New-York tribune., 1907-01-05
THE GERMAN CAMPAIGN

believers in omens might well see q portent
IN The date selected for the German parliamen-
tary elections three weeks hence. 1t is the an.
niversary OF Canossa. On that day 1t will be
exactly $50 years since Henry " did serviIe
penance before Gregory VII. Many things have
happened since the eleventh century, and there
Is difference between the status OF the En-
peror and the PontiR of that age and that Of
William III and Plus Y. STILL men remember
that in 1875 Bismarck said, whatever happens
we shall not go to Canossa I" and yet he himself
went thlther, hguratively within q dozen wears
thereafter And Canossa as we have observed
Is stlII on the map. 1t Is to be assumed that the
Emperor and his political retainers have care
fully weighed all the chances and feel pretty
confident of being able to secure a majority in
the Reichstag without the aid of the Centre
Nevertheless they must also realize that they
have engaged In a momentous conflict with a
s1ngularly adroit and resourceful foe
That very fact, of course will be interpreted
by them. and with reason as not only tustIrv,ne
but actually necessitating their attempt to breal,
down the Ultramontane Dictatorship If the
government Of the empire has become dependent
upon the favor of faction whose policy IS of
alien Inspiration, 1t is certainly time for n dec
laration Of independence. For without anv
thought Of taking sides In German domestic pol-
itics, we must hold that 1t is not well In any
to be dependent upon influences external TO that
country and regardless of its interests But ac-
cordng to the German governmental view, pre-
cisely such have been the influences of the Cler-
ical Centre. the members of that party being
charged with caring nothing for protection or
free trade for Imperialism or particularism, for
maintenance OF the Dreibund or for an alliance
with Russia or for any of the issues OF German
interest upon which the other parties are
algned, but solely for the Church, and with
voting not as Germans, but as Catholics
The Centre has been notably constant in its
strength amid the considerable fluctuations of
other parties In 1871 1t had 91 seats. and II
has never had one less. In 1884 1t had 90. In
1893 1t had 100, and in 1906 it had 1O2 That is
a formidable body IN house of 1885, especially
when there are always some thirty Poles, Alsa-
tians, Guephs and others ready to ally them
selves with 1t. 1t has needed nothing more than
combination with the eighty or ninety Social
Democrats and Socialists to form majority.
such as that which voted against the govern
ment and thus precipitated the recent crisis.
There Is reason to expect that the same conbi-
nation, If 1t can be made, will dominate the new
house, since all signs point to substantial main
tenance of the Clerical strength and Increase of
the Socialist strength. There Is ground how
ever, for some confidence on the part of the gov
ernment that 1t cannot be made. It is recalled
that the Centre has consistently voted against
the Industrial measures desired by the Social
Democrats, and 1t is observable that the latter
marty is now most bitterly antagonistic to the
Centre. 1t voted with it *he othsr 1lay on
slug?e oopic, But anything like a permanent,
working alliance between them seems impossible.
Once the government secured Clerical support
against the Socialists by granting concessions to
the Jesuits. 1t would be as easy for 1t to win
Socialist support against the Centre by granting
some liberal industrial measures