both justified by the
sentence OF the Court which condemns him to
two months imprisonment in addition to what
he has already endured. If this sentence is
carried out, it will probably bo done
with the same mingling Of discourtcsy and
humanity which has marked the previous
proceedings against him. Indeed, it is not at
all unlikely that Prince Bismarck may infct
upon the Count the additional afront Of ask
ing the Emperor TO pardon him. The object
throu ShOut has seemed to be rather to dscredit
NJ. Won Arnim than anything else. The SEN
Berlin for the Judiciary, cannot fail to have
that effect. 1t is of course, not improbable
that the supposed desire of the Court and the
powerful personal influence of the Chancellor
may have had great, even if unacknOwledged,
weight in the deliberations of the judges but
this will not prevent the trial from damaging
Count Won Arnm materially and permanently.
II is impossible, even for his friends and for
those who deprecated the extreme measures
adopted against him by the Foreign Office, to
DENY that he laid himself directly open to just
such proceedings by his own reckless indis-
cretion. He is n man of great clcvcrness, but
of a vanity which makes him careless of con-
sequences. Thinking his own opinions of
European policy better than those of the
Chancellor, he has had no hesitation in letting
this impression be known. He meddled with
French intrigucs in manner directly con-
trary to instructions. and when somewhat
sharply rebuked for it he defended himself
in n manner entirely at variance with Prus-
sian ideas of official subOrdination. When
long series of misunderstanding between him
and his chief eliminated naturally in his re-
moyal from the post he filled at Paris, his
situation called for the exercise of the utmost
reserve and caution. But the first thing he
did was q blunder which seems absolutely
puerile. He took away from the archives of
tho Legation large number of dOcu-
ments, which were sure sooner or later to be
called for, and which were called for as soon
as their abstraction was discovered. Any con-
ceiyable purpose he may have had in mind in
taking them could have been as easily accom-
plishcd by copies, but it would seem that
Count Won Arnim's vanity would not permit
him TO leave these documents where his sue
cessor could read them. nor to give them up
at the demand of the Foreign Office From
the moment of that mistake there was not
much reason to expect any other issue than
the one we have seen. He was really con-
demned by his own letters before the case
came into court The only possibility of his
escape from the consequences of his act lay in
the opposition against Bismarck and the Counts
personal popularity. But it is probable that
been exaggerated.
At no time has the power of Prince Bis
marck in spite of all intrigues against him.
appeared more evident than now II is true
that during the last week the Parliament was
goadcd by his frank tyranny and contempt of
its privileges into passing resolution which
might be taken as u censuro upon him, and
which he so regarded. But the sthreat of his
resignation was sufficient to bring the Gov
ernment to his terms, and it is reported that
when he complained in the Council of the
untrustworthiness of the majority the propo-
sitiOn was at once made to dissolve the
mutinous legislature, which he magnani-
mously declined. At all events, he appears to
have settled everything in his own way. He
has caught Count Won Arnim at fatal disad-
vantage. and had bin sent to iAl BY Judi