Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1893-03-13
FIGHTING THE ARMY BILL.
The Opponents OF the Emperor's Scheme in
High Feather.

High Feather.
The opponents Of the army bill in Germany
are jubilant. They declare that the government
sustained a decisive defeat Saturday by the com
mittee Of twenty-eight rejecting the essentia
clauses, but the organs Of Chancellor Won Ca
priv report that the result of the committee'
action will be a negative one and that it leave
the fate Of the bill unsettled They add that
even If a majority Of the committee finally re
fuse to compromise, the government will no
cease the struggle until it challenges q vote q
the plenary sitting Of the reichstag
Take what course the government may,
says the Freisinnige Zeitung, commenting in
gleeful article on Saturdays events, "Chancel
Tor Won Caprivi has only the alternative of the
dissolution OF the reichstag or retirement from
Office"
BLUYF ON EACH SIDE
Both the confidence expressed in official cir.
cles in the eventual acceptance Of the bill and
the certainty expressed by the opponents Of
the measure in its defeat is part Of q game Of
blum on either side. The truth is the govern
ment is realizing more and more how difficult
1t will be to obtain any form of bill worth hav-
ing, and it is maneuvering for time, during
which it hopes to take advantage of the dissen-
sions of the centrist party to secure q small
majority. The freissinnige members also feel
that their position is rendered insecure by the
divisions within the party.
Led by Herr Hinze, full meeting Of the
freisinnige members of the reichstag was held
on Wednesday. and after heated interchange
of views which lasted three hours the dissen.
sion was marked by an agreement that the
party, as such, would continue to reject the
governments demands in toto. leaving each
member to follow his individual conviction.
Despite the denials to the contrary, it is OBJ
vious that right and left wing exists, and
these are likely to weaken the party at q crit
ical moment
THE cENrERIsrs.
Similar conditions prevail in the center
party. While maintaining a surface appear
ance Of unity the party. is fast dividing into
two factions-the Catholic democrats and the
Catholic federals-the latter mostly composing
Prussian autocrats, who are ready to make
common cause with the Prussan conservatives.
For the present the centrists await the issue of
the debate on the jesuit question In the reich
stag.
This debate was fixed to take place on the 18th
Through the strategy ofPresident Won Levitt
zow, who acted in unison with the chancellor
who wants the discussion delayed. the motion
in regard to the return OF the Jesuits to Ger
many has been postponed. The negotiations
with the Vatican, though almost hopeless, still
proceed
through this tangle OF party schsms and
lobby intrigues the army bill may emerge safe,
but not for many days.
Herr Ahlwardt, the notorious anti-semite,
made his first speech in the reichstag during
the discussion Of the war budget 1t was en-
tirely a personal speech. having no relation
whatever to the matter before the house. The
chancellor, Herr Ablwardt said. had called him
a hbeler. He maintained that he had only
fulfilled a patriotic duty in revealing the faults
OF those who intrusted Hebrews with the
armament Of the German forces. He repeated
amid chilling silence his accusations against the
government for taking the defective Loewe
rifles.
During the same debate Herr Richter asked
whether the budget included the sums paid to
newspapers for supporting the army bill.
Chancellor Won Caprivi Indignantly denied
that single pfennig had been SO expended.
The latest development in the agrarian ques-
ton is the governments proposal to establish q
chamber of agriculture. A bill will be intro
duced in the landtag creating such a chamber,
which will be regulated by government officials.
The agrarian leaders eye the project askance.