The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1898-06-20
Tho Elections for the Now Roiohstae.

German empire are by no means complete,
and although it Is certain that a second
balloting will be required in almost half Of
the districts, some indications Of the out
come are already forthcoming. To appre-
clate these, however, it is Indispensable to
keep in view the composition Of the Reichs-
tag which has just expired.
1t will be remembered that the Reichs-
tag, or popular branch of the German Par
lament, contains 397 members who are
elected for five years by direct universal
suffrage and secret ballot. The members
are chosen in single electoral districts
fixed by imperial law. These had, origi-
nally, 100000 inhabitants apiece, but they
have not been revised for many years, and
with the growth Of the large cities have
gradually become very unequal. In the
case of Berlin, for example, the dispropor-
tion is enormous, for the city has now a
good deal over g million and r half
Of inhabitants, yet is still represented
by only six members. The Government,
however, is not anxious for q redis-
tribution of seats, because Berlin elects
Radicals and Socialists. With regard to
the apportionment of members, 1t may be
well to mention, further, that every State,
however small, elects at least one represen-
tative, and that Prussia has 236, or about
three-ffths of the whole number As re-
CARDS the method of election, the French
system of baUotdge prevails; that is, an
absolute majority is required for election
on the first ballot, and. II no one obtains
this, q second ballot takes place, which is
confined to the two candidates who have
received the most votes.
The Reichstag which has Just expired
was elected in the early summer Of 1893.
Soon after assembling, it passed the bill
for the increase Of the army by a vote Of
POI to 1876. This was not, as it seemed at
first sight to be. a great triumph for the
Government. The form In which the bill
was finally passed with the approval of
the Chancellor, was one that CAPRIvI had
refused to accept before the dissolution /;
1t Is probable that the old Reichstag would
have assented to the bill In that form. As
a matter Of fact, too, the candidates who
favored the bill had received at cleo
tion less than half of the popular
vote. Then, again, the majority for
the bill was very narrow, depending
on the votes of the nineteen Polish mem
bers, whose opposition would have turned
the scale. Moreover, the narrow majority
was composed of harmonious and uncer-
tain elements. The National Liberals had
gained few seats at the election in 1893,
while the two Conservative parties had
hardly gained at all yet these groups have
been the only ones upon which, during the
last five years, the Government has been
able at all times to rely. The rest of
the majority, in the cases where no
compromise could be effected with
the Catholic party Of the Centre, has
been made up chiefly of Poles, Of anti.
Semitics and of those Radicals who on the
question of the Army bill seeded from the
Freisinnige party and formed the so-called
Radical Union. No stable support could
be expected from any of these elements.
In the ranks of the declared opposition, on
the other hand. the Socialists, the most
implacable of all the Governments enc
mics, had gained about 20 per cent, both
in seats and in popular votes. having polled
1,7s6.O00 votes and returned forty-four
deputies. The great party of the Centre
was but slightly diminished.
Another significant feature of the cleo.
lions In 1893 was the proof of the growing
unpopularity, in the south German States,
of the Emperor's course. Thirty-nine out
of the ~forty-eight members of the
Reichstag elected in Bavaria, and four
teen out of the seventeen from Wur
temberg, were pledged to oppose the
Army bill. The last Reichstag also dis
closed a tendency to the increasing disinte
grafton of parties into groups, as will ap
pearfrom the following figures The German
Conservatives had ~ the German Imperia
party, 20 the National Liberals, SO; tn,
anti-Semitics, 10 the Centre, 96; the Radi
cal-Unionists, 10; the Radicals or mem
bers of the F~reisinnige party, 80; tn,
South German Peoples party. IL; thu
Social Democrats, Al; the Poles, 10; til,
Alsace-Lorrainers, 8; the Guelphs, 7; tn,
independents, 4 there was one Dane. 1
will be observed hat the three stable con
stituents of the Governments support, t,
wit. the German Conservatives, the Ger
man Imperial party, and the Nationa
Liberals. could muster between them onl,
151 votes, or, in other words, fell short b.
4s votes of a majority.
With these facts and figures before us
let us inspect the returns of the new cleo
ton, as far as they have been received. A
the hour when we write the Centrists hav
carried 6S Of the 3l7 districts heard from
and seem likely, on the second balloting, t
win enough additional seats to increas
sensibly theirformer strength in the Reich
+. tag. Tn Socialists have been successful
in 80 districts the Conservatives and In
perialists in "a. The National Liberals, tn
l Freisinnge party, and the Radical Unior
lists are credited with 80 few seats that a
| three of these groups must be assumed t
have encountered severe reyerses. On tn
second balloting, however, the Eationi
Liberals, Conservatives. and ImperialisI
are expected to fuse. and the same cours,