The Middlebury register. [volume] (Middlebury, Vt.) 1850-1882, 1879-07-11
Church and State In tIermanr.

/
The reconstruction of the German
ministry at tue close of the present ses.
sion can be explained without difficulty
| When a test vote was reached in q pre-
liminary stage of the Tariff debate, the
Centre or Catholic party united with
the Conservatives and gave the govern.
ment the assurance of working major
ity. The National Liberals seemed 10
be utterly disorganized, and the adop-
ton of the high tariff schedules was
regarded as foregone conclusion. The
debate, however, has dragged on weel,
after week, and Herr " indhorst, the
champion of the Centre, has offered
considerable resistance to the chancel-
lars revenue scheme. 1t was evident
that the ecclesiastical compensation for
the political support had not been de-
termined. The Catholic members, rep
resenting, as most OF them do, rural
constituencies, were disposed to favor
the new economic policy, but they were
unwilling to give the government their
aid without getting something in return.
The equivalent, of course, must be some
concession 10 the Catholic population.
such as the re-establishment of the ban
ished bishops in their dioceses or the
reorganization of the Ministry of Public
Worship and Education. While the
Chancellor has been higgling over the
terms of the contract the Centre has
been pairing down the rates in the Gus.
toms schedules. The latest dispatches
from Berlin indicate that a working ar
rangement has been agreed upon where
by the al-Conscrvative party will
carry the tariff act through the Reich
stag. The appointment of DIR. Falk's
successor will open the way of concili-
alton between Berlin and Rome.
DIR. Falk has been Cultus Minister
since. 1872. He was placed in office 10
carry out an aggressive policy, and he
did his work with zeal and thorough
ness. lie restored the secular charac
ter of education in the Prussian schools
and restricted ecclesiastical authorities
to the exercise of spiritual functions.
He suppressed the houses of the Jesuits
and affiliated orders; he organized civil
courts where clerical offenders might be
prosecuted; lie fined and imprisoned
bishops; lie cut off ecclesiastical rcye-
nucs; he made civil marriage obligaio-
ry. That he overshot the mark the
most Jealous Protestants arc now forced
to admit BY these repressive measures
both the religious authority and the po-
litical power of the German Catholics
have been promoted. The chancellor
has been unable TO cngraft his ecclesias-
tical policy upon any state except Prus-
sia, and of late years has been content
to remain on the defensive in the con-
flict with the Vatican. Meanwhile. the
religious conditions of Europe have
changed. The Old Catholic movement
has gained but slight headway; the
atheistic tendencies of Socialism have
rendered reaction inevitable; and
while Liberalism no longer has any
standing place in the communion, Vi
tramontanism and Roman Catholicism
arc now practically one and the same
thing. The drift of public thought in
the Fatberland has receded from the
May laws. Their author has always
been regarded with suspicion even by
the Luthcrans, for he is disciple OF
Schleiermacher, and has openly been
charged with being free-thinker. The
Civil Marriage Act rendered him as
unpopular with Protestants as with
Roman Catholics. His usefulness as a
Minister is at an end. There is nothing
more in the way of repression for him
to do, and another can undo what he
has done better than himself Accord
ingly, he goes out of the Prussian Min
istry, and some of his associates arc
displaced with him.
The fact cannot be disguised that Lee
NIL at peace with Germany, will be
more formidable opponent of Protest
antism than Plus IN at war with Ber.
lin. lie will be more dangerous, be
cause he will be more subtle. BY hi,
orders to the German Bishops, his re
cent allocutions and his negotiation,
with the Governments at Berlin abC
Rome, he has shown his willingness t.
modify external forms, and has Undue
ed many to believe that he is more
Liberal Pope than his predecessor, ant
that he may, indeed, become an eccle
siastical reformer. There is no eyi
dence, however, that any of the recen
pretensions of the Vatican have beeI
abandoned. He simply shows NOR,
tact in dealing with governments ant
III adapting his policy to the politica
conditions and social tendencies of tn,
time. Where Plus lX would have in
sisted upon bringing the German En-
pcror and his Chancellor to Canos a
Leo XIII will meet his opponent
somewhere OH the road, and thus re-es
tablish the influence of the Vatican il
the Fatherland. The direct effects O
this compromise will be the adoption O
the Protective system and the partia
revision of crude body of legislation
The ultimate results no one can fore
cast. One religious reaction may fol
low another. The moment the CON
preston of the May laws is remove,
the influence OF Rome may be weaken
ed. The political power of the Centr
may also be lessened, for priests vii
rob the politicians of their ascendanc
in the party councils. The reorganiza
tion of the Liberal party, moreover
cannot long be deferred. 1t is proL
lem with countless factors. The solu
ton will come with another generation
) -[rribune.