The Helena independent. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1875-1943, 1891-10-26
RULED BY The BAR0As.
Feudalism in the Mecklenburg-
Schwerin Grand Duchy Threat
ened With Extinction,
That Country the Only Ono In
Germany Without a Con-
stitution.
One Was Secured In lsi9, but Was Over
thrown Soon After by AustrtA
and Prussia.

The serious illness of the grand duke Q
NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. has again called at
tention to the anomalous political conditiol
of the state over which he rules, says a Der
lin correspondent Of tho New York Tribune
Although his royal %highness may fight OF
death for some time. there ia little hope tina
he will evsr be able to concern himself &C
lively with the affairs Of his province. hi
disease, according to the physicians, is in
durable. Partial paralysis has already af-
fioted him, and his bodily condition is sc
wretched that his mind at times is afflicted
AZ he ia little more than forty years old hi
fate is q sad one. The complications, how
ever, that may arise from his death have
forced politioiansand patriots to waste little
sympathy on the dying grand duke, whose
heir is not yet in his teens. From an i'm
perial point of view, he merits little sympa-
thy. Although . blood relation Of the
youup kaiser, he hates and despises him.
He belittles his successes. he opposes his
plans. The liberal and socialistic tenden-
cies OF the emperor fill him with consternR-
ton. He bemoans the future of the state.
Bismarck alone. with his autocratic charac-
ter, was a man after the grand dukes own
heart, His resignation was q personal
blow.
Economists and Statesmen, however,
think that the time has come for a radical
changs in ths internal conditions o: Neck
lenbnrg. Th death OF the grand duke will
doubtless result in reforms entirely impossi-
bic under his sway. The future regency has
already been the subject of discussion and
consideration in Mecklenburg and Berlin.
Its establishment is only a question of
time.
The position of the grand duchy is
unique. The widespread liberal move
ments o. this century have had little effect
upon il. 1T stands still in the gloom OF the
middle ages. 1t is the only state in Ger
many lacking a constitution. Politically
it is little beyond England in the days pre-
ceding the grant Of the Magma Charta. 1t
is true that in the revolutionary days of '4S
and 40, 10 important in the political devsl-
opment of Germany, the people did compel
the grand duke to accept a constitution
granting q national parliament. The Neck
lenburg barons, however, who still look
down upon their colleagues in other states,
we're stronger than the people. They ap-
pealed to the bundestag, and Austria and
Prussia, who acted a. arbiters. decided to
restore the status in quo ante, and Neck
lenburg sank again into the fendal estate.
Since those days it has never changed. The
so-called landtag, or legislature, to-day ia
made up Of TOO landed proprietors, as rep
resentatives of the rittersohaft, or aristoc-
racy, and AZ burgomasters AZ the represent
atives of the cities. The country outside Of
the baronial estates, the so-called donna
num- with more than 5000 600 Inhabitants,
is entirely without the right of representa-
almost absolute rule, Thu landed propris-
tors and the cities concern themselves with
their own affairs, and care nothing for the
interests OF the 5000 600. The grand duke
conducts the general affairs of the state and
pays expenses from the taxes, somewhat
arbitrarily raised. "+' @
The German reichstag has e~ndeavored at
various times to pass the liberal and pro-
gressive measure requiring lin every fed
eral state q representation of the people,
secured by votes whose affirmation shall be
necessary to every state law and the deter
1nination Of the state budget" The motion
was introduced again at the last reiohstaR,
but lack of time compelled its members to
postpone it's consideration.
Modest and bashful attempts to stop out
Of the feudal condition have been made
also in Mecklenburg, but they have been
made in vain. Thu burgomasterg in the
landtag OF the grand duchy favored the
proposal of the imperial government to
abolish the acknowledgements of the
landed proprietore - and the landschaft,
composed of the representatives of the
cities; but the baronical, landed proprietors
objected to the ourtailmsnt of their hsredi.
tary right and privileges. An ultramontane
aristocrat, in opposing the proposition, pre-
tended even TO forget the title Of the Ger
man en- psror, and moved that the noblensn
prevent the imperial government from in
terfering with M~ecklenburg affairs. This
particularistic application of the Monroe
WAS adopted with glee. !
German politicians declare that only ex-
treme conditions could induce the reichs-
tag to concern itself with the internal
affairs of Msoklenburg aud break tho power
of the insoleut barons. They believe, how
ever, that these conditions now exist and
safety of the empire. They point to the
fact that the social democrats, owing to
the widespread dissatisfaction among the
people. have made greater gains in
Mecklenburg than in any other state
in the empire. At the last election
they were able to ''tie' four out of the
seven riohstAg districts. They declare also
ing between the empire and its parts, re-
sulting from the law requiring the presen-
tation of tho surplus of certain imperial
taxes to tho general government At Berlin
renders the fscdal financial system of
Mecklenburg ~untenable. IF this court of
sohwerin," writes a well-known jarist, "ob-
lects to being forced, even in . way that
would affect the stubborn barons rather
than tho government, there il 4 simple So
luton OF the difficulty caused by tho pres
ence of the ancient landtag. It is only
necessary to overturn the unfortunate de-
cision which abolished the constitution of
'49: If the grand duke appeals to the de-
cision of Freinwalde,' tho decision of Aus
tria and Prussia, that decision will not
stand. No German court would admit the
legality of tho decision OF such an arbitrary
judicial body to-day. The constitution OF
'49 could then again hold sway. The clever
n educated representatives of a people
would then grant the grand duke all the
conservative a]Hsurances' necessary. From
the point of view of the present times, it is
absolutely necessary to overturn the Freien-
waldo decision. y x . Possibly a change
on the throne of Mecklepburg would pro-
sent the best opportunity to accomplish
that end"
Public opinion in Germany has besn long
conditions of the grand duchy. The reich
stag favors it, and the bundestaR expressed
the hope fifteen years ago that the grand
ducal government would succeed, with the
aid of the lendtag, in making a change in
the constitution. But the hope has re-
manned unfultilled. In thu address made
upon the celebration of the twenty-hfth
anniversary of his reign, the grand duke
of Mecklenburp-Strelitz even declared
that it was 'ths common duty of both
princes to preserve the ancient and ap-
proved constitution"
But one of thesS princes lies to-day at the
point OF death, and the people are beginning
to feel that the preservation of such a state