The San Francisco call., 1898-12-18
DAYS OF THE
 DRE|BUND ARE
 NOW NUMBERED Such the Opinion of
 Germans. STATEMENTS IN REICHSTAG ATTITUDE OF THE EMPIRE DUR ING THE LATE WAR. Experts Sent to the United States to Investigate Reduction of Im-
 ports Have Made Their
 Reports.
STATEMENTS IN REIcHSTAG
ATTITUDE OF THE EMPIRE DUR
 ING THE LATE WAR.
Copyrighted. 1898, by the Associated Press.

Copyrighted, 1sss by the Associated Press.
 BERLIN, Dec. 1.-The sessions of the ichstag during the present week, though not so sensational as expected, were very interesting from several points of view. The debates were mo- table for giving rise to the first official utterances on the Lippe-Detmold af- fair, Emperor Williams oriental trip, the Anglo-German understanding and the pending German-Am ! m tariff negotiations Some of the statements were significant Thus Baron von Thielman, the Minister of Finance, though the subject did not come in his province, speaking of the Spanish American war, said:
 While 1t is true during the war the sympathies of our nation-I admitted it quite freely-were on the side of the weaker and wrongfully attacked party loud Leftist cries of "No'), yet the at- titude of the empire throughout was perfectly correct and statements to the contrary in the foreign press were ma licious inventions"
 Herr Richter, leader of the opposi- tion, while confirming the correctness of Germany's attitude during the war remarked: T do not see why the sym pathies of the German people could have been as overwhelmingly as they were on the side of the Spanish"
 Count Posadowski Wehner, Secre- tary of the Interior and representative of the Chancellor, referring to the re- duction in imports from America, said: Experts have been sent to the United States to investigate the matter. and it depends upon their reports whether we can facilitate such imports.'
 This statement refers to the dispatch of three German experts to the lead ing American exporting centers, espe- ciaIly New York and Chicago, last spring and summer. Their mission was secret and their reports, now in the hands of the German Government, are understood to be generally favora- ble to American interests.
 Another remarkable featur If the de- bates was the reference to the Drei- bund and the Anglo-Gernan under standing Neither Baron von Bulow, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, nor any other Minister, nor the Emperor him. self, in confidential talk with the pre- siding officers of the Reichstag, has been expn in respect to either.
 The Lerlin Tageblatt commenting on the speech of Baron von Bulow says: The speech was more remarkable for it's omissions than for its contents
 The impression left in the Reichstag was that deep and lasting f3sure had been driven into the Dreibund and it is significant that Herr Basserman, the spokesman of the National Liberals, and hitherto the stoutest friend of the Dreibund, said: The provocative tone of Count Thun Hohenstein toward Ger many is unjustifable. It Is apparent that the German empire must be strong enough to stand on it's own bottom"
 A nun Jer of other speakers expressed themselves similarly and outside in the Hobbies the opinion was re- eatedly ex- pressed that the days of the Dreibund were numbered. On the other hand the press has much to say on the revival of good feeling toward Great Britain and the United States. Nearly all the comment is distinctly friendly.
 The Socialistic fastion has introduced In the Reichstag a number of motions in favor of the abolition of the lese majeste paragraph in the cri~- nal code. the abolition of the dictator paragraph re lecting Alsace-Lorraine, the legal establishment of an eight-hour work day an the widening of the present rights of political association. These matters come before the house after Christmas adjournment. Several of them have not the ghost of a chance of