Omaha daily bee., 1910-02-26

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ner needlessly offensive to public senti-
ment. When the German empire was
founded in 1871 a Bismarckian system of
eerrymandered national districts, designed
to give reluctant states the best Of the
deal, was adopted, and has since remained
in force. The growth and shifting Of pop
ulation since the union has given numCr-
GUS districts undue representation in pro-
portion to population, while others are in
adequately represented. Suffrage, though
nominally on the manhood basis, in reality
is divided into three classes, the first two
having votes in proportion to taxes paid
and the third embraces the nonproperty-
holding multitude. Under this system the
power of the land owners in an election Is
overwhelming. Three years ago the SO
cialists cast 3,251, O05 votes and elected but
forty-three members Of the Reichstag, less
than one-eighth, while the conservatives.
or land owners, with 1,124,932 votes, won
eighty seats. The single vote OF Herr
krupp, at Essen, balances half. the vote
Of all the third class voters in that town.
Efforts to reform the system and abolish
the classes have heretofore been fruitless.
In Germany, as in Great Britain, property
and divine right are close allies, and
neither yields to democracy without a
struggle. Promises Of reform in Germany
led the democracy to expect something
substantial from the ministry. The meas
ure formulated by the chancellor proposes
a modification Of the voting power Of the
first class, leaving the second and third
classes practically unchanged. and Great
ing a fourth voting class composed of army
end navy officers. This would merely
reduce the power of the first class and
,~1a d l.. -4I 49, -.-- nt -
with the government. AS one socialist
leader expressed It, I'VE asked for bread
and are given a stone" and the popular
demonstrations which followed voice the
disappointment over the governments
scant concessions to the popular will.
$50
The first test vote of rival party strength
in the British House of Commons, precipi-
tated on the issue of protection and free
trade, sustained the ministerial program
of land taxes and free trade by a majority
of thirty-one votes. The majority repre-
sents the combined liberal and laborite
vote, the Irish ~nationalists abstaining from
voting in accordance with the decision of
the members of neither helping nor hinder
ing the ministry on issues unrelated to
home rule. For the moment the ministry
Is secure, having beaten down the Cham
berlain tariff reform question, and cleared
the decks for the major issue of the budget
and the veto Of the House of Lords. A
plan of action on the latter and most vital
issue, one on which the liberal allies can
unite, is under consideration. Urgency is
required to remove the disappointment felt
in radical circles over the chasm between
Premier Asquith's platform pledges and
his ability to perform. In his Albert hall
speech he declared that the liberals would
not submit to the emasculation Of mini
sterial measures by the House of Lords.
and asserted that he and his associates
would not take office without guar
antees' against the vetoes of the peers.
Laborites and natlonalists assumed that
the guarantees mentioned by the prime
minister had royal sanction. This belief
was d~issipated by the unusual qualifying
phrase in the kings speech, ''in the opinion
Of my advisers" and Mr.. Asqulth's sub
sequent admissions. There is no reason
TO doubt that the issue Of intending or end
ing" the lords will be pressed forward
vigorously on lines satisfactory to the
progressiveness. Not only is the life of the
ministry at stake; the permanence of the
liberal party depends on breaking down
the dominant tory power entrenched in the
House of Lords.
-
Shortly after the British expedition, two
years ago, over-ran the sacred precincts
of Thibet and profaned by it's presence the
holy city of Lhassa, the Dalai Lama
solemnly vowed to propitiate the offended
Buddhas or perish in the attempt. At the
head of 1000 of the faithful he began a
hike to Picking, living off the natives on
the way, causing more lamentatlon than
| raVAnenCa amOnB fhoge NUhpea ctoraa uyoro
raided. In six months the procession
reached the Chinese capital, needless OF
many suggestions that their room was
preferable to their company. The nature
OF the bargain struck at Picking now ap-
pears to have been one-sided. The Dalai
Lama, 1t appears, did not ask or seek a
return visit but the Chinese deemed a
call necessary as a matter Of courtesy.
The presence Of 1000 Chinese soldiers i'm
Thibet, and the flight of the Dalai Lama
into India suggests that the boss Of the
lamasaries Is not a Chinese favorite, or
else neglected to pay for the commissaries
assimilated or the way to Picking. One
fact of much significance is visible-China
is in Thlbet reasserting neglected suzerainty
and reminding neighboring land grabbers
that the China Of today has acquired suf-
ficient nerve to dispense with international
tonics.
Railroad expansion in Asia is notable IL
not as extensive and strenuous as in the
new world. Trains now run to within a
few miles Of Mecca, and the British are
talking Of building a line TO Lhassa, in
Thibet. A road through Mesopotamia, with
a branch to what Sir William WiIlcocks
calls the site Of the Garden Of Eden, has
been surveyed, and German engineers are
now planning a line designed TO open the