The record-union. [volume] (Sacramento, Calif.) 1891-1903, 1898-02-06
EMBARGO ON AMERICAN FRUITS,
A TRICK TO GAIN THE VOTE
OF THE AGRARIANS.
The Entire Liberal Press of Ger
many Disapproves Of the
Governments Policy.

BERLIN, Feb. 5.-(Copyrighted, 1898,
by the Associated Press.)-The freedom
which the Reichstag and the Prussian
Diet conceded this week to the Agra
rianS, who formulated numerous wishes
and complaints, is significant The
Minister Of Agriculture, Baron Won
H2mfnerstein-Lox. en-, promised the Gov
eminent that he would grant as many
of their demands as possible. At the
moment he was making this declara-
ton measures were preparing to stop
the importation of American fruit, and
the decree in that connection had al
ready been issued.
The entire Liberal press openly dis
approves of the policy. and asserts it
was a Government trick to obtain the
vote of the Agrarians for Emperor
Williams naval bill. The leading COM
mercial journals point to the ill-will and
indignation such measures are bound
to produce in America, and to the fulfil
ity Of prohibiting the importation of
an article Germany does not produce
with sufiiciency. The newspapers
claim the only result viii be that fruit
will be imported from the south of Eu
rope at a higher cost than is now being
palu Tor American fruits.
DR.. Friedrich Won Kueger of the Ag-
ricultural High School, upon whose re-
port the authorities here are under
stood to have acted, has been making an
extensive series of experiments and
examinations of the American plants
and fruits supposed to be infected by
the San Jose bug. After many fail
ures, he finally discovered the bug in
three specimens of peaches and pears.
Or Heinrich Dorhu, President of the
chronological Society of Stettin, writes
that the San Jose bug has long been
known in Germany as the blut-laus,
and has devastated orchards in various
parts of the country, especially i'll the
neighborhood of Frankfort and Stettin.
He adds The present scare is as un-
justified as the late Colorado-bug
scare"
The United States Embassy is con-
tnuing it's remonstrances as a protest
against the unfounded rumors, alleging
that it was weakening.
Several of the newspapers express
the opinion that the decree will not be
permanent. and that it was only in
tended as a temporary act of retalia-
ton for American treatment of German
sugar Inquiry made at the Foreign
Office and at the Prussian Agricultural
Department however shows the steps
taken to be only forerunners of others
of more Importance, the Government
having concluded something must be
done to crafty the Agrarian demand
for retaliation on the United States.
There was an exemplification in the
Reichstag on Tuesday, when Dr. Hahn.
a friend of Prince Bismarck, demanded
the prohibition OF American horses,
claiming the imports had increased in
1897 to 4,2I9 GOO marks, and that some
thing must be done ito show those
oyerbearing Americans that an ener-
getic German Government exists
The views of the Prussian Cabinet
are gaugable by declaration made by
the Minister of Agriculture. Baron Won
Hammerstein-Loxten in the Diet. who
declared that American horses deve.-
oped influenza. after importation, add
ing. IF the importation increase, we
shall certainly be forced TO adopt 4
suitable quarantine in order to protect
ourselves
The total exclusion Of all living cattle
and hogs is also under consideration.
The sugar producers have petitioned
the Imperial Chancellor, demanding
that no tariff agreement shall be ac-
cepted unless the United States tariff
on German sugar is reduced 20 per
cent from the present scale, and an
assurance given that no other country
will be more fayorably treated.