Birmingham age-herald., 1895-03-17
Think Well of the Fnperor's
 Ability as Chairman.
MORE PROTECTION WANTED
By Wine Growers and Others. Iron Char celIor's Birthday
 a. Poem Selected.

council of state agree in describing fhe en,- peror as an unusually able chairman. He can control speakers and lead their excur- sive addresses to a peaceful conclusion, they say, with more diplomacy and success than any other presiding officer in their experience. The only criticism is that he has often drawn the rein too tightly. The emperor's prestige has become some- what embarrassing to him. The appeals made continu nually to his judgment as chair man and sovereign had become such an annoyance that, according to loday's re- port, he felt obliged in rather sharp lan- guage to rebuke them.
 If Lis person were drawn constantly into the debates within the council as well the discussion outside it, he said, he must cease presiding at the meetings. The ref erence to outside discussions bore on the published statement that Count Kanitz at the emperor's special request would not bring his grain monopoly mo- tion to a vote in the reichstag until the councils decision should be known.
 As far as is known the council of state has done little for the agrarians beyond recommending steps to increase the sugar bounty and promote the exports of the small distilerics. No member seems to have ventured an open criticism of Count Kanilz's socialistic enterprise and others of the same sort, whose plan is to tax the workingmen and the middle classes for the enrichment of conservative land owners.
 The ReichstraDger publishes this after noon the councils resolution indorsing Chancellor Prince Hohenlohe. The reso. lution expresses the opinion that the coun- cil should await the result of the governs ment and not seek to initiate measures of it's own. Today the council discussed again the pest means of promoting the sale and export of farm pro- ducts. The persistent demands of the wheat growers for more protection has aroused the wine growers of the empire to beg for similar favors. The growers of Missel Valley have petitioned the council to recommend state wine monopoly, under which the government shall pur. chase and sell all foreign and artificial wines at minimum prices, which will te high enough to save the German wines from keen competition.
 Despite the protests from the commtte, of Berlin merchants, the chamber of com merce and influential trades throughout the empire, the certainty grows that the government will sum- conference. Prince Hohenlohe must ob- tain the cquiesence of the federal 2 )vern- msnt first. With this in hand he will pr,. pare programme of the conference, with the aid of specialists at home and abroad.
 The situation in the state council has caused the revival oftwo Bismarck sayings. Parson Stecker in Das Yoke relates that in 1884, after his appointment to be mem- Der Of the council, Bismarck wrote 10 Won Gerlach:
 "aiy wife has asked me what the coun- cil of state is like. replied that it was the essence of all stupidity.'
 Recently after signing Count Kanitz's grain monopoly motion Count Herbert Bis marck was questioned as to his opinion of the project.
 "WeIl,' he replied, "I would not sup port 1t iiI were chancellor, although as n deputy l will vote for it.'
 Sensational reports have been spread this week about an epidemic here that resem- bled the foot and mouth disease trans. ferred to human beings. A medical inves tigation shows that the disease is merely a peculiar form of well-known malady which is not commonly mentioned in po- lite society. The disease is not an epi- demic, and the interest is now purely pro- fessioual
 The Koelnische z i,ung says that Count Hozen brooch, who iorsook the Jesuits and was converted to protestantism, will enter the Prussian diplomatic service under the emperor's special patronage. This will be 8 bitter pill for the cler.cIls, to whom HoZsnbroech is a constant thorn in the side. It will do much to widen the breach already threatening to separate the govern ment and clerical party tor this and the next parliame utary session.
 The jury elected 10 choose the Bismarck birthday poem, to be sung to student air by estudents' chorus in Freidrischruhe on April l gave the first prize to Heinrich Schmeidernorn Of Charlolten burg.- There were l50 competitors. Twenty poems be- sides Schmeiuerhorn's were accepted for publication.