WHOLE COUNTRY SEETHING WITH DISTRUST

Dominion, Volume 10, Issue 3131, 9 July 1917, Page 5

WHOLE COUNTRY SEETHING WITH DISTRUST

POPULAK REVULSION AGAINST KAISEB-GOVER.NJIENT. London, July 6. Tho German Press reports that during a debate in the Second Chamber of the Saxon Diet several National Liberal members stated that the wholo country was eeething with distrust of the Kaiser and tho Government. The Vice-President, Herr Frassorf, a Socialist, who reoently returned from the front, stated that lie was qualified to give a warning that the troops at the front ivero no longer actuated by a spirit of loyalty to the throne, but by patriotism. Dr. Dopohl endorsed this. He said he feared grave consequences unless there was some solution. \ The Diet passed a, resolution urging immediate Democratic administrative reforms throughout the Empire.—The "Times."

[When the German Constitution was niado in 1871, tho Empire was fairly divided up into districts of equal population; but tho fathers of the German Constitution forgot to provide any machinery for redistricting. Now the great growth in Germany's population has been in tho cities, which are the electorate grow less and less, while that country districts aro the abiding places of reaction. So tho growth of the Empiro lias seen the parliamentary representation of the liberal element in\tho electorate grow lss and less, while that of the reactionary element grew more and more. How far the Reichstag comes from being a-body fairly&representative of tlie German electorate may be judged by the fact- that in the famous election of 1912—the election \yhich, transforming a Government majority of 89 into an Opposition majority of 14, is considered a turning-point in the relation of the German radical movement to the Government—the votes of the radicals counted for just one-half as much as they should; the Social Democrats cast 39 per cent, of tho vote and elected 19 per cent, of the members. In particular districts the situation is much worse; there have , been years in which 170,000 voters in certain country districts elected exactly as many members of the Reichstag as 1,950,000' in certain cities—a trifle of eleven and one-half times as much . representation, man for man.]