KAISER AND CONSTITUTION.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1017, 5 January 1911, Page 8

KAISER AND CONSTITUTION.

ALWAYS TO THE FORE. Emperor William's Divine Right speech at lvoenigsberg is tho text' for a -very informative article in the "Contemporary Review" on the political situation in Germany. The writer, whose pen-nanio of "l'eregrinus" is not unfamiliar to rcad- ' ers of the serious magazines, holds that the country is approaching a grave crisis, 1 in which the coming Reichstag elections 1 of next year will play an important part. ■ Prince ljulow, we are to believe, was.hiin--1 self directly responsible for placing tho ' person of the Emperor in the foreground ' of the political picture. He was, in fact, 1 answerable for the Emperor's voyage to : Morocco,, and for the famous "Daily ' Telegraph" interview, and yet 'when trouble eame in the Reichstag the ex- '. Chancellor, "by an audacious 'volte face,' ■ ranged himself on the side of-the assail--1 ants of the Kaiser's personal intervention • in the conduet-.of political affairs." Hence, when the Conservative-Liberal • "bloc," which won the 1907 elections,.as the party 1 of Emperor and Chancellor against Cleric--1 als and Socialists, went to . pieces last. ' year, and left the Chancellor face to face ' with a. majority of Conservatives and • Clericals united in opposition to his Lib- ' eral taxation, reforms, the Emperor de- ! clined to exert his personal influence bn 1 Prince Bulow's behalf. The Prince had, 1 therefore, to resign, but. it was upon his ' recommendation that he was succeeded by his colleague, Herr von BethmannHollweg, the' present Chancellor, who, ill American parlance, was already identified with the Bulow "policies." Herr von Bethmann-Hollweg has been - in difficulty from the outset.. In both the Imperial Reichstag and the i ' Prussian Lower House lie has found himself dependent for supplies and. legislation utjon the "black-blue bloc," as the Clerical" and Conservative alliance is termed; yet he has been pledged to i' "policies" Liberal in character, which i were enunciated at the time of the 1807 ■ elections. In .Prussia the chief of these "policies" is a just redistribution of seats, : which .would inevitably destroy the exist- ■ ing supremacy of the landed nobility and ■ "junkers," or country squires. Ho did i introduce a moderate measure of reform, ■ but the "black-blue" majority rejected it,. > with the result that the masses became greatly excited, and broke; out into street ■ riots, which were suppressed by police and ' military. The confusion of the Govern- ; ment is evident from the double fact that the Conservative' Prussian Minister of ■ Finance resigned because of his distrust ; of the, Chancellor, while the Imperial : Minister for the Colonies, Herr Dern- ; burg, was driven out of office by the hos- • tility of the Conservatives ■ and Clc-ricals l in the Reichstag. Herr von Bethmann- ■ Hollweg's only support is the Emperor. [ Ho lacks himself the personality .to . ati tract and lead the masses. .This has again forced the Emperor' to the fore, and is tending to drive many Liberals over to tho Social Democrats. The only hope, according to "Peregrinus," of stemming the Socialist flood and establishing a real- ! J.v strong Government, lies in recognising - the principle of Parliamentary' control, ■ and selecting Ministers from among lead- ' ers of. the majority. "The Government," > he declares, "has intensified the need of a ' Parliamentary solution, if only as a means ■ of definitely withdrawing the person of 1 the Kaiser "from the . fighting line, which ' is indispensable to. German unity."