Omaha daily bee., 1895-12-28

Amongst the victims Of the edict whicl
wa, recently issued by Emperor William
against free speech In Germany was Her
Lutgeneau, a member Of the Relchstag. Iii,
oferee was that he had criticised the I'm.
perlal speeches. and for this he was con.
victed Of a modified form 81 treason ant
sentence to five months imprisonment
Treason in Germany does not now NEAR
as IL used to do, something which IL punish,
able by death only. but includes n grea
variety q o%ffenses, amongst them being
dinrespectful comments on any remarks
that may be made by the emperor. In tbs
case in question, however, an unexpected
issue 10 likely to arise. The Reichstag has
set up the old doctrine of legislative priv.
lege against imperial prerogative. 1t Is tht
question of king and commons in a new
form, the Reichstag virtually declaring that
any one OF its members may freely discuss
the deliverancss Of the emperor without feat
Of being imprisoned on a charge Of crime OF
misdemeanor. 1t remains to be seen how
tho kaiser will deal with this defiance. His
construction OF imperial power and his re-
vival OF the doctrine OF the divine right OF
kings have built up an opposition which
possesses the elements of strength and CO.
herence. Now that the Reichstag has begun
to set up its time-honored privileges against
his self-created claims, the struggle assumes
a new form, and events will shape themselves
more rapidly toward q decisive crisis
The new Austrian premier, Count Badeni,
gave a brief outline of his proposed policy in
the Reichsrath the other day. Speaking of
the compromise with Hungary. he said that
ministers considered IL part Of their duty to
represent the special interests Of Austria
with due decision and energy. At the same
time, they had no intention Of taking up a
hostile stand on this question. which involved
an urgent necessity Of state. The extreme
al H.. H. Iatnhaa.th had ntnnI hlnIc
fer a common purpose, which the ministers
were bound to combat. Respecting negotia-
lions with the young Czechs, he declared
thsre was at present no basis for them. Such
negotiations had not taken place. although
tao government had held intercourse with
members Of the party. In doing 10 the gov
eminent had only acted in accordance with
its program, which aimed at concord among
the various peoples of the monarchy. This
applied particularly to the kingdom Of Bo-
hernia. The government expected that the
representatives of the Bohemian population
would eventually enter into negotiations
which would be beneficial to the state and
the people. He expressed his approval of
what had been done by the Stakeholder of
Bohemia, Count Thun. He promised that
the South Tyrol question should be solved,
and that the claims of the south Slavs
should be promoted without any prejudice
to the other nationalities. In conclusion,
he declared that the electoral reform bill
was ready and that he had the emperor'e
permission to put it before, the Rsichsrath,
but he would only do so at the first sitting
after Christmas-that is to say, at the begin
ming of February.
Turkey is in extremity for money, the last
p!astre having vanished from her strong
box and the Ottoman bank declining further
She cannot pay her troops, nor
commanders, nor district governors, nor even
the officials OF the %sultan's household. Re-
from some quarter will have to be
unless the empire is to go into i'm
dissolution; but it is yet a problem
from what direction it is to come. The
has no security to offer, having
all it's effects and mortgaged
its revenues long ago. 1t has neither
credit nor financial standing in any of the
money capitals of Europe, and there is moth
ing left in its own dominion for the tax
gatherer to lay his hands upon. 1t could
not be worse off IL it had undergone an
Of democratic administration, as
We have done. Some way out Of its present
will, of course, be found, but to
lift it out of the slough of bankruptcy in
which it has long been laundering would
be a miracle exceeding any recorded of its
The new minister Of Justice in Austria
GEMS to be in earnest in his promises to Sc
,ure the liberty Of the press. In a circular
which he has sent to all the public prose-
tutors, who are the press censors, he points
tut that the liberty of the press is guar
iuch restrictions as special laws may
'numerate. Through administrative routine, |
le says, the people have been deprived Of the
most valuable right accorded them in the
onstitution-the right to a free press, which
S the strongest rampart of their political
lDertieS. Eyprv abuse Of the lihartv 0f tha |
'ress. the circular goes on to say, must be
suppressed, because a good press
AN flourish only when the bad is unable to
But it does not follow that public
flicials from the highest to the lowest must
'e protected against legitimate criticism by
he arbitrary coniscation of newspapers.
There are statistics to hand to prove that
bout half Of all the confiscations in Austria
re based upon a clause forbidding persons
o incite others to hatred and contempt, and
his clause has been employed In prevent
ng all criticism on public officials, whether
( the state or the provinces or municipali-
These confiscations the circular admits
o have been illegal, with the effect Of de-
the general confidence in law. They
ave, moreover, been useless to shield public
ervants against the criticism of the press,
ecause every word thus suppressed has been
epeated in the Reichsrath. 81 declare"
avs the minister, THAT I shall not tolerate
his practice Of the indiscriminate c~onisca-
ION OF newspapers any longer, and L entoin
n you to inform your subordinates Of the
'gal applicability of the clause in the Grim
ial code respecting ill-repute, hatred and
and henceforth to restrict the
ractice Of confiscating newspapers"
The slow increase of the French during
lie present century Is remarkable. During
he wars of the first Napoleon there were
wen Frenchmen to four Britons, but this
has diminished, and in 1891 the
rltons and French were nearly equal in
In 1901 there were q. 349, 0O3 per-
ms in France and 15, 500, ALP in the United
ingdOm-a difference Of II 500, 900 in favor
France. BY the census OF 1884 France /
ad a population Of 3S,343. 1872, while the
nited Kingdom had 81, 1877, 013. AS the rate
increase in the latter country is much
than in France, 1t is likely that at
10 present moment the French are inferior
numbers The British excess at the pres
It time is thought to be 1000. 900 souls.
he French. in fact, are said to be declining.
the increase of the foreign ole
ent. not naturalized, the strictly French
is thought to be less than 1t was !
few years ago. Yet the French emigrate |
It little. |
n