, 1875-06-07

Ject French Journals tn s,,eh r!gor ~ thai to
which thoir Herman contemporaries arc Liable.
Until tho nasstny OF TIC taw Of MAT, 1874.
1'r,nsian clitor who stated that l1o lad ill.,
ncrtnl All obnoxious article wltllunt reading i.
wau huhjoet only, unless tho contrary was
proved, to slight fine, ths practice lclug tn
Hu,ntnan tho manager, employees or any other
pernona N ~thennos, WIN, II tlloy rofllHod to
gvo information ~ tn tho authorship. could bo
imprisoned for term not oxeoediH; two years.
TliH in1us'ton was naturally very nnpnlntabie.
aud in la52 tho Lowor lionho paused n lI!l for
ttA abolition, but It WIN rejecleti hv thn tppcr
liontn. On tho ptssa bill bong conritlarcd by
tho 1solclsa:aE laat year, hl1shos n:tctntt waa
made to cst rid Of tho Zrt1e"s"any],
ti,at @ t;ee.. b". At W. ,ho ''s i.st st.ys III" ths
GnYornuent n,ale tin accopthslc. of t'!s ,ntA.-
lrn do,,einen: 0 Tho nftlfhAlon Vi that prss,ntn,
and OIL tho retention OF The power OF The t'oco
u c,nfiAcata tho sn.nn ot a'ls 1onr'la'. llinEo
eun'ltionH wcre agrcei to, the bill IN whul' be-
lug 1cgAtles! NJ cpnctsaieli 10 tile preat, Wills
it was eoilsiterol THAI tho Ze'tgeHzHany was
CONNECTED with criminal procedure, and might,
Il necessary. bo dealt w,tli on anether nccaslon.
MoTnover. the new law rendered tho cator
reHpontiy!e, with immatcna1 exceptions. for eve
~ article !le r,lhl,nhcd. Il prlucipio whicE. tho
old pruHeiali law, Mt llns btcn seen, did nut
Ognizc, hat WIcl, waA conceded hy tho llulcAtag
III ustcr to concentrate tho rcspo,lAibiIty IN nnu
tinl to the liberty Of t|l8 press. 1t was, shtre-
foto. held tint tho Ztttqehzca'1 was indirectly.
though, no. expressly. rot aside, aii that
researches into ttio uuthnfHbip u incnlpated
articles woud teneefuttls to discontinued.
Until tho last few months this expectation was
realized. This Berlin correspondent OF all
English Journal "A tic init victim of the
revival Of that process; hut in that caso tho
thoritieA. Tho Erankf kfur'er ztituny. however, ia
now being subjected to the satns procedure, al
though i:s editor las uniformly assumed full
aIoneihlIity Tor all artielos III bin PAPER and ts
now undergoing two sontcoces Of threa months
imprisonment each, whslo aeycral other prose-
cMsluns agalnst him arc bt'l! pending.
Tho entiso siair oven dorm to tho ma
clns-Bsoker. have boen intcrrogated ~ to tho
authorship Of articles for which tho editor is
suffering The Consequences Hitherto tho Becret
boon at Present Imprisoned for refusing to give
| information. hut tito fIublfahos might hny day
/ eeo lis whole Htatf conht3nad 10 prison for Hsx
months OH account Of articles not cunde,nned by
| any stibcuul. What makes theee proceedings tho
mora anomalous ia shat, eyou veto the author
discovered end convicted, tho editor, according
to tho ruin" Of tho courts, would not bo asolved.
There would thus be two pelaolis undergoing
punishment for one ofTGnHe, ono Ut tlom
az tho author do jure, tho other Rs tho author tlo
fhcto. At berlin, 1t may 10 added+ nj attempt
waa recently Ninde to discover tho writer Of m
article III tho Ultramontana t;ern.0H'd ty aeizinE
| and examining tho account bo1kB. wElcrcuptn
the editor announced TINT he should hencaforth
keep M acconnts which might compromise any
contributor. The mattor III to be discussed at
tho next Congress Of German Journalists. but
nl1cant!y s1!en. With regard to in inqnisEto-
rial procedure which tbs FTdnh}arter Zes'un5
urkos Is contrary to tho tpirlt Gf the
law and tho sprit Of tho ugo. Instead of. gain
Ing erester liborty by lust Sear's Legislation
Journalists it insists, are worse on than undol
tho old prlisssan lAu. Iastead Of being, chae'
tised with whips, they arc now clastiscd with
| scorpions. II tito German people approve those
larsh measures, it II not for foreignsrs to tnter
vone, but the obvious result will bo that theil
| Government will mora and moro be decnod re-
gpousiblc. sometimes perhaps uniustly. for th,
nttcraucea OF journals which they can vtet viii
Bnch aovorties. 4 Government which rules tht
oress with rod Of iron III naturally hold &C
| couutabia for its extrayaEauceH.