The indicator., 1897-11-13
COLLEGES OF NosLs.

Assem- blaKss of Aristocrats o. rying
influence In ,ntinentai Countries.
The congress held at Berlin OF the
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
In every continental country OF Eu-
rop excepting France, Italy and swift
zerland. the latter, in spite OF Its being
a republic, possessing a large number
OF extremely patrician families, says
the New York Tribune. In Austria
and Russia the colleges are regularly
constituted bodies and represented as
such In the legislatures. provincial as
well as imperial, by delegates, while
each province has its so-called marshal
OF the nobility. who is the president OF
the local college OF mobiles. Inasmuch
rs most OF these are landowners 1t Is
easy to appreciate their Importance and
till thirty years ago they constituted
pretty much the only bodies in tho
empire that could in any way be de-
scribed 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-
iatiye diet in the district. At,Sny rate,
1t is the only representative body that
possesses the right as such to address
the czar, aId 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 czar 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 a sensation by entreating the
czar to make a distinction between the
mobiles of his own making and those
who are indebted for their rank to
inheritance-of course m favor OF the
latter. In Spain the so-called college
OF nobility represents the interest not
OF the thousand and one parvenu
dukes, rnLrquises 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. 1t was but
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 together
for the preservation and care OF tho
l. lI.