The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1897-12-20
HAD BROKEN THEIR WORD
Government Put on the Defensive
in the Reichstag.
is PREPARING A TARIFF
Germany Will Retaliate-Damage By
Floods-William Dreams of a Great
Navy-The Life OF the Gear
Was Threatened.
pvright 1Sg7 by Associated prees


Berlin Dec. 19.-The past weeks sit
tings of the reichstag We're interesting.
The government throughout was on the
! defensive, and Herren Bebel. Richter
Lieber, and other oppositionists, fiaunt-
ed the fact in Prince Hohenlohe's face
that he had broken his word to the
feichstag in not securing for the work
ingmen the right of coalition and in
falling to secure the right of inter-affil-
iation for political clubs. The chancel-
/ lor's replies were decidedly lame. Herr
Richter's speeches however. We're in the
order of fire. while Herr Bebel's were
so impassioned that they forced nearly
| the entire cabinet to reply.
Some of the admissions thus made are
valuable. For instance. such as the
statement of General Won Gossler, the
minister of war; who on Tuesday, when
replying to Herr RichterS criticism of
! the army, declared that the government
| ala not propose to change the system of
/ two years service nor increase the in
| fantry, adding however that the reor-
| ganzaton of the field artillery was ur-
| gent, and the statement of Count Posa-
| dowski announcing that bounty regu-
| lationS between German, France and
Austria were deadlocked.
Another important statement made
| jointly by Baron Won Thielmann, the
minister of foreign affairs. and Count
Posadowski, was that Germany was
preparing an autonomous tariff to en-
able her to Immediately retaliate upon
countries enacting tariffs unfavorable
to Germany and commerce. The an
nouncement was greeted with wild
cheering and of delight from all the
agrarians
The damage done by floods during the
past summer is officially computed at
1900 900 marks
The emperor has been characteristic
eally busy the whole week Besides
Kiel, he attended a number of banquets
and important meetings. While at
Hamburg and Kiel, his majesty made
several noteworthy remarks. For in
stance, while inspecting the Deutsch-
land he said he hoped the time was not
far distant when Germany would have
such fine vessels afloat in every sea.
The first contest in the diet of Wur-
temburg over the revision of the conSti-
tuition has assumed acute features. An
appeal to- the country means that at the
new election it is probable the lower
classes will want an increase of repre-
sentatives in the lower chamber.
The government has decided to make
careful increase in the number of
consuls, especially in the United States
and in the British colonies and in South
America. A number of recent cases in
these countries show the necessity for
maintaining trained consuls of diplo-
matte experience in many places now
served by local residents.
German railroad official, who was
an eye witness of the facts. tells the
corps here of the suppression of pub
lished story of the cars journey from
Darmstadt to Coburg in October last.
Information reached Russia through
the police of a plot of nihilists study
ing at German universities TO wreck the
cars train, and most extraordinary
precautions were taken to protect his
,aia cfX 10 ira i'm fraN
TO eight kilometres per hour instead of
twenty, and the whole trip consumed IL
hours. Twenty Cossacks of the body
guard with rifles and revolvers con-
siantly patroled the gangways of the
train, and the whole track from Darn
stadt to Coburg was guarded by sew
eral thousand German troops under the
command of Russian secret service Off
GERS.
Marie Geslinger, long a leading SOU
brette on the German stage, anu who
has successfully toured America, will
appear shortly on the variety stage at
the winter garden, Berlin, where she
will bid a final adieu to youthful roles.
She is 90 years of age.
Professor Richthoffen of the Berlin
university, has been invited by. the
United States ambassador. Andrew ID.
White. on behalf of the Johns Hopkins
university of Baltimore to deliver Il
lectures there this winter. The official
North German Gazette refers to the
case of Mgr. Schroeder of the Catholic
university at Washington as furnishing
evidence of the American hatred for
everything German.
Wagner is writing a comic opera,
which he expects to present at Munich
in 1898. The composition resembles
Humperdinicks and the libretto is
taken from two fairy tales of the time
of the Thirty Years war.