The Irish standard. [volume] (Minneapolis, Minn. ;) 1886-1920, 1911-04-08
Representative Government Valued
Everywhere Outside the
British Empire
Tendency of Modern Times Clearly
in Direction of Exte nsion
of Popular Rights.
Germany With her Twenty-Five Dis
tinct States a Good Example
of Local Autonomy.

In special article In Reynolds
newspapers. London, John X. Red
mOnd contrasts the case for ireland
with that of other countries In Eu-
rope. He writes in part:
Outside the British Empire repre-
scntativcS and responsible govern
mcnt has sprung into existence in the
most unexpected quarters, and every
where with the most satisfactory re-
ment in Turkey, representative sys-
TEN in Pcrsa--or, at least, an ap-
proach to what We understand by
such a syslcnl-all attest the fact that
the tendency of the modern world Is
clearly in the direction of the extern
sion of popular rights and OF free gov
crnment by the people. Not the least
remarkable evidence of this is to be
found in the proposal by Germany to
concede, not, indeed, full autonomy,
but at any rate autonomy OF 4 Sort
to the conquered provinces Of Alsace
Lorraine.
Many people regard the German
Empire as a great autocracy, and TIL
kaiser as the very personiticntion Of
an aurocrat. Nothing, however. Is
further from the truth. The German
Empire is today the most convinciA%
~, C px,j, it,,,,
of what Freeman called the true sol
vent of the problem Of combining na,
tional freedom with imperial unity
and strength ...
Bismarck and the Great Constitution.
In an admirable account of the con-
stitution of Germany, given some
years ago by George Fottrell Of Dub
lin he thus describes Bismarck's
guiding motive in framing the great
constitution Of April l6, 1871: BIS
marck was emincntly conservative and
emincntly practical. He recognized
that states were aggrcgationS OF hui
man beings, and not or mechanical
IL ..
rc symmetry. BY confederation of
all the states he aimed at creating q
living and healthy organism, and not
a beautifully balanced machine Cen.
tralization might be inevitable in or
der to attain the paramount objects
of the proposed constitution. but it.
was never to be an object in itself.
On the contrary, the substitution OF
central control for local legislation
was to be regarded as an evll--a
necessary evil perhaps, in certain
cases, but still an evil. Local parlia-
ments he considered to be powerful
aids to imperial stability. II they did
nothing else, they served as lightning
conductors for popular lmpatience."
There are 25 states in the German
Empire, every one Of them autono-
nous, every one of them with it's own
parliament and executive, with full
control over all local, as distinct from
imperial, affairs. One at least OF these
states, Prussia, is az large and popu-
lous as England. Another, Bavaria,
closely resembles Ireland in area and
population. A third, Wurtemburg, is
almost identical in area and popula-
ton with Wales. Some OF these
states have a single chamber sys-
TEN and some have q double-cham-
her svstem: but in all of them local
affairs are transacted quite indepen-
IDENTIFY of the control or interference
of the German imperial parliament
Difficulties Which Were Surmounted.
All the difficulties which. are sup
posed to exist in conceding autonomy
to ireland exist today in Germany.
Some of the German states are over
whelmingly Protestant Others OF
them are overwhelmingly Catholic In
Prussia, nearly two.thirds of the pop
ulation are Protestants and rather
over one-third Catholics. In 1905 the
numbers were: Protestants, 23,341,-
SOP; Catholics, 13,352,444; all others,
about half million. In Bavaria, In
1906, there were 4,6OS,469 Catholics.
1,S44,699 Protestants, and $4,000 Jews.
In Wurtemburg, by strange coinci-