The record-union., 1896-05-03
Inspired Articles to Make Il Appear That
There WaS a Serious Crisis,
But Semi Official Circles Deny Such a
State of Things Existed.
Believed to be Plan Laid by Ger
tain High Official to Gust General
BrOnSart Won SchellendOrf From
the ninistry of War, Because of
His Persistence in Demanding
Reforms in the Military Laws.

Reforms in the Military Laws.
BERLIN, May 2.-In the earlier part
of the week there was a Ministerial cri-
sis over the question of reform in the
laws of military procedure in the trial
of militaries for criminal offenses,
which it was generally believed had
reached an acute stage, but it has since
been deHied upon semi-ofIicial authority
that such a state of things ever eX-
listed
AS was announced in these dispatches
last week, the whole of the Emperor S
military cabinet, of which General Van
Hahnke is the head, was strongly Op-
posed to the reform proposed, or, in
fact, to any reform at all, and as
Chancellor Won Hohenlohe and General
Bronsart Won Schellendorf, Minister of
War, are known to have advised the
Kaiser that reforms in the military
code of procedure were imperative,
and that the authorities of the sover-
eign Federal States held the same views
on the subject, it was expected that the
opponents of reform, the chief of whom
is General Won Hahnke, would not long
Ministers.
The position assumed serious as
pect, when inspired articles simultane-
ously appeared in the Cologne Ca
zette" and the Hamburg Correspond
ent," purporting to disclose the attitude
of the Ministry upon the question at
issue. The official head of the press de-
partment of the Foreign Office is ac-
credited with having animated both
articles, which ventured to refer to the
proceedings of the Cabinet sitting in
council which have hitherto been held
strictly secret.
1t was stated in these articles that
General Bronsart Won Schellendorf
would Immediately resign his office if
the Emperor retarded the reforms
which were advocated by the Chan
cellor and himself, on the grounds fur
nished by General Hahnke's adverse re-
ports, and it was also asserted that not
only Prince Won Eohenlohe but the
whole Ministry, including DR.. MIGUEL,
Prussian Minister of Finance. coincided
with General Won Schellendorf and
would resign also.
These statements created great SEN
sation throughout the country and gave
rise to an excited press campaign, in
which the Emperor and General Won
Hahnke were severely commented upon.
After the Emperors conference with
the Chancellor and other members of
the Ministry upon his return to Berlin
on Wednesday, an official announce
ment was made to the effect that the
Emperor had not refused to sanction
the reforms proposed and also that
the retirement of General Won Spitz
was due to his extreme age and not to
any difference with the EmperOr'S mil
itary cabinet.
The inner track Of the whole matter
is believed to be a plan laid by certain
official to oust General Bronsart Won
Schellendorf from the Office of Minister
of War, and the articles published in
the Hamburg Correspondent" and the
Cologne Gazette" which were design
ed to convey to the Emperor the i'm
preston that General Bronsart Won
Schellendorf intended to enforce the
reforms through the medium of the
press were calculated to cause man of
the Emperor's temperament to dismiss
SO presumptious a Minister.
1t is taken for granted that Prince
all responsibility for the statements
made in the, Gazette" or it's Hamburg
contemporary.
The Berlin "Neuste Nachrichten,"
which draws its inspiration from the
Chancelloric, characterizes the articles
as containing the issues of fact inter-
woven with fiction, originating with
persons who are interested in fostering
Ministerial dissensions.
The "Deutsche Zeitung," in an arti
Gle on the subject, demands the public
exposure of the guilty intriguers who
are using the press as vehicle to con-
vey their malice. The sum total of the
present effect of the press campaign is
that it will tend to keep the Chancellor
in office.
The North German Gazette declares
that the Chancellor's health has been
e-established, but this assertion does
not check the continuance of surmises
as to his probable successor, and Count
Philip Won Eulenburg, the present Ger
man Embassador to Austria, is re-
garded as having the best chance.
1t was the intention of the majority
of the Berlin employers to close their
OF DuSlIlSSS ySSteIudy, III OIueI
to allow their workmen to attend the
opening of the Industrial Exposition,
but these plans were altered, in conse-
ouence of the issuance of a manifesto
by the Trades Union Committee ap-
pealing to the workingmen to stay
away from the opening ceremonies of
the exhibition and not allow themselves
tc be used as ornamental supernuma-
ries: In the face of this appeal OF the
Trades Union to the workingmen them
selves a great many of the employers
decided not to close their workshops,
but rather to enforce the ordinary regu-
lations against the men who were alb
sent without leave.
The departure from Berlin CT Mrs.
Kunyan, widow of the late United
States ambassador, Hon. Theodore
Runyan, and her daughter, Miss Julia
Runyan who sailed from Bremen for
New York on board the steamship Lain
to-day, was accompanied by marked
demonstrations. Of sympathy and re-
spect. The railway authorities assigned
to them the use of a special waiting
room at the station which is reserved
for court officials. and number of per-
sons high in official and social circles
ACCOMPANIED them with flowers Mrs