Birmingham state herald. (Birmingham, Ala.) 1895-1897, 1897-07-25

EMPEROR WILLIAMS TOUR
Russia Has Proposed an.Extensive
Programme for the Occasion.
EUROPEAN GRETNA GREEN
In the Recent Coded HoIiOgoIand-The Kai-
ser's lncessant Interference in Politics
Arouses Adverse Criticism.

Berlin, July 24.-The approaching visit
of the German emperor and empress to
Russia will be signalized by great dis
play of Muscovite pomp ard ceremony.
They viii arrive on ug. at cronstadt
Roads, where the Emperor Nicholas and
the empress will meet them on board the
Russian imperial yacht Alexander
A splendid reception will be 7eeorded
them at the landing stage. They will
proceed to- the new Peterhoff palace, and
during the forenoon will visit with the
car and czarita. In the evening a state
banquet will be given in their honor, and
on the morning of th6. eighth they will
procesd to Sit. Petersburg on board the
imperial yacht, land at the Nicholas quay
and visit the church of St Peter and St.
Paul. after which they will BE- present at
the dedica tfon of the new wiEg of the
new German Alexander hospital. On the
evening of the ninth-d gala performan nee
will be given on Olga street. During the
evening of the te,l,th the new Psterhoff
park will be Illuminated brilliantly and
their Russian and German majesties will
take tea together at the summer palace
of Peter the Great. On the eleventh the
imperial visitors will start homeward,
the Russian, emperor and empress accom-
panying them to the place of embarka-
tion.
Heliogoland has become sort of Gret-
ma Green since it has been coded to Ger
many. ar1 couples can row b. married
there between the arrival and depart
ure of the Cuyhaven steamer The FORM
alites observed are of the simplest char
acter. and it is said that the officiating
Clergyman has become so expert that he
can complete ceremony in five seconds.
BY some means he has obtained a monop-
oily of these marriages, and now boasts
tAfn Of l. 4. rr-i+ y,
widows, widowers or divorced persons if
he discovers heir trus character in time.
The emperor'S incessant interference in
politics is awakening the government
ranks of socialists, which are swelling
day by day. People in ecclesiastical and
university circles are openly sympathiz-
ing with the socialists. Charges of lese
majestic are of almost daily occurrence,
and If all were to be prosecuted who ex-
press dissent with the acts of the en-
peror and the government it would be
necessary to turn all the barracks into
prisons in ordsr to find room for them.
A curious lawsuit has been commenced
by King Leopold, Of Belgium, against
the Hamburg newspaper which had pub
1shed somes offensive statements con-
corning his majesty. The editor has de-
clared that he will prove the correctness
of the statements and has stated that
cetta n members of the royal suite should
be subpoenaed and examined before the
Belgian court r@""
The Belgian department of justice has
refused to comply with the request on
the ground that the constitution guaran-
tees the inviolability of the king, whose
acts may not be-subject toinquiry. The
outcome is awaited with much curios-
ity.
The reply of the government to the
demand Of the agrarians for a decree
temporarily excluding foreign grain has
been received with general dissatisfac-
ton, although it is felt to be graciously
worded. Rarely has a proposition been
so universally condemned. Not a sim
gle journal gave it's support except the
organ of the agrarian leagues and the
only outcome of competition of the farm
ers alliance has been to widen the breach
between the agrarians and the conserva-
tives as the only explanation of the at
tempt is that 1t must have been intended
to embarrasS the government.
The emperor has made a donation of
10000 marks for the sufferers from the
hailstorm in the Reickland.