The Birmingham age-herald., 1911-01-08
PROGRESS MADE IN GERMAN AFFAIRS Constitution Granted Conquer
 ed Provinces NAVAL COURTMARTIAL Two Engineers on Torpedo Boat Are Sentenced Seven Years for
 Brutal Treatment of
 Stoker

is shown by recent events. One is prac- tically granting a constitution to the conquered provinces of Alsace-Lorraine,
 which was wrung by Prussia from
 France 40 years ago. The other was the | conviction of two savages who were pet | ty officers in the imperial navy. | The proposed constitution for the con- quered provinces of Alsace-Lorraine pro- vides for home rule and manhood suf- | frage.
 | The federal council and the reichstag are eliminated as factors in the legisla- | tion of the province. Two chambers are provided for, the first consisting of IS representatives, either ex-officio or elect | ed by the various trades or professions, and of IS designated by the Emperor, and the second consisting of members elected by universal suffrage with secret ballot, the franchise being extended to all nationals over 25 years of age. pro- vided they have resided their commune
 over three years, or held land on which they have resided for the year or pur- sue a permanent trade or agriculture on
 their own account, or hold public office.
 or are engaged in legal practice, or in ecclesiastical or scholastic service. Two votes are allowed to electors over
 B and three votes to electors over 45 years of age.
 l The ex-officio members of the upper chamber include the heads of the Cath olic Protestant and Jewish communities. | representatives each of the agricultural
 organizations, the Chambers of Commerce and the proposed new labor chambers, representative of the University of Strassburg, and several representatives of the local authorities.
 l At a naval courtmartial held at Kiel | two engnieer petty officers of torpedo
 boat were sentenced to seven years penal
 servitude each for brutal ill-treatment of
 stoker causing the latter's death Pet | ty Officer Wroschke sent recruit named Brandt to clean boiler furnace which was still red hot and thrashed him with a ropes send because he wanted to lcome out Subsequently Wroschke lock ed Brandt in the furnace till the latter l tainted. Then he was brought out and
 abused for two hours while in fainting
 condition. On the following day the man died.
 | lencouraged, Is shown by the fact that
 the Emperor William has conmuted the | sentence of a weeks Imprisonment" | passed on two Bonn students for rag l ging'' to weeks detention" The sen- | tence of Imprisonment would have closed | the roads to all official careers in the army or civil service to the two young criminals in question. both of whom be- | long to the nobility that is to say, people who follow no useful trade, call | ing or occupation.
 The police have failed to find the owner | of the voice which was heard in the flat of the eccentric old lady, Frau Hoffmann, who was later found dead in her bed | room.
 l The police, summoned by the neigh bors, who had heard scream and the sound of fall In the flat, had to force | their way in. Each door was locked, and
 as each was broken open the police heard a voice protesting in the room beyond. The mysterious person Is supposed to have escaped by the back stairs. The mystery was pursued no further, the body not being discovered by the police, who abandoned search for a week. The result of the investigation has been rather | to shake the theory that the criminal was a woman. The police and the neighbors who heard the murderer through the closed doors were convinced
 that the voice was that of woman. | The murderer must have been well ac- quainted with the old woman and her | habits. She was so suspicious that she
 would admit nobody whom she did
 not know we'll The murderer must have
 been able to gain access to her sitting room without opposition. A large sum, stated to amount to $50,000. chiefly in se- curities, has been found in drawer in | the flat. Probably it was this that the
 murderer was looking for.
 | Researches have elicited another fact lexemplifying the extraordinary coolness and daring of the criminal After he was disturbed by the police and the neighbors he remained in the fiat hunting | for the hidden treasure and did not at tempt to escape till the police returned with locksmith to break open the doors, | fully two hours later. The police and the neighbors, completely deceived, were convinced that Frau Hoffmann had been suddenly seized with illness, which they thought sufficiently accounted for the fall and the scream they heard. and that she left the flat rather than admit strang-
 CTS This would have been quite in ac-
 cordance with her character.
 Terrible punishments in the Boys Re- formatory. Mielschins are alleged against the director. and eight subordinates.
 They are accused of having whipped the
 boys with a horsewhip beating them with stocks on the soles of the feet and knee
 caps, of placing chains on the wrists and
 ankles of boys suspected of attempting l to escape. and of chaining another
 youth in a cellar to a ring fastened in the wall.
 | On the table of the court here where
 the trial was held were several imple-
 uents alleged to have been used in se-
 curing discipline in their establishment.
 These included a cat-o-nine-tails, man. acles, handcuffs and chains.
 l The defence is that stern measures were
 ,ecessary to keep the boys under con trol.
 | Discussing naval limitation in the reich stag recently the imperial chancellor
 said: ''As regards our relations with
 England and alleged negotiations with
 that country on the subject of limiting
 naval armaments, I wish to point out
 that it is, dare say, well known that the
 British government have repeatedly ad-
 vanced the idea that an arrangement
 stipulating the strength of the navies of l the several powers would essentially con-