The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1896-07-25
OLLEGEs OF NO piEs.
Assemblages 81 Arl.tocrat. 81 var,

3<aANkAsSOcrAGa OF varying
influence In Continental Countries.
The congress held at Berlin OF the
mobiles Of Germany for the discussion
OF questions which have arisen with
regard to the practice Of dueling serves
TO call attention to the fact that con-
yentions and colleges Of mobiles exist
I ~ every continental country 81 Eu-
Srop excepting France, Italy and Swift
szerland, the latter, in spite of it's being
4 republic, possessing a large number
OF extremely patrician families, says
The New York Tribune. In Austria
and ant B, Russia the colleges are regularly
constituted bodies and represented as
such in the legislatures, provincial as
we'll as imperial, by delegates, while
#each province has it's so-called marshal
OF the nobility, who is the president Of
the local college of mobiles. Inasmuch
as most Of these are landowners it is
easy to appreciate their Importance and
TIL thirty years ago they constituted
pretty much the only bodies in the
empire that could in any way be de-
scf1bed as parliamentary. In Russia
there is likewise, for each of the Euro
pean provinces, an assembly OF mobiles
presided over by marshal, which
constitutes practically the only legis-
lat1ve diet in the district. At any rate,
1t is the only representative body that
possesses the right as such to address
the car, and whatever sentiments Of
independence exist in Russia are to be
found in these colleges of mobiles.
Thus one of the first petitions that the
present car received after his ascen-
sion to the throne was an appeal from
the colleges of mobiles that he would
under no circumstances surrender
even the slightest vestige of his auto
cratic power. These colleges consti-
tuted for long time an isuperable
obstacle to the liberation of the serfs
by Emperor Alexander II. They have
repeatedly petitioned the crown
against the abolition of the knout, and!
few months ago one of these colleges
created sensation by entreating the
car to- make a distinction between the
mobiles OF his own making and those
who are Indebted for their rank tol
1n1herltance-of course in favor of the
latter. In Spain the so-called college
OF nobility represents the interest not
of the thousand and one parvenu
dukes, marquises and counts, but.
merely those Of the "Grandezza," a
dignity which is possessed by not more
than 300 aristocrats Of the bluest blood.
many of them untitled It was butt
the other day that this college came!
to the fore to protest against the con-!
cession of the proud and ancient titles|
OF duke of Monteleone and duke of
Terranova to a couple of Individuals
OF questionable antecedents and of pie
beian birth, who were publicly shown
during the course of an acrimonious;
debate in the cortes to have secured
their titles in return for the distribu-;
ton of some of their vast wealth
among the members Of a dishonest
ring composed of certain high officials:
in the department Of foreign affairs!
and in the royal household. In Ger!
many and in Scandinavia, as also in;
Holland, Belgium and Portugal, the
colleges, Of mobiles are little better than
mere clubs, which receive no partic-:
ular recognition from the government
and which are merely banded togetherl
for the preservation and care of the
interests of their order.