The Montgomery advertiser., 1906-12-16
Special Cable to The Advertiser by

NSpGGldl AdDlS u IhC <AuNSEtlSOL " Walter Dunkirk.)
 Berlin, Dec. 15.--The latest surprise the Kaiser has sprung on his people is his appointment of Bruno Paul, leading cartoonist on that extremely radical paper. Simpiicissimus of Nun ich, as dirictor of the Royal Indus trial Art School at Berlin.
 Herr Paul, who Is part owner of The Simplielssimus, is also a recogniz- ed master of applied art, but the sur prising part Is that the Kaiser should choose to honor an artist who ridicules the Government and all that is reac- tionary in the diabOlically clever paper which officialdom has tried hard to suppress.
 Many times has a particulaiy out spoken number of the paper been confiscated by the offended authorities, yet the paper enjoys great popularity. and the city of Munich is so proud of Herr Paul that the Burgomaster made most fiatering attempts to keep him there. but. of course the Kaiser's offer was a command.
 At last the German Government has found 1t necessary to send out an of- ficial denial of the report sent out from London some weeks ago that during the recent visit of King Frederick of Dem mark to this city an agreement was reached. whereby Germany and Dem mark were to close the Baltic to the vessels of all other nations.
 The denial appears jn a current num- Der of The Koelnische Zeitung, and reads in part: Tt is incompr ehensi- ble how anything as idiotic as this re- l. port could be belived in EnglarAl even fSr moment. The thought of closing the Baltic Sea without the consent of Norway, Sweden and Russia Is so ridic- ..l. oV. h-German agreement would not have deserved any notice were 1t not that 1t had been repeated so often even in pa- pers that have reputation for using sound judgment and common sense"
 The first lady at the Austra-H -Hunga- rian Court Is now the Abbess of the Theresian convent of noble ladies at Prague, a position which is always held by an Archduchess. Tho Archduchess Marie AnnVnciata, the present abbess, who is niece of the Emperor, has suc> ceeded to the, position of First Lady through the widowhood of the Arch duchess Maria Joseph, wife of the late Archduke Otto,
 The noble nunS-of Prague live a very different life from what is the usual conception of convent life. They play a leading part in the society of the city and are not even compelled to live at the Abbey, where each is provided with two rooms and service. Handsome car riages with liyeried servants are also provided for their use and they have a , box at the opera
 Each noble lady is paid $500 a year, while the Abbess has a salary of s10,- 900. When they attend court balls, they must wear black evening dress with a ribbon of light blue. Marriage, of course. necessitates' their leaving the convent.
 As first lady at court, the Abbess- Archduchess practically ranks as Empress. Curiously enough, although an unmarried woman Is not allowed to hold that position. her position as Abbess of the Theresian convent makes her equivalent to a married Arch duchess.
 F Two of the proudest positions that can be held by a woman in the Austro- Hungarian Empire are thus combined in the Archduchess Marie Annunciata, who is only 80 years old.
 The entire land system of Russia has been fundamentally altered by an Im- perial ukase abollshing the communal system and making each peasant land ed proprietor. :~.
 Under the ancient system, the land was the property of the village, but this the one good feature of the Rus sian governance, has been destroyed by a stroke of the pen. The change will be tantamount. in the long run, to a return to serfdoms for the needy Russian peasant will sell his holding tc the richer. which will result in the di- vision oR the peasantry into two class es, the landless being the servants. of the landed.
 Tn making this drastic change the goveI nment seems to have sought only the favor and votes of the peasantry at the Duma election, Judged from that standpoint 1t has indeed proven a very clever move for the peasants are enthusiastic and will not be disillus- toned until the full effects of the ukase begin to be apparent.
 The government has broken down the old communal system because 1t look ed too much like practical socialism The reactionaries apparently want to go back to the days before the serf was freed by the present Czar's grand father
 -