The evening times. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1906-1914, 1912-03-05
A sT.ANDSTILL IN GERMANY.

responsibility 70 the relchStaR. AS
matters now are the reichstag is
largely a legislative registering ma
chine afirmatively and a legislative
vetoing machine negatively. Its as
sent il required in order to a Ger
mar law, but it has to wait for the
government to bring in the bills. So
the ministers are really ministers Of
tho crown. In practice of course a
working majority for the government
has to be found, because otherwise all
legislative projects would come to a
%standstill; but Kaiser Wilhelm makes
and unn1akes his " ministers as he
p~leases, and subject only to the prac-
teal working Of the complicated gov
eminent machine. Probably a large
majority of the German people wheth-
or social democrats or not. would like
to have this ministerial system chang
ed.
Then there are the unfair election
laws of Prussia. The social demo-
Gratis who live in that kingdom wish
these laws to he changed. as A mere
matter Of course. but so also do all
fnir-minded Prussians. Quite apart
from the silly economic theories of
the social democrats, therefore, they
the social democrats-are in intel
lectual agreement in regard to these
large political matters with a large
host Of other Germans.
AS the German political system
stands. the government must take the
Initiative in order to make any
change in the system and the Bundles
rat-the federal council. or upper
house-WOrking together. can propose
changes. or not propose them. as they
See fit. 1t is this fact that makes
every clue to the intentions of the
government So interesting. Three
days after the famous session over
which Herr Schleidemann presided,
when a social democrat for the first
time sat in the presidents chair.
Chancellor o Bethmann Hollweg
made a long speech as to the present
purposes Of the government. He said
a great many things in the course OF
his speech and was practically called
to order because of his evident in
tention to mention Herr Scheide-
mann's opinion that the Hohenzollern
family do not always keep good faith
in political matters. He changed his
sentence of his own accord. and went
on thus:
Gentlemen, I can draw from the
present conditions only the conclusion
that the government must stand firm
ly on Its w feet-(socialistic laugh
ter)-and that there must be no vacil-
lation. You socialists and your near
est neighbors regard the Insecure gen.
eral political situation as the right
time still further to democratize our
democratic franchise. and by an ex-
tension of the so-called constitutional
guarantees. to change the basis of our
imperial constitution. l will not put
my hand to a further characterization
of franchise and to an attack on
the foundations Of the imperial con-
stitution."
DIR. o Bethmann Hollweg's words
do not especially apply to the feudal-
lied electoral system of Prussia, but 1t
is a fair conjecture that he meant
them to include it. He continued as
follows:
Gentlemen. you desire further to
place the political responsibility of
the chancellor which. exists under the
constitution under the legally effective
supervision of the reichstag. So far
L nave not been conscious that there
has even been a case in the history
Of the German reichstag where the
defective prerogatives of the reich
stag have been felt as a grave poll
teal shortcoming. Gentlemen, the
proposal is born Of doctrine. It
means in a way the grant Of parlia-
mentary rule. Gentlemen, a chancel-
Tor dependent upon the emperor and
upon the king OF Prussia is the nee
essary counter-weight to the freest of
all franchises, which was granted by
Prince Bismarck only on condition
that the federal council and the chan
cellor should retain their independ-
ence. rQuite true from the right.)
The electoral victory OF the socialists
and the uncertainty in the orientation
of h monarchial parties among
themselves. is no reason for, but one
more reason against. all attempts to
disturb the relations Of competency
between the emperor and the empire,
between the federal council and par
liamnt."
Toward the enc of his speech the
chancellor laid it down as a maxim
that 1.-The German empire can be ruled
neither r~eactionarily nor radically"
This remark was equally unsatisfac-
tory to both the right and the left,
but he said that he was going to stand
by it, whether the extremists like It
or not" 1t is clear enough that the
German government does not intend
to respond in any manner to the
changes in the new reichstag; that 1t
will merely stand still. and and let