The Portland daily press. [volume] (Portland, Me.) 1862-1921, 1894-11-17
GERMANY,S CHANCELLOR.
A Princeling of Ancient Name and
Curious Domain.

His Brother Aspires Ito Become Pope of
Rome, and There is Said to be a Good
Prospect That the German will Succeed
in Spite of the Jesuits.
Capriyi, after all. was scarcely above the
commoner; before he was made Chancellor.
the Royal Army List used 10 abbre viate the
prefix of the lower nobility in front of his
name, to indicate that his claims to knight
hood even were doubtful. With Hohenlohe-
Schill!ngsfuerst it is another thing says
correspondent the Chicago Inter- Ocean.
His an cestors, two hundred years ago,
ranked equal with the Hohenzollerns in
the Holy Roman Empire of German nation
atty; the title of prince was conferred up
on them when the sovereign of Prussia was
still known as lie petit Marquise de Bran
denbourg," when the Pope denounced him
as ''church robber,' and the German
Kaiser refused to address him otherwise
than as your excellency.'
A diplomat. then, and a business man is
this Prince of lohe-Schllingsfuerst
Yes, and above all. grand seigneur.
William has long fshed for man SO con-
stituted He would have nominated Hob
chlohe after Bismarck's fall if family ira
dition-that is. the wish of the dying Will
liam H.-had not pointed toward Cap1ivi.
for with all his professed progressiveness
William, like Bridget. dearly loves lore.
He prefers noblemen. not only. for social
reasons. but, as already pointed out, on ac-
count OF their endearing tendency for
obedience to the imperial will. The Chan
cellor-elect is not only a Prince. but a
Fuerst. that is, an actual chief of prince
Ill L IT,.
~. but natural toy monarch reigning over
5000 souls, as they call it in Germany.
These 5000 are nominally .Bavariaus, to
whose government they pay taxes and
which enlists the men into military service,
besides administering to the post and tele-
graph: but in all respects, economically AMI
in respect to homer rule. they are subjects of
Prince Hohenlohe-S chillingsfuerst
|: THE PRINCES OWN DOMAIN.
The prino,pality is situated in Middle
Franc onia near the Wurtemberg frontier
and three miles west of Ansbach. It CON-
pIises a territory of one square German
mile. including two towns and several vii
lagos. Schillingsfuerst is the capital. 1t
has 5000 inhabitants and a residential cas-
tie high up in tie mountains. resembling an
ancient fortress. The Prince owns every
thing in the town and everybody asgwell, as
everybody is either a princely tenant or
official. His Grace administers Justice as
well as spiritual advice. for he nominates
the Judge. who pronounces sentence in the
name OF the Fuerst. and engages the pastor
of 'this't Catholic Church. who, at the con-
clusion of mass, rrays aloud '.for the
Princely House." adding a benediction for
'.ou1 gracious suzerain'' the King of Bava-
ria.
The church contains the graves of the,
Princes of Hohenlohe which. by their gor-
geous sarcophagi, take up more room than
| is allotted to living worshipers, always ex-
cepting the s"reigning family of course,
that sits in a semi-theatrfcaJ box embel-
| lished with crests and baldachin' I O the right
! of the high altar.
The towns people do not benefit in the
least by the provision of the Bavarian con-
stitution guaranteeing to each community
| the right of electing mayor and city coun-
ell and of regulating expenses according to
it's wants. In Schillingsfuerst as we'll as in
the other town of the principally. Frank
enheim, the Prince decides about the local
taxes to be levied and about the manner in
which they are to be spent. If the citizens
desire improvements to be made they must
petition his Grace and his Grace will con-
slider the matter in course of time. His
Grace likewise issues pardons, except in the
case of capital punishment, Wien the re-
missionof penalty must be countersigned by
the King of Bavaria. Thore is no such thing
as municipal police. The Schillingsfuer-
sters are kept in order by "Princely Court
Chasseurs, :"
The state religion is Catholic. Professionals
will not be suffered to build churches with
in radius of sixteen English miles COM
prising the principality. Jews must wor-
ship in the seclusion of their houses.
If the Fuerst is residing in his cap tai 1UO
select young men and veterans must act
as his body guard. They have a colonel,
captain. and several lieutenants. The
Fuerst himself acts as Commanding Gener-
SOME OF HIS PRINCELY PERQUIs1TEs.
All this and more royal prerogatives have
been conferred upon the Prince of Hohen-
lobe, as well AS twenty OF twenty-five 9TH
er mediatized lordlings, by the Vienna con-
gress that rearranged the map of Europe
after the downfall of the first Napoleon.
The most valuable rig ht'' held by these
worthless is the immunity from taxation and
from military service. The Prince Chancel-
lor may import as many goods as he pleases,
if he says they are for use in his family or
among his officials; no custoInhouse officer
dare levy duty on them. Likewise all the
letters written by himself. members of his
family, or his officials pass through the mails
of the fatherland free of charge. fThe Ger
man Reichstag has more than once tried to
abolish these privileges sinacking of the
middle ages. but the Princes and Lords are
1 IL L
mendous equivalent in money.
Personally the new Prince-Chancellor is
a very amiable man. and not unprogressive
as long as the prerogatives of his caste re-
maia untouched.
AS it behooves powerful and rich
grand seigno1e, Prince Hohenlohe has al
ways tried to increase his Importance and
family fortune by alliances with other great
mobiles. His wife, the Princess Marie An
| toinette, is daue hter of the house of Say n,
which, like the house of Hohenlohe, enjoys
royal privileges and has been declared fit
| for internarriage with Princes and Prn-
I