The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1899-08-20

The result of Thursdays vote in the
! lower house, when, by vote of 212 to
200, it rejected the second reading of
the bill relating to the Dortn1und Rhine
| canal and the completion of the bort
! mund Ems canal. and by a vote of 22S
| to 126 rejected the Central canal bill.
came as surprise to the house itself,
nobody supposinG that the opposition
was so strong, especially after the en-
! peror's vigorous declarations. The
whole Polish faction voted against the
entire canal bill, whereas it was ex-
pected it would at least vote for the
| Dortmund- Rhine canal section. The
centre also acted contrary to expecta-
/ tons. 1t split into three portions, one
voting for the canal bill and another
against it, while the third remained
neutral and abstained from voting.
Defeat of the Government.
This, though meant as clever trick.
rendered the centre powerless and
helped in the conservatives ruin.
The crushing defeat of the govern
ment, which was meant as the defeat
of Emperor William as king of Prussia,
is generally admitted to be due to the
clumsy, half-hearted manner in which
the government fought the battle from
the very first. Neither Prince Hohen-
lobe. the imperial chancellor, nor DR..
Won MIGUEL. though both were present
at the session on Wednesday. said
word in favor of the measure with
which the emperor has so publicly and
strongly identified himself. Their in
activity excited general comment. The
Kreuz Zeitung said:
I'VE do not know whether DR.. Won
MIGUEL is really for or against the bill"
The word dissolution was not even
used by any of the government speak
ers. though those present comprised
nearly the whole cabinet. The only
government representative who spoke
decisively and well was Colonel Budde,
who declared that the canal was a mill
tary necessity for Germany.
Against the Emperor.
1t is quite evident that an important
part of the cabinet does not share the
emperor's enthusiasm for the canal.
Putting things together. it is almost
certain that if the bill fails, as there
now seems small doubt it will, so far
as the vital part of the Midland canal
project is concerned, the cabinet must
be reorganiZed. 1t has been confidently
asserted all along by persons in the
intimacy of his majesty that in the
event of the defeat of the bill the en-
peror will dissolve the diet and appeal
TO the country. Even if this experiment
be made which is unlikely, the out
come is quite doubtful.
The second trial by courtmartial of
Captain Dreyfus at Rennes excited
much comment here this week, espec-
tally the attempt on the life of NJ. La
bori and General Mercier's sO-calied
announcements. The latter are not
taken SERIOUSLY.
His statement that Germany was on
the point of declaring war with France
in 1894 is ridiculed. The whole German
press is united on this point. The eX-
or xVsaiNh would have
taken then if President CaSimir-Perler
had not put a stop to the violent at
lacks on the German embassy, would
have been to send Count Won Munster
Ledenburg, the German ambassador at
Paris, on a long leave of absence. In
no case would the relations of the two
governments have assumed threaten
ing aspect.
Talk of the Dreyfus Case.
The Tageblatt calls General Mercier's
revelations prepostsrous, and the
Frankfort Zeitung says General Mer-
cier's talk about Germany meaning
war in January, 1895, has excited only
hilarity throughout Germany.
The Cologne Gazette. after calling
the present state of the French mind a
species of dementia," says nobody in
Germany takes General MERCER ser
iouslv.
While the energy of the French gov
eminent is generally commented upon
favorably, doubts are expressed as to
whether it is strong enough to over |
come the disaffection in the army. u
Emperor William, on receiving the
news of the attempt on the life of Nj. |
Labor, during the ceremony of I'M
yelling the monument TO his grand |
father at Arolsen Monday, used strong !
language in denouncing the deed. He
col no arir17x aVidpnTlNy mart nf n
regular plot. His majesty has kept |
himself infinitely informed of the incl |
dents CT the trial at Rennes.
Will Not Interfere.
The correspondent here of the Asso-
ciated Press hears that a proposition,
first made in the English press, and |
also taken up by number of the pa
pers here, for the publication of some |
documents in the hands of the German
government calculated to exculpate |
Dreyfus beyond all DOUBT, was serious
ly preached TO the emperor and length !
lily discussed. But he finally concluded |
that this would not do. and that he |
must adhere strictly 10 his system of
absolute non-intereference. Later sew [
eral of the uninspire6 papers expressed
the same opinion.
An interesting feature of Germany's
foreign policy is the strong rapproach-
menL WIFI the anu Ioti-
gium The advances came from the
smaller states. This rapproachment
has made steady Roadway for some
time past. The minister of the Meth
erlands here, recently submitted the
draft of a regular treaty to the Ger
man minister of foreign affairs. Count |.
Won Buelow Definite action has not
yet been taken, but ii is a positive fact
that negotiations to that end are now
under wac.
Some of the Dutch newspapers, in
pointing out the need of such treaty.
express fears of the United States seiz-
ing the Dutch colonies in Asia and the
West Indies. The German press talks
favorably of the project, except the
pan German organs and rabidly lingo
which express the belief that
and her colonies will some day
drop into Germans jaws anyway.
New Samoan Act.
The draft of the new Samoan act
published here is substantially as it APP
pears in America. The correspondent
Of the Associated Press learns that
Germany will unquestionably ratify the
work of the commission, although
neither Emperor William nor Count